I have gratefully received the news that after using their new pieces for a week, my buyer and spouse are delighted with their new pottery! PHEW!! I always get nervous with custom orders since they are buying "sight-unseen." Can't wait to get the next batch done and sent their way...As I continue to throw and trim the smaller plates, I think about what I have left out in this blog information. I realized I assumed you knew what wedging clay is all about. Now that I am throwing the smaller plates, it seems appropriate to tell you that wedging clay is like kneading bread. It is done to get the clay ready to throw: to align the clay molecules and to remove air bubbles which could cause major problems in throwing, as well as cause a blowup when the pot is fired. When the clay comes from the manufacturer, as the 500# I show in my first post, the clay only needs a touch of wedging to get it ready for centering on the wheel. That's the easy-to-use clay.
The picture shows buckets of "reclaimed" clay. All those bits and pieces that are trimmed off the leather hard pots and all the wet, messy stuff that's in the water bucket and any other clay that needs to get rewedged, all get thrown into large buckets with water and mixed together. From time to time I poke my hand in there to make sure it is all becoming evenly consistent. When that is the case, I allow it to slowly dry 'til it becomes workable and can be wedged again and thrown. I always have several buckets going in various stages of wetness. Many potters have a wonderful machine called a pugger that wedges reclaimed clay and is much faster and easier on the hands. I consider this a necessary tool for serious production potters, but for me, I can get by without it and besides, without one I'm even "greener."
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