Terminus

[offcntr]

Pug mill. A clay mixer. An auger in the tube mixes the clay thoroughly and forces it through a screen that catches foreign objects and cuts into air pockets. A vacuum pump de-airs the clay and the auger compresses and extrudes it again. I use mine to recycle scrap clay; some people run all their new clay through as well, rather than wedging by hand.

Pug. Clay extrusion from a pug mill. Duh.

Drying bat. Tub for drying out wet clay scrap for recycling. The simplest of these are made from cast plaster, but I don't like plaster in the studio, as scraps in the clay will cause bits to pop out after firing. My drying bat is a rectangular frame made from 2x6" pine, with a bottom made a layer of plastic window screen supported by 1/4" hardware cloth supported in turn by 1x2" strips. The whole thing is mounted on heavy duty casters to roll in and out from under my ware racks. I line it with an old bed sheet, fill it with wet scrap and fold the sheet over the top. In a couple of weeks, it's dried to a firmish mass that I can cut into blocks and run through the pug mill.

Wedging. A process of cutting up clay and slamming it on the table top, followed by kneading. This mixes wet and dry clay thoroughly, removes air pockets, and aligns the clay particles to make a denser, stronger body. I used to recycle all my scrap clay this way, before I bought the pug mill. Exhausting.