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How To MAKE CLAY FROM DIRT - 4 Simple Steps
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ส.ค. 2024
- Lots of people claim to know how to make clay from dirt, I have years of experience in this subject and I'm here to set the record straight. The true and dirty story of how to make clay from dirt.
#clay #primitivepottery
I have more in depth help for finding and processing clay in my "Native Clay 101" online workshop, look at my online workshops at ancientpottery...
How to find clay - • FIND and PROCESS CLAY ...
How to wet process clay - • Processing Native Clay...
How to form a jar from clay - • MAKE a COIL POT in les...
Clay grinder as shown in the video - amzn.to/2Gt6Rin
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Every other video that I watched goes through this long complicated process, and then I finally found this video. Thank you. Gonna make my clay tomorrow! Hope it works!
Great! I am glad you found it helpful.
Did it work?
@@AncientPottery what happens if you mix ash to it
I promise I've never googled how to make clay out of dirt I just wanted to.and it worked!the worst part was that someone through it out because they thought it was poop
Its TACOYO ooookay.
Hahahaha
😂😂😂😂
@@AncientPottery???
@@HybridParentSupport yes?
Dude, you are the nerd's nerd. I love it! Keep these videos coming! I CANNOT wait to get my hands into some Arizona clay. It'll be a fun project for me and my beloved. We should make our own plates and bowls for the kitchen.
Sounds like a fun project. I just did a video last week last week about eating off of earthenware pottery, check it out.
That jump 😂😂😂😂 top class
It’s called testing out the slow motion on my new camera and almost breaking my leg in the process.
This is great. I have seen so many of those other vids, and no one spoke about having the temper mixed in.
I have made an effort to render clay from dirt, but I want to get a few questions cleared up. I used 4 screens to filter. First, a large grate to separate the largest rocks and leaves, followed with a mesh-screen strainer which got out lots of gravel, sticks, roots, and some sand. After those two processes, I poured through a mesh 40 and mesh 60 sieve. It really got out lots of sand and silt. That rendered a very silky-smooth slurry. Overall, it took lots of time and multiple passes to really get it all filtered through the mesh 40 and mesh 60 sieves.
I poured the wet slurry into a tight-weave pillow case and hung for drying. I may have allowed too long to dry, but I pulled the resulting block apart while it was still humid. I have been spending a bit of time each day to break down the clumps by hand into a finer texture. The feel between my fingers is still very smooth.
But, having watched this and your two vids on dry and wet processes, I wonder if I've filtered out too fine a level of silt. I think I see I'll need to add sand or grog as a temper, but would you say I refined the clay particle too much?
I only yesterday spent time to attempt mixing with water again and kneaded it. I like the texture, and it seems mostly plastic, but it was still crumbling and sticking. I was able to roll, ball, and flatten, but the cohesion seemed low. However, after this vid, I think I may give it more time aging to see about finding it more plastic today than yesterday.
I would love to get a response on whether I've over-filtered the particle size by using such a fine-screen mesh to remove grit. It appears I might have to introduce a temper material. I would also love to hear a little more detail about why aging works or how aging changes the clay body.
You may have filtered too much but only experience using the clay can answer that question. Remember though that all that silt you take out is potential temper you will need to add back in which is why I usually recommend only passing it through a window screen to remove particles larger than sand. I do think you probably let it dry in the pillowcase too long, it helps to keep it in a sheltered and shaded spot so the sun and wind don't dry the clay too fast. I hope that helps, let me know how it works out for you.
one of my favorite people in the internet. Instructive, humble, no top of the counter fake personality.
Thank you so much.
you inspired me alot.. I live in palestine.. the most wonderful country.. I love any project that strength the bond between me and my land ..
Thanks for the excellent, professional video. The girlfriend and I have a small homestead in the Southeast where clay soils are abundant and we've been looking into utilizing this resource to make our own pottery. Every other video I have found were very unprofessional and lacked credibility or any informed explanation of how clay works. I'm glad this video finally showed up on my suggested videos...this is definitely the channel I've been looking for to learn all about the pottery making process. You have yourself a new subscriber.
Thanks Adam. I hope you can find answers on my channel to help you with your local clay.
Here in middle NC Indians often used quartz as a temper and those farther east used shells. I don't create large pieces (mostly replicas of pipes and ceremonial items) so I use actual ground up pottery fragments that I've collected over the years as my temper. I don't know... it kinda gives me a feeling of connection with those in the past.
Thanks for the knowledge, sir. Behind my house there's a paddyfield whose soil turns out have a high clay content so when I try to wet it, it immediately turns into good clay, i also remove the impurities and mix the clay by stomping at it while still wet. My house is in an neighbourhood that has been a pottery center for many years, so I started to interested in starting clay processing in my own house.
Awesome, I hope that works out for you. I wish my clay was so close to home.
My family just moved down that way and I am fascinated with the area..thanks for all you teach..I will be taking some classes in the future!
Thanks
Thanks for a great lesson. I used this technique to make clay this morning and I am pleased with the results so far. I had a good source of clay from a road cut on our mountain, used a small screen to get out larger pieces after rock crushing, and added some diatomaceous earth. Passed the finger test after an hour in the plastic bag.
Sounds great, happy potting!
Huge fan! I live in southern New Mexico....clay country. I am building a kiln and making clay thanks to you and your instructional videos! Subscribed!
Hey James. I love southern New Mexico, I was just in Cliff last week teaching pottery to the archaeology students there. Thanks for watching and dropping a comment.
Can't wait to start making my own planters out of local clay. thanks for the great videos. of course I'm subscribing
Thanks for the sub!
Andy, you're so cool! I recently found a basically infinite source of wild clay about 50 steps from my apartment, and it's all thanks to your videos. I'm real excited for all the stuff I'm going to make!
That's great, have fun!
I have been curious about the process of extracting, processing and using clay for years but I never got a straight answer. Can’t wait to watch your other videos!
Glad to be of help.
My first art teacher slaked river bed clay for the school n taught us from little kids how that works so thank u for the lesson and refresher 😊
That's awesome.
Absolutely awesome channel on the subject. Exactly what I was looking for.
Welcome aboard!
We have a ridiculous amount of clay in our soil where I live up in the hills by grass valley(Northern California), I dig up giant chunks of it, gonna try and process some as my wife is getting into making pottery.
That's great. It goes to show you can fin d clay anywhere because Grass Valley is in the foothills of the Sierras so wouldn't be my first place to look for clay.
Thank for adding some discussion in your video I will be looking at some other videos of yours.
Awesome, thank you!
So clay doesn't always come in reddish brown ? I thought I could just spot it with color? 👍🏾subscribed
No, clay can come in practically any color. It is about texture, not color.
I do not do pottery but in Mexico, we use clay to do the construction bricks so for more is way easy to find clay, I learned this when I was a kid, and for me is not difficult at all to detect high concentrations, in central Mexico, we have the green and gray varieties no much on the wild red, watching your videos I feel at home, I have clay in my DNA
I live very close to Mexico and have a love for adobe architecture myself. Thanks
You are adorable. I love your passion what you do. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Thanks!
I've watched this several times, I'm surprised that I haven't commented on it yet. Today it actually got above 50 degrees and I knew that a pile of topsoil we had delivered last Fall had clay in it so I went out in the rain to see if there was some unfrozen that I could get. Sure enough I found some and grabbed a tennis ball size piece. But today was brew day, I spent the day brewing a batch of beer so the clay will have to wait until tomorrow. It's soaking wet but I did easily coil it around a finger. That's tomorrow's project to play with that. :-D
That's sounds great. The beer does too. 🍺
You look a little like an older Leonardo DiCaprio!
Love the videos, they're super helpful. I've been wanting to play with the clay in my area for ages.
I used to make clay pottery for my forts as a kid with the red clay behind our garage, (sun dried and fragile, but it was fun lol!) 😂
Ps, I dunno how you don't have more subs! Hope your channel blows up so you can inspire others :^)
I am 3 years older than Leonardo. Thanks, I am glad you are enjoying my videos.
@@doodoodoodle Right? I have been saying the same thing! 😉
Fantastic to watch, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
wow i've been looking so long complicated process,Thank you.
You are welcome!
I love the trick with the corn grinder! Glad to have found your Channel
Thanks!
Thank you Andy. Great work. God bless
Very welcome
Seriously. Thank you for your channel.
You're welcome
I love the controversial opening- 'Do you want the blogger, or do you trust The Grogger?' Haha! Absolutely fantastic video and information!!! From one dirt scientist to the next ;)
5:20 Absolutely love the humor- "You'll want to mix it at a 4 to 1 ratio, which is about 20%." Lmao! Great comedy mate, meanwhile teaching good science- Keep up the good work! 👍😄
10:00 perhaps the most important part of your lesson- waiting! The longer the clay melds, like a good steak marinating, the better the end result! Thanks once again for the wonderful video! 🙏
Thanks Rick. Always trust the grogger.
This reminds me of my online archeology classes. Fond memories
Clay is awesome. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
You bet!
I’ll try make clay this way soon hopefully, great explanation ❤
Thanks
ive been wanting to make clay for so .png but all the tutorials online needed buckets and stuff but this works pretty cheep so thank you, thank you so much!
You’re welcome 😊
Now I have an excuse to play in the mud again after 50 years!
Thank you so much!
You're welcome!
I saw a vid of an old woman making comal’s in Mexico and she had to grind rocks to get her sand. She had a hand crank device, similar to the corn grinder.
Yes, I didn't invent the corn grinder for clay and temper, the natives and Mexicans have been doing it for many years. I do grind rock sometimes, there is a decomposed granite in the Huachuca Mountains that makes a terrific temper.
The rock grinding was very different. I didn’t imagine someone grinding rocks to make sand. Although I find primitive methods to be very interesting , I am not very well educated on the subject.
I’m very glad to have found your channel.
GREAT VIDEOS THANKS
You're welcome!
Hi love this channel. I am in SC what we have around here is what we call red clay. It is what is found when we go to plant our garden and is almost impossible to dig or till. I always add some Orr of dark soil in so I can plant. Some ppl work with it as it is my question is do you happen to know anything about the red dirt/ clay I am talking about? Is it usable for clay pots firing etc? We do have lots of rivers around as well. 3 hours away toward the coast is sandy soil so totally different. Was just curious if anyone has ever worked with what I am talking about. Anyone from my area knows the red clay I am speaking of it is awful for planting surly it has a use!!
Give it a try. I kn ow there are a lot of potters in NC who use locally dug clay, maybe that is similar.
hi!
listen i all the time tring to make clay but i have a problem
when i take the land of clay it have a sand and its realy Destroys my clay
i tring to separate the sand but its i`snt work
you can help me?
You can try purifying the clay this way th-cam.com/video/aryqJ5I3f2Q/w-d-xo.html but you might want to just find a better clay to work with. Many natural clays are not suitable for making pottery.
Hey Andy, I’m just wondering how you decide what temperature and method you decide to fire your pots at and why? I see you prefer the historical approach but given the clay varieties how do you decide? I’d love to try this, I have a kiln already though and I’m wondering if it would be worth firing in there
Any advice is greatly appreciated :)
My stuff is generally fired at fairly low temperatures, so I can fire just about any wild clay to around 800 C and it will work just fine. You can fire wild clay in a kiln but you need to be careful at first because you don't know at what temp it will melt. make a small tile or something, place it in a dish of fired commercial clay then fire it. If it comes out okay, try firing it a little higher. Keep go higher and higher until you find the top end for that clay.
@@AncientPottery Thank you Andy :) Good information to know!!
Hey there Andy, I've been browsing over your videos on making/refining clay, a little fore-story - I've recently moved into Maricopa Arizona from Chicago IL and I've recently taken to a fondness of chinese purple clay pottery videos I've stumbled upon through TikTok.. Long story short; the internet at my house went out for a good week, and I just got so bored that I started experimenting with attempting to refine clay from the soil/silt of my backyard. The soil - (if you can really even call it soil -- more like silty clay-like material) - is dried and cracked as your videos have mentoined about clays ability to shrink in the absence of moisture.. Originally, without looking up anything about the refining process I sort of instinctually started classifying the silt "soil" into different powder grades, then adding water slowly to create a sort of clay-like texture but not quite plastic. It has some form but its not elastic or holds together well. Anyways TL:DR I'm interested to know more about the qualities of different types of clay, where to look for higher purities, and I'd like to know definitively if I can turn the "soil" thats abundantly around my Maricopa area into clay, and what sorts of processes that you'd recommend! Thanks so much if you do ending up taking the time to read this long winded comment, and I'm happy to say that you've earned my sub and online support.
If it is "not quite plastic" I would suggest that what you have there is not really clay or doesn't have enough clay to make it really worth your time. But the good news is there is good clay in your area so just look around. Have you seen this book? amzn.to/3DL2BFS (affiliate link) It describes a white woman who learned pottery from the Maricopa Indians in that area.
@@AncientPottery Thanks! I'll take a look and maybe read up on it.
This was really interesting. On the archaeology program Time Team they did a show on one of the isolated islands off the coast of Scotland. They did a segment on this particular show that was an examination of the local clay and whether it was good enough to make pots. They used both store bought craft clay and clay straight out of the ground to show the difference and fired it in a clamp kiln using peat. From what you've shown here I'm guessing the original neolithic people on that island treated their clay the same way because the untreated clay was not plastic at all and simply cracked and broke while firing.
I actually watched that Time Team episode just last week. That clay was terrible. I seriously doubt the inhabitants of that island were using that clay, possible there was a better clay source somewhere else on the island or perhaps they were importing their pottery from elsewhere.
What made the clay bad? Organics? Seashells? I did not see the show.
@@undernetjack I think the expert they had said something about the sand/clay mix had to much sand so it would not stick together properly.
Thank you for making this video
You are welcome
How do i find good clay if there isn't any rivers near me? And can I find that good clay near a small water stream like a brook? I love your videos btw 👍
A fire pit on clay soil is rained on, and ancients make pottery from that wet clay bearing wood ash and tempered clay particles.
On the other hand, did keeping a fire going in the pit produce the first reusable pottery?
Thank you for helping others.
Thank you for making these videos...
he didnt respond to ur comment HOW SASDDDD
Thanks bro
No problem
How about making pottery out of wet clay after a rain? Is it best to work with dry material initially? Would sand mix with the wet clay or would the properties change? Thanks! I study archaeology and it is great to do technological studies to deepen understanding.
Yes, you can mix it in wet. People who live in wet climates usually find wet clay, but I live in Arizona so my clay is almost always dry.
Hi, your videos are very inspiring. I have made my first block of clay. I have a question, you showed a test to measure how much the clay shrinks, is shrinkage good or bad? One of my sample clay has 4.7% shrinkage and the other has 0%. Which one is better?
All clay shrinks some. Too much shrinkage results in broken pottery as the pot can't stay together as the clay shrinks. Also it is good to know how much your clay will shrink so you can make allowances. For example if I am trying to make a soup bowl with a 6" diameter, I want to know what the shrinkage is for the clay I am using so I can make it the correct size so it will be 6" after it is done drying.
Minute in and love it
I'm glad you like it
Finally someone with knowledge!
Thanks
And experience !
I'm making large amounts of clay from my property's red clay deposits. Is there a way to covert your volumetric 4:1 clay:sand ratio into a weight-based ratio? I've processed 22lbs of fairly pure clay so far--from the wet method--and ground into coarse powder in an old food processor.
I'm guessing I could use your formula if I tap-settle the clay in the 5G bucket it's in, measure how far up it goes, divide that by 4, and pour that much sand into an identical 5G bucket, then combine?
Experiment to see what works. It's not rocket science so if you are a little over or under it will still work. Also every clay is different, only experimentation will determine what works for your clay and you method of working.
that intro had me hooked, i would believe anything you told me in this video 😂
This was one of my early videos, watch a few others before you judge me.
So I live in an area called the "clay belt" would it be a good idea to test the plasticity before putting the extra effort in? I'm really new to doing ANY thing with clay.
Always test your clay before spending too much time processing it. Check out my most recent video which deals with testing wild clays before use. th-cam.com/video/l4QjKYP3fGk/w-d-xo.html
Nice video. My grand-mother used to replace sand by grinding pottery that cracked during firing or from overuse. Does sand work better?
No, sand is not there optimal temper ingredient, it's just the most convenient. Ground pot sherds is a great, albeit more labor intensive alternative.
Hay Andy, I'm getting into clay, bought a very small electric kiln, but what i'm finding now is that my clay, whether too wet, too dry, just right, tends to crack, especially when i'm putting in bends such as on a cup handle. I try to stretch it, it cracks. I add water, it cracks more, bend it, it cracks, and so now i'm thinking it's the clay's problem. My problem is that i live in Taiwan and my ceramics chinese is practically zero, and the local potter is somewhat xenophobic because of the covid scare that is still in full force here.... I've considered adding some quartz sand to the clay i got from him, watched a vid recently of yours where you added grog or whatever you called it, sand, to your wild clay. Any insights? Cheers, and i love your videos, been binge watching them of late.
Your clay is what they call "short" or "lean" which just means it is lacking in plasticity. Adding temper (sand or other non-plastic material) will protect against drying cracks and thermal shock in an outdoor firing, but it won't make your clay less short, in fact it will make that problem worse. You need to find a clay that has more plasticity. Even if it is just some small percentage of commercial clay mixed in.
Thank you
Welcome!
This guy is a goofball. My kind of goofball. I like him.
glad to be recognized as a goofball.
Thank you so much. Awesome video
Glad you liked it!
but what i can say it i relay love you videos and i Usually successful but this time I'm stuck i really want to make clay and my pottery and i cant
Sorry to hear that
Your a cool person
My clay is wet already (not a dry area and it was dug up while digging a large hole), so I need to dry it first to grind it and add the sand?
That is what I would do, but there is a wet process method too, some people like that better. You can learn more about the wet process here th-cam.com/video/UYlhuOgFuiA/w-d-xo.html
With all the clay i've made i've done the opposite of adding sand, i've always did my best to get all the sand out and i've never had cracking problems.
It sounds like you are fortunate to have what is called "self tempered" clay. Most clays are not like that.
@@AncientPottery good to know cause i was really curious why there was the difference.
So we mix our clay with sand, 4:1... On that same scoop count, about how many scoops of water do we add, and is 'dooblie-do' a technical term?
Just add water until you reach the right consistency, be careful not to overdo it. The dooblidoo is the description area below the video on TH-cam where you will find a text description of the video and related links.
He says in the beginning that he's old....he looks only about 54-65 years old, which is middle age and not old. Considering people are now living 85-103 years now.
It’s all relative isn’t it. And old doesn’t have to mean elderly, it can also mean I have been around the block a few times, have lots of life experience. I was 48 when I made this video.
Can we add something to the clay to make it lighter in color?? Tia
Add a lighter colored clay or go out and find a light colored clay in the first place. Clays come in many different colors. If a clay is not the color I want, I just paint it with a slip of clay that is the desired color th-cam.com/video/FGj-hyKZ8eM/w-d-xo.html
I'm just curious why you wouldn't add regular Grog to it? Grind up old pots question marks the reason why I ask is because there must have been a reason why Grog is better since and because they've been using Grog they found out by archaeological sites finding piles of Grog being ground up when sand is clearly all around them so there must be a benefit
It depends on the culture whose pottery I am trying to recreate. Some people traditionally used sand and others used ground pot sherds so I use both depending on what I am making. Sand is just easier to acquire for most people, this video was made to provide easy to follow instructions.
I love your videos
Thank you
Good tips. I harvested creek clay, gray in color, south of Lake Erie. Will let it age more. How can we tell if there is too much silt?
Just see if it is plastic enough to form a pot with, if not then it probably has too much non-clay material like silt.
Did/do you roast your temper to a grog before mixing it with clay or is this normal sand un- roasted???
I have never roasted my temper but I have heard of this.
Have you tried making clay from dirt? If so let me know how it came out in a comment.
Ive made one already
Yes but that dried away.
Is there any more clay in the red soil in GA and SC?
I have never looked for clay in those places but I have been told that there is a lot of good clay in GA and SC.
Can you use crushed eggshells as sand?
Summer David I’ve never tried that but I’m not sure that would work well. Why not sand?
I’ve seen orange, whitish gray, red, clay every time I wentto work. I tried using it but always came out grainy. i gave up as a teen but looking back into it
Awesome, I hope it works out for you
Isn't this funny I just googled How to make Clay from dirt and this came up. Damn Got an expert right off the bat.
Will wonders never cease?
@@AncientPottery I hope not great minds wouldn't be great if Wondering ever ceased
Nothing to say man you are so cool in this
Thanks
Hello. I have a question. I live in an area where long ago it used to be ocean. I have heard that here would be a good place to gather clay. Is this true?
Perhaps. But you know oceans can vary right? Some beaches are sandy, some are pebbly or rocky. But some ancient ocean bed deposits do have very high quality clay. Look around and see what you can find. You might enjoy this video I did. th-cam.com/video/nqiJJDzR3vw/w-d-xo.html
If you keep a bucket of water with some of that clay in it just a slurry down at the bottom in a while not too long at all it will start smelling like sulfur it's not sulfur its I can't remember the name of the gas it's caused by a bacteria. Hydrogen sulfide that's what it is use that water to mix your new batches of clay and it'll speed up the plasticity rating a great deal
This one I haven't tried before. thanks.
I let it sit for 3 days now. Still didnt seperate. Brown colored . What does it mean
Some clays will not settle. Usually this is related to Ph level, adding some vinegar may help, otherwise you will just need to wait for it to evaporate.
Can you use crushed rock as sand?
Absolutely
👋 hi, what type of sand do you use??
Because I live in Arizona, I just go to a dry creek and collect sand from there. So it's pretty ordinary sand.
You remind me of John Denver which is cool. Your random run and jump was epic and made me smile. Excellent video. Thank you very much :) ...oh but 4/1 isn't 20% :p
Thanks Rock. But you are wrong. 1/4 is 25% but a 4 to 1 ratio is not 1/4, it is 1/5 which is 20%.
@@AncientPottery Ah poo you're right haha My arrogance gets the best of me sometimes. I've just begun playing with clay and it's fun! Have you ever considered using one of those fidget spinners under your boards? there's gotta some potentiel there eh?
I would like 2 ask if clay can also b made with soil also
Dirt and soil are the same thing. And as I said, all clay is dirt but not all dirt is clay. So it totally depends on the soil in question and it's makeup.
@@AncientPottery thank u 4 the info
There is a couple year old thing of clay at a park somewhere in the world because nobody would talk with me so I started playing with the dirt
Dirt is such a universal play thing, kids all love playing in the dirt and some adults too.
Andy I have a few questions, do you ever add urine to your clay as you mix? What is the longest you have aged clay? Do you ever work clay from higher elevations there in AZ where the clays go through a freeze thaw cycle? Thanks for all the great video.
No, I would not want urine in my clay. I have never aged clay more than a few months. Much of the are where I collect gets below freezing in the winter, but never more than a couple inches deep. You are welcome.
@@AncientPotteryThanks for the info Andy. I have always wondered if maybe the grad students were messing with us undergrads as we were learning to mix clay from dry componants. We did have some clay bodies that had the addition of uric acid. I can't remember why. I do remember a class where we were learning some history and were told that Korean potters would bury clay prepared according to long kept family recipes as a gift for their grandchildren when the kiddos would enter the family business. The freeze thaw cycle for 25 plus years is reported to make clay very buttery.
Subscribed
Thanks for that.
I’m a high school art teacher and want to know how you can tell what cone to fire a clay you make?
You need to make a little pot or a tile or something, place it in a larger bowl or something that is already fired, then fire to a low temp. If it makes it without melting try a higher temp. Keep trying hotter and hotter until you find the temperature at which your clay melts.
@@AncientPottery thank you
I LUV TUCSON
Well I live here and probably like it somewhat less than you do.
@@AncientPottery That bad? hmmm ! I GOT IT...Sierra Vista or Bisbee better parking,weather,less light pollution oh the stars and the people have good jobs less crime, beautiful Sky Islands The Huachucas spirit of the Nde Hua'ache.
@@bubbazametti2292 I grew up and lived much of my adult life in Sierra Vista, much better.
Um my ceramic teacher asked me what type of dirt can be made into clay can u help me?
The type of dirt that can be made into clay is dirt that has a high percentage of clay. I'm not sure what else could be said about that.
Can i make clay out of any kinds of soil and it will be strong if its hard?
Short answer: no.
I processed clay, it was hanging in a bag for 2 days now it is dry & crumbles. Does that mean it is no good' too much sand or debris, or just too dry & I can I revive it?
Oh, you dried it too long. You are only supposed to dry until the clay becomes plastic. You can re-wet and re-dry as necessary.
@@AncientPottery thank you
I noticed that your sand is quite course and much larger than the "Sugar sand" I have in my area. Is there any problems with using much finer Sand?
No finer sand is preferable, the course sand is just what I have available.
Do you have to use sand? I dont have any source of sand around. Any other options? I'm going to use this clay for taxidermy, it will air dry on the form to sculpt the faces better and hold down the eyes and not be fired then glue will be layered ontop of it then the hide. Could I just use the clay itself without sand?
You need to add some form of non-plastic material or your clay will crack when it dries. You could use animal hair, grass clippings, ground charcoal, diatomaceous earth, almost anything that is not plastic when wet.
Great video! I made my clay within 10 minutes and that’s insane! Very Very helpful video
Nice work!
Groove Tunes
Thanks
"Gee I've been thinking it'd be nice to have clay without buying it, but there's none I can get near me from natural, diggable sources. These vloggers and enthusiasts say I can just flood regular topsoil with water and strain, filter, and dry it to get some low quality clay....but what does this professional say I should do?"
The professional: How to make clay from dirt? Easy! Skip making it from dirt! Step 1, dig up some clay :D
"..."
I suppose most dirt has some amount of clay particles in it, but the yield of clay from average topsoil will be disappointingly small.
Well,its not like the clay knows how long you have been making pottery or digging it..if you understand what is going on in a scientific matter so to speak...then you will have good clay to work with. I have little to no experience with pottery and I have processed good quality clay to make crucible for my home foundry.
😊👍