nice explanation , on how to operate a pug mill. Can you add water and powder/grind up clay or just clay based solid with different type wetness, and just make the clay blocks from powder a head of time. Or can you do it all in the pug mill? (because some times you get clay in powder bag form to )
You can mix with powder just be extra careful to reduce the amount that goes airborne and wear a respirator. Our Safety auditor made me remove all powder for safety and it took a bit of getting use to but works fine. You can mix any type of clay in the pug you just might have to wait for it to mature and soak in the pug before it’s ready to extrude.
Ok nice, curious what grade respirator / masks do you uses for safety of not inhaling ceramics and glass sands. I am more concerned of inhaling stuff by accident if i was to do ceramics or glass in huge portions like you guys. As for getting on your hands i have had that happen and its like your playing in dirt (or picking up sand so less concerned for contact then breathing stuff. (Though it does dry out skin i imagine like concrete or plaster can do if you don't wear gloves over time.) Either way gloves are important but more important is masks so i rather where the right one in concrete i used nothing more then regular face mask so may same on can be used but your dealing with fine powders so may need respirator quality not sure?
My last question is do you guys have equipment to grind dried clay to a powder form or do you just purchases it in powder form and mix it with water ratios to get your consistency clay. As well do you guys just buy your glazes or make them from scratch (or both)?
sam111880 When I did use powder yes I bought it. However the majority of my clay is purchased in 50 lbs premixed moist blocks of clay. I have a plastic garbage can that I collect used clay and monitor the moisture (1/2 wet wheel work clay and 1/2 hand building clay which is drier) when I mix. We don’t have a machine to grind. If I need power I will use bone dry clay and process it by hand. I purchase all of my glazes to reduce the amount of hazardous materials I have on hand.
If you mix too long you can overheat your machine. Part of the machines new safety system is to shut off before it does overheat. My machine has a yellow/red reset switch BUT you must leave it off for at least TWO MINUTES for the system to cool and reset; switch it back and good to go! If it is an older machine it might not have this feature so my old one would constantly trip the breaker (also could mean you are mixing to dry or hard of clay). Hope that helps
After you pug, I would place the clay in a bucket that is an appropriate size that you can cycle through. In my classroom I keep a 55 gallon bucket and make sure the place the lid on right after kids take clay out. We can cycle through a 55 gallon bucket in about a a day or two. I also make sure to fill a bucket to the top before I try adding to the second bucket I have. I place the tubes of clay close together and vertical so there is very little air space, which would in rear the drying. On longer breaks like spring break I will place a plastic bag on top and make sure it was in contact with the clay and place the lid on nice and tight. If you don’t cycle through that fast you could make a habit of spraying down each day or dump water at bottom…the lowest level of clay will turn to slip but at least it would create a humid environment.
