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The pugmill has been reassembled after cleaning and is ready for startup. This machine is powerful and capable of injecting a lot of energy into the material, enough that a premixer is not needed for typical body types. Clay powder and water are fed into the main mixing chamber by a screw conveyor at the far end. Dozens of blades on the rotating shaft inside cut and mix the material with the water so that by the time it has reached halfway all traces of powder are gone. At the end of the main chamber an auger delivers the soft clay to a narrowing venturi terminated by a shredder. This compresses and slices the material with dozens of tiny blades as it enters the vacuum chamber (yellow cover). This chamber, into which the main shaft extends, contains many more blades that further mix and expose as much surface as possible for de-airing. The material proceeds to a final auger that further compresses the clay and delivers it to the nose where a column is extruded for cutting to length and packaging. This combination premixing and pugging in the same machine enables a continuous process from raw lumps to powderizing to final pugged product.
Glossary |
Pugmill
The practice of removing air from clay as it is pugged. Deaired clay has better forming properties and produces a smoother fired surface. |
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Glossary |
Plainsman Clays
A clay mining and processing company in Southern Alberta since 1965. |
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