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URL: Plainsman Clays Website - This is authored by Digitalfire and is a reference website in its own right. It provides unparalleled documentation of clays and recipes and processes used by the potter customers.
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John Porter visiting Plainsman Clays in 2023
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John took us kids under his wing way back in the early 1970s and we have all been here ever since, working together since he left in the late 70s. Left to right: Joe Schmidt, my lab co-worker; Tim Lerner, our purchasing agent; Kirk Miller, production foreman; John Porter and me, Tony Hansen.
Mel Noble at Plainsman Clay's Ravenscrag, Saskatchewan quarry
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Six different sedimentary clays are extracted from this quarry. It was opened in the 1970s, the best location available at the time. These test bars were made by slaking select lumps from each layer (thus exhibiting their best performance). The left-most dried test bars show the layers (top to bottom). The A1 top layer is the most plastic and has the most iron contamination (it is used in our most speckled reduction firing bodies). A2, the second one down, is a ball clay (similar to commercial products, although darker burning), it is very refractory and the base for Plainsman Fireclay. A3, third from top, is a complete buff high-temperature stoneware (like H550), although sandy and over-mature at cone 10. 3B, third from bottom, is a smooth medium-temperature stoneware; it contains significant natural feldspar (although fired color and particulate contamination are the most variable). The second from the bottom, 3C. fires the whitest and is the most refractory (it is the base for H441G). The bottom one, 3D, the best product in the quarry. Although the least plastic and most silty, it is also very fine particled and the cleanest (consistently free of particulate impurities and sand), it pairs very well with a ball clay to make a cone 6 stoneware.
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