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Louise Solecki Weir working on one of her large sculptures. Sculptors can be passionate about the clay they use. For good reason, they have a lot to lose. While it might seem that Louise would be most concerned about drying shrinkage and drying performance (resistance to drying cracks), not so. To her, the ability to re-wet sections that dry out is paramount. And she has learned to overcome drying challenges posed by the high plasticity to benefit from the smooth texture, workability and rewetability it offers. How plastic is this clay (Plainsman F96)? It is a five-equal-parts-mix of silica sand/grog, ball clay, Lincoln fireclay, a low fire red clay and a medium fire red clay (there is no feldspar or silica). All four of the clays are highly plastic to super plastic. The body's drying shrinkage would be 8% if it was not for the 20% aggregate (a mix of fine 75 mesh sand with a small complement of fine 40 mesh grog) that reduce it to 6.5%. These offer a far higher surface area than coarse grog and provide channels for water to re-enter.
Materials |
F-75 Silica Sand
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Glossary |
Plasticity
Plasticity (in ceramics) is a property exhibited by soft clay. Force exerted effects a change in shape and the clay exhibits no tendency to return to the old shape. Elasticity is the opposite. |
Glossary |
Grog
Grog is a term used in ceramics to describe crushed brick (or other fired ceramic) aggregate that is added to sculpture and structural clays to improve drying properties. |
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