Hectorite

An uncommon fine-grained highly plastic clay mineral related to bentonite. Named after Hector, CA. From volcanic sources.

Related Information

Getting a start on testing Bentone

Bentone (AKA Macaloid) is a super plastic additive used to modify rheolgy in many consumer products. It is made by refining Hectorite. It is very difficult to mix pure Bentone with water, it is just so sticky and the water content is so high, it takes a week to dry a sample and it cracks into pieces during drying. I am studying five different grades for use as a plasticizer in premium porcelains. I am interested in how they stack up against the king: VeeGum T (both in price and performance). The first step was to fire square tiles of the powder on small porcelain tiles at cone 6 to compare the iron content. Three sintered into a solid mass, shrinking to about half the size. The CT grade is the natural, untreated Hectorite clay (accounting for its darker color), the processing to purify the material obviously increases its affinity for water, shrinkage and fired maturity.

Links

Typecodes	Clay Minerals The property of plasticity is evident in a wide array of materials of different mineralogy. In addition, many minerals are considered parent minerals to clays, they weather down to become these clays.
Materials	Hectorite A sodium magnesium montmorillonite that burns much whiter than bentonite (because of lower iron content).
Materials	Bentone MA
Minerals	Montmorillonite, Bentonite A clay mineral of extremely small particle size and high plasticity. Raw bentonite is generally a pa
Minerals	Smectite A highly plastic clay mineral related to montmorillonite (bentonite), more correctly, the name of th
URLs	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hectorite Hectorite on Wikipedia
URLs	http://www.handbookofmineralogy.org/pdfs/Hectorite.PDF Hectorite Mineralogy

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