Oct 22, 2026: We are working on protecting our servers against the PHP2Shell vulnerability recently discovered. Servers were upgraded ahead of schedule on Oct 21. This could cause some issues. Please contact us if you encounter any.
This plaster slab is about 5 years old. I have used it to dewater many raw clays that contain significant soluble salts. Over time they sealed the surface with a hard scum. That not only made the table slower to dewater slurries but it also significantly slowed down the time it took for water to evaporate out of it. Using this carpenter's plane I removed about half a millimetre. The blade self-sharpened. It took some experimentation to set it at a depth that would effectively remove the hard layer. I thought it would produce grooves and unevenness in the surface, but it did not. Sanding was not necessary. And the first slurry stiffened quickly, like a freshly-poured slab, and there were no bits of plaster in it.
| Glossary |
Plaster table
Essential in a pottery studio for dewatering reclaim clay, stiffening clay that is too soft or making your own clay bodies. |
![]() PayPal | No tracking, No ads, No paywall, No transient content! Just organized, concise information constantly updated and improved. Was this helpful? Consider supporting me. |
Buy me a coffee and we can talk