Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this video and are interested in finding and processing wild clay, then check out my wild clay playlist here th-cam.com/video/ca20JkKFAcE/w-d-xo.html
Here where I live in the Midwest USA, we have an excellent and deep layer of growing soil and unless you’re getting clay from a riverbank you have to dig at least 3-6ft down to reach the clay layer. However I found an easier way. I just look around for the nearest Fox den! They dig a small tunnel straight down to the clay layer and then dig a larger den out of the clay because the clay is less likely to collapse. This means that outside every Fox hole there’s a HUGE mound of loose clay already dug by little Fox claws!! A single Fox den can yield up to six 5gal buckets full! I’ve processed and used ‘foxhole’ clay for years and it’s great!
Dude. I just want to say you guys that give your secrets are really ok. I’m 65 years old and wanted a hobby. My grand daughter turned me on to clay I’m impressed.
I think it's amazing that you are keeping up, and teaching us, ancient pottery techniques. Though I'm admittedly not that great at it, but I've loved using clay since I was, well, VERY little. I grew up and live in Oklahoma that is notorious for its red clay soil. I remember playing in my backyard digging up clay to sculpt with. My mom told me that I started doing it at TWO years old and making flowers with it!
I found a large vein of light gray clay in a construction site I was working, grabbed a 5 gal bucket of it, it has some brown clay dirt that adheared to it while harvesting. Came from a site thats from bottom land in a valley not far from an existing river stream. It's a very fine and smooth slick material, no odor. Came to this page to figure out what to do with it.
You made a believer out of me, who's new to pottery. I dug red iron clay from Northeast Texas, so it's likely close to Caddo tribe materials. I sifted it and got all the powder out. All the clay pebbles that wouldn't pass thru a flour sifter I separated and then ground with a rock against a piece of MDF, and then flour sifted that pile and used the finer particles. The consistency was perfect; made nice snake coils. Took a short time to make about 5 lbs. We'll see how it fires. Thanks for helping.
I know you are no fan of wet processing, but you might be interested in what I'm learning anyway. I've watched some of your wet processing vids and from other channels. I saw comments on one of yours about using a plaster bat. As well as seeing some side of the road pottery operations from India and elsewhere. Here's what I'm doing now to good effect. Get a piece or three of plywood. Make them as wide as you feel comfortable grabbing to carry/move around by as maybe 18" deep. Wet process, pour off water, let stand, pour... When about milkshake thick, maybe a little thinner, start dipping out with a cup or whatever. Pour onto plywood in the sun carefully. Come back in a little while with a trowel and smooth from wet areas to dry areas. Repeat as needed. Pour more on top, repeat., repeat, ... I hate using bags with a passion I've learned. This is a bit more work, but faster and way less messy/sloppy. I think I'm going to make a pan from plywood and some trim wood for a lip. Then just pour a thin layer, wait a bit and do another pour until my bucket is empty. Thanks for the vids. I'm working on my first ever project. A wood fired forge. Using local clay instead of buying a bunch of fire bricks at 5 bucks a pop. Fingers crossed. Next up will be a wok stove. Then who knows, but I'm having fun.
Lot of good food for thought in here, Andy. My local clay absolutely needs to be levigated, so it has to start out wet. (I tried using it as is, but the fine silt and sand it contains is like ball bearings, and the stuff just doesn't hold together while working it.) I originally tried to let it dry to the point that it seemed the right plasticity, then I would add in my temper wet. I had to estimate the amount of shrinkage still remaining in order to figure out the temper volume. That definitely was a lot of trouble, and required almost pinpoint timing. Now I just let it dry completely, then mill it in an old cement mixer. I can pour in a batch and then walk away until it's ready. I also need to add in 1% smectite to give it enough plasticity, and that also has to be dry. Your other point about tempers of different sizes was one I'd never thought of before. I have dune sand and volcanic ash, the first medium-fine, the other like flour. I've been experimenting with each one individually, but I never thought of mixing them. Still struggling with drying cracks, do you think a size mixture would help?
Good comment Dave. As you have discovered, any clay that has a large percentage of non-plastic material will need to be wet processed to remove that and make the clay more plastic. So dry processing is best used on clays that start out at least 70% pure clay. I have to wonder if some better clay is available to you, along the Colorado River or in some of those dry lake beds they have in that country. The size of temper could make a difference in your cracking, it is worth a try. But you also indicated that your clay is also lacking in plasticity, so perhaps you really need to find a better source of clay.
@@AncientPottery I've got one nearby dry lake bed that I've made several attempts to work with. It's even worse, cracking below the bonding pinch while I'm adding coils. There's another more distant lake bed with a different surrounding geology I plan to try at some point. We're a long way off from the Colorado River, otherwise I'd sure be focusing on it. The clay I'm using is actually a joy to work with once it's formulated. It just needs to be really babied through the drying process. I've had a few successes, and I really love the color and texture of the fired clay. I just need to be more consistent in how I protect it during drying.
Drying cracks could come from your clay having a high shrink rate, like more that 13 percent. Have you tried wrapping in plastic for a slower and more even drying and shrinkage? EDIT.. oops I just saw your post , it seems you do wrap
@@coopart1 Hi, Jeff. Our local clay shrinks about 10-11% when drying, so it's not too bad in that respect. Part of the problem is our extreme low humidity, typically less than 10% and often close to 5%. Things dry really, really fast. I first went with just covering the pot in cloth, but that wasn't nearly enough. Even after starting to use plastic, I would take a pot out for scraping and smoothing after a couple of days, and it would begin to crack in minutes while I was still working on it. Adding the small amount of smectite helps some, but the real trick is that I have to frequently hit it with spritzes of water spray while its exposed. It's not something that I can set on the shelf for a few days and fire at the end of the week. Also, I've discovered that tempers are different. I began using 20% very fine volcanic ash temper, and that doesn't seem to work well. 30% works better for me, but 20% sand from a local dune seems to be even better. I'm actually making progress, I have a pot drying now that looks like it's going to make it, and I think ultimately it will be worth it!
@@llanitedave cool deal ! It’s rewarding when you make troublesome clay workable , I live in very dry climate as well, one good thing is I can make test tiles of clay and paint in the morning and fire them that evening ! Cheers
I really enjoy watching your videos; I appreciate your thought process & the way you lay out the information. The way you teach is clear, quick, & very efficient!
Personally, I prefer to do a mixed method of processing clay. I like to collect it and then process it down to powder. But for mixing in temper I prefer to mix it wet mostly because even with the wind the dust is too much to handle.
A sleu of reasons. But seriously if anyone considered wet processing they need to watch your wet processing video. Your face at the end tells the story. 👍
I'd argue that low effort, undemanding and efficient are three ways of saying the same thing, but I get the picture. You save time and effort and it stores well. Thanks.
I tried out the dry processing with some new clay I found and it does seem easier, great tips, thank you! I was hesitating till now because I didn't have a corn grinder, but actually I grind the clay by hand: in Sweden all clay you can find still has some humidity in it, so it's not hard to do so with rubber gloves or without, and you can pick out the stones more easily as you feel them. I don't grind it down to powder like this, but I guess I can kneed it several times and let it stay to homogenize. It is great to be able to stock clay dry indefinetely as you said. My other limiting factor was that I didn't find any clay as everything is covered by snow here for 6 months and when it melts you find out that most of the clay is buried under several meters of silt and sand due to the land uplift and the shifting deltas which follow the receding sea since the ice cover melted here some 10000 years ago... but I did find clay at a construction site fortunately where machines dig into the soil and it is everywhere in the valleys, but just deep down. Balint
Awesome, glad too hear you are having success with wild clay. Construction sites are a great place to find clay, I heard from somebody recently who was getting clay from well drillers. You probably have glacial clay in Sweden, something we don't have in Arizona.
Yes we do have glacial clay, although the one I got I presume is postglacial, but I can't be sure: it is upon unsorted gravely silt which is glacial and underneath sorted silt which is postglacial (glacial clay is often followed directly by postglacial clay and is found in the same places on the edges of river valleys so it is not easy to distinguish them). It has a lot of silt in it and at first I made the mistake to add 20% sand: it became very sandy; I made nevertheless a beaker of it with coarse decoration and rustication. I made another beaker with pure clay which went a lot better: it is a clay you can burnish for a long time-span at several times, probably because it's got naturally silt in it instead of the sand I used to add as temper. It does not seem to need more temper to add to it. I'm curious about how it fires but have to wait now for drying.
If you make a plaster bat out of plaster of paris, you can wet process and dry it for use on less than 1 hour, I've done it just about every way possible, I don't know why people are afraid to ppur the clay into a pillowcase or t shirt because of product loss, I never lose but less than 5 percent, however my favorite way is using a plaster bat to dry and wedge the clay, for me its the best way to get the clay as pure as possible. Like stated though, whatever works for you the best is the best way...there is no wrong way to do it as long as the end result is successful. Cheers!!
@@AncientPottery The wet process and levigation is my preferred method, then pouring the slip onto a plaster bat to dry the clay, although I have been doing the pouring into a cotton t-shirt and hanging it to dry only because I'm working on building up a new studio, once I build a table with a plaster top, then that will be my method. When I get set up I plan on posting videos on my methods as well. I'll keep you posted. I've only been doing pottery for a hanfull of summers, never once have I used store boight clay, I dont know why im so attracted to indigenous clays, but ever since I was a kid clay has fascinated me. Perhaps it's my Tsalagi heritage, I've always been into arts and building things as well. I love the potter community though, everyone is always so welcoming. I hope to make it out to AZ and attend a convention soon.
Yes, a lot of the eastern Native groups used shell temper. This works great as long as you keep your firing temperature below about 820 C, otherwise you get calcium pops.
Wow! I really like that this is storable. I am wondering however, if dry method is easier for people who live in arid regions whereas maybe people who live in humid areas might like the wet method. In an arid region, the clay collected may be dry and crumbly already. Being new at this, I must figure out what works best with my clay & climate by trying all you recommend. I bet labor factors into what people like, too. The grinding looks like it takes big muscles. In an area where it is humid like GA, it may have to lay it out for awhile to dry out. I laid out clay on tarps from digging to plant trees, and those shovels of clay clumps never dried out through a drought of several weeks. But, maybe it needs to be broken up more first? But, thing is, waiting for that to happen, is a lot like just laying it out in a pillowcase to drain the water, or in a container to evaporate the water. After watching all your videos and the ones you've recommended on processing clay, but having no experience, except waiting for the clay to dry which never happened, makes me wonder if dry clay in a dry climate may as well stay dry while processing and storing, and moist clay, in a humid climate may as well stay moist. One thing is certain, the only way to find out is to get my hands dirty.
I tried it like it. Dry is great. Just took longer to dry out the lumps and crush down since my clay always starts out wet. But awesome video as usual.
Trying to thoroughly dry *anything* in a humid mid-atlantic summer isn't always an option ;-) I see your points though. I've gotten better at wet refining my clay (kaolin-rich light gray Delaware stuff) but I've also gotten more cracking in the process. My clay has a lot of mica and silt in it straight out of the ground. If I leave the silt and stuff in, the clay is limp and structurally difficult to work with but seems to crack less. If I remove it and add back sand and grog to temper, I get more cracks. Trying to find the happy medium.
You have to get to know your clay. Hey, good idea for a new video. Anyway thanks for that perspective. I have lived in damp climates before (Louisiana and Washington State) but never tried to dry clay in those places.
i paid less than 100 for my cement mixer, and it can eat yer corn grinder fer breakfast. (1) the cement mixer can grind up anything a corn grinder does. still wet here. i just pour a little of the sand over with the clay. being me, i never measure things. i cook bread and don't measure. i just know. (2) my clay gets no checking. it's settling in covered buckets. (3) my clay can sit in the bucket forever. i can keep a tiny bit of water pooled over it. i could just let it dry for that matter. (+++) silicosis of the lungs is baaaad news, but there must be dust to cause it. dust you are putting all over your shop. by the way, you clean up your shop every day, i imagine. how often do you think i sweep around the cement mixer? when it comes to this wood firing, you the man. i still have too much breaking. but dry clay? nah.
Totally agree. Unfortunately my local clay is filled with rocks and sand, about 40%. Wet processing works but its a PITA. Then if you want to dry out the finished clay and grind it up for storage it often gums up the grinder. I never thought of grinding up the course sand, good idea.
@@AncientPottery Haha, my clay is about 70% sand. Its ball/bentonite, loaded with iron laden gravel and a superfine powdered sand. Im going to send you some and watch you struggle 😉
My firings are fairly quick, less than an hour. I have a lot of firing videos you should check them out, here is a good one th-cam.com/video/ztLn3BsYuJ8/w-d-xo.html
I make purely utilitarian pots for holding food I grow and preserve, and I can sorta cheat, I found a spot of good clay with very minimum roots in it, so I just break off wet chunks the size of a cup coaster and run my hands through it to find any big rocks, then I start my pile of slabs that have been picked through and then add temper which makes it super easy
@@AncientPottery exactly, I pull from a dry creek bed that fills every rain, so I'll wait for the day after the rain when it's the perfect texture for what I like, then I harvest enough for a few pieces and process it very minimally.
We planted some bushes and shrubs in my yard and Flagstaff and saw some awesome looking chunks of what looks like very pure clay so I've decided I'm going to try and process it to use it. Can you do a combination of wet and dry processing?
I just came across your channel, and it’s fascinating! I can’t wait to dig in more. I am curious though-are you not worried about silicosis when doing this indoors and without a respirator?
Dry processing: generally easier overall and generally produces a more local unique clay Wet processing: results in a more refined/filtered clay that is likely more consistent between batches (due to filtration)
Hi Andy! I realize that I was putting much more sand into the clay as you were, because I "wet process" (actually I buy the clay) using the same measure of 1/5 and when you dry process, the clay has a much smaller volume. Maybe I should put less sand than 1/5 and I could benefit from a higher plasticity of the material.
Love your videos, lots of good information. So with wet processing you know the temper is removed and you add 20% sand right?. Now with dry processing temper isn't removed so how do you know how much sand you need to add? It would seem like you wouldn't need as much sand in dry processing. I defer to your wisdom :)
You are correct. But even if you use wet processing the 20% is just a starting place, you will need to do some experiments and find out what works for your clay. Maybe this video will help th-cam.com/video/l4QjKYP3fGk/w-d-xo.html
Very useful information. Do you have any thoughts about whether clay is improved by storing wet? I see many references to the way wet storage lets the clay ferment (for want of a better word) and become more malleable.
I really like the storage aspect of dry processing. The main thing I'm wondering is do you just grind in the small amounts of bio material like dry grass or bits of pine needles?
I will say wet method is an excellent method for getting clay out of the ground in places where clay is hard to find. I once had to process buckets and buckets of sand and water to get enough clay to work but dry is definitely better where you can collect clay by the handful. Also, Andy, you could take the hand crank off your corn grinder and hook up an electric corded drill and really work through your clay super fast with zero effort lol Also for the wet method, you COULD hand knead It and wear yourself out, or you could throw it Into an old dough mixer and toss in your dross and a bit of water and let it do the work for you too 😁👍
I actually have a friend who has his corn grinder hooked up to an electric motor, which works real good to automate the process. If your clay is not pure enough then you need to use the wet method to remove some of the impurities.
@@AncientPottery aw yeah true. Forgot about impurities like sand or roots and stuff. I'd still be curious to know if a dough mixer could automate the hand mixing portion of the wet process 😁
You had sold me on dry processing in an earlier video. But you definitely make a strong case for it here. I guess the thought that always nags at me is, how do I know my clay, is actually clay? What I have now I dug up during a thaw last winter when I was all excited about doing this. I've let it dry so I can dry process it. But, sure it has shrunk, it felt plastic when I was digging it last winter. But there's still that nagging thought, what if this isn't clay? I guess clay is dirt. It's not organic material, it's not sand, so what ever is left is clay enough? lol I probably just have to go for it and see what happens and learn from experience. I have this bad habit of wanting to have it ALL figured out.
I'm a bit confused. For dry processing you just mill the clay? I would have to dry it a bit, the clay is pretty moist here. But I wouldnt need to separate it from the dirt? Just need a little bit of clarification.
A lot of wild clay is naturally pure enough to use as is, sorted by nature into an acceptable level of purity. Dry processing will only work for those clays that are relatively pure to start with.
Ground up, fired pottery (grog), volcanic ash, diatomaceous earth. See this video for more info about temper and possible materials to use th-cam.com/video/uZZdLLCO8Iw/w-d-xo.html
wet ADN dry method? I add temper to very wet clay while still in the pillow case (still eyeballing the mix ratio) but it's a quick and easy process and adding temper helps to dry up the clay faster. OR When the clay it's almost almost ready I remove it from the pillow case, roll it in a thin layer (about 1/4" thk.) on a unpainted plywood panel and let it dry. once bone dry (24 hours are usually more than enough in a sunny and/or windy spot), I can grind it as per dry method and then add temper. Make sense to you?
That’s all good Andy, but what if the material we collect has a lower percentage of clay to dirt/soil/silt. I’d love to be able to dry process, but everything I’ve found in my area has too low a clay content and to get workable clay, I need to wet process. Happy days if you live in a place that has good workable clay bodies.
Sure, not everybody has the luxury of the dry process method, I said it was the best method not the only method. Those that need to purify their clay should try using paint strainer bags to remove all larger particles.
Hey... Jay from Canada... Ok so i saw earlier in the summer I found a we have a nice clay pit with a creek and noticed in the créek all the tumbled clay pieces... Right away I thought of trying my hand at pottery then left it at that... It sat in my mind most of the summer while I passed the creek going on other outdoor adventures. With winter quickly approaching and prepping for the cold months ahead cutting firewood i was thinking can i make primitive pottery from home so i looked up some videos... Found your channel and thought lets give it a try... I first gathered some sand from one of the sandy beaches near by and sived that out. Then i went to the creek and harvested some clay i figured pick out the rock looking pieces due to that they are sticking in clumps already as apoose to the sandy stuff that dosent stick...now do i just let it dry then break it up or do i break it up and let it dry??? How dry should ot be ect???
You could just let it sit out and dry. But with cool and damp weather that could take quite a while. I don't have much experience processing clay in a cool place in the fall
If it starts getting dusty I stop and leave. My studio is a back porch that is well ventilated. I mix the clay in the back yard. It’s not dusty, I don’t allow it to get dusty. People think it is but I wish I could invite them all over to see that the process is totally un-dusty.
It’s called temper and it helps the clay dry more evenly and protects against thermal shock in the firing. I made a video about temper here th-cam.com/video/uZZdLLCO8Iw/w-d-xo.html
Hi Andy, couldn't you just wet process it then let it totally dry out, crush and add temper then store ? It just would seem less work than adding temper when wet. and as you pointed out it stores better dry.
But if u are dry processing clay , how do u remove things like leaves , grass roots, worms , soil critters etc ? , ( total newbie , I havent made anything yet. )
Hi, I'm using red clay, very clean but processing it anyway, and fine almost white quartz sand as my temper. Is quartz ok to use and what ratio?? Learning a lot from your videos!!!
Hi Andy we are brand new in this field but want to ask about wood ash glaze where and when to put it on. can we let the clay dry, put the wood ash glaze on and let it dry completely and then burn it on the fire? sorry for our English we have used google translate and it does not sound quite right (translated from Danish)
I never glaze, and do not know the first thing about wood ash glaze. I am pretty sure you will need much higher temperatures than I can get with the way I fire to turn wood ash into a glaze. If you want to see how I fire check out this video th-cam.com/video/ztLn3BsYuJ8/w-d-xo.html
I don't know of any way to fix it so you can use it. I mean you can glue it but then the glue may contaminate your food and the heating might even cause it to come apart. Maybe this is an opportunity to make yourself a new pot. th-cam.com/video/Oboza8SfaZI/w-d-xo.html
In wet processing you pour off a large portion of non-clay material. How do you get usable clay from dry processing? Wouldn’t there be non plastic dirt, particles, etc? Are you just more selective of the dirt you are collecting?
I am definitely collecting only clay, so there is a limited amount of non-clay material. The thing is I remove the impurities when wet processing but then I add impurities back into the clay in the form of temper. With this method I allow the naturally occurring impurities to act as temper.
Ah, you must be new here. Welcome 🤗 I have been following the channel for a long time now and can say that Andy has generously included his methods of selecting/collecting clay from different areas in some of his earlier videos.
I dump a lot of organic matter out of the cement mixer and screen lots more out. i'm using stuff from a friend who does oilfield work, i can have a few tons any time i want it, but it might have a piece of concrete or some such in it. Andy is meticulously picking up stuff from the claybank and he would throw away a leaf right there. and he makes a righteous olla.
I am learning about clay and pottery because I want to start doing some stuff with it and I have a question that maybe stupid but here it is... Can I use cement as the temper?
Thank you for the quick reply the reason why I thought about using cement is because I want to make a small pizza oven with clay. But you're the expert so I thank you for your advice.
Lime? No! Lime is calcium which you should avoid like the plague in pottery, I don't need to do experiments to know that. I have had a few bad experiences with calcium in the past though.
@@AncientPottery ok i understand you! however, I heard some time ago that some people put lime when making bricks, to supposedly prevent cracking when drying in the sun, and I'm just interested in how the clay will behave, so for the test I mixed a small amount of liquid clay with 20% lime, for three or four days the result for me to be convinced of your statement 😁 ... thank you again for your answer! 😉
Hi Andy, where I’m getting my clay from, there are a lot of larger stones and smaller stone mixed in with it. I don’t have a corn grinder unfortunately, so I will have to grind mine on a stone but what do I do about all the rocks, I don’t think I could grind those with a stone? I’m trying to work out how to get the clay and not the stones. Cheers Noni
If you can, pick the stones out manually as you are processing it. If there are too may for that then you will need to go to wet processing and pass it through a screen.
I’ve never tried it but if you have access to brick powder that should work fine. The particles could be course like sand or fine, do some experiments to find out what you like best.
What about aging wet clay with bio agents like apple cider vinegar? That reacts to bentonite but also creates microbial interactions that can add to plasticity?
I did mention these sorts of things briefly in this video. And I said that they make very little difference. Such things can make a good clay a little better but cannot make a bad clay good.
@@maggiefranks6849 sorry Maggie I was confused. The video I was referring to was this one. The Worst Wild Clay Ever (and what to do about it) th-cam.com/video/VdkjntdO4G0/w-d-xo.html
@@AncientPottery np and ppreciate your advice I am an artist exploring primitive skills Sticks, weaving and clay Also in AZ and I recognize the pit from your other video
My question is do you add 20% temper for the dry processing? The thing I'm stuck on is if the wet has no impurities and the dry does why do they both get 20% to both wouldn't the dry have too much?
20% temper isn’t a hard rule, it is merely a starting place. Every clay is different and needs to be treated as such, some may need 30% or more, some may need none at all. This is true for clay that is wet or dry processed.
Great video! I'm wondering, what happens to the process of improving your clay through 'aging' if it is stored dry? Should the quality of the dry-processed clay be so ideal that aging/levigating is only necessary for not-so-great clays? Thanks!
No, if your clay needs aging to be usable, then dry processing won't improve that, you will still need to hydrate your clay and wait the allotted time. I find this varies quite a bit between clays, while some benefit from aging, many do not improve significantly after a few hours. But many wild clays that can be stinky can be used with minimum stink by mixing and using quickly. The longer those clays sit around wet the nastier they get.
@@AncientPottery Ha! That was the case for my dry lakebed clay. I hydrated and wedged up one batch that ended up sitting in the bag for a couple of months while I got interrupted by other things. When I took it out I could barely see the clay for all the mold. And no, that did NOT improve the working qualities any! I ended up throwing it out.
Simple question, when wet processing why don't you add and mix the temper to the clay while it is much wetter and looser, rather than have to knead it in when it is hard to add?
This video is not about wet processing. If you add the temper to the clay while it is liquid the temper will settle to the bottom and will require kneading. If you add the temper to the clay while too dry it will sit on top and require kneading. I suppose there is a perfect level of dryness where you could mix the temper and it would stay in place but it would be very hard to add the temper at the exactly right moment. So I will stick with dry processing which is easier and better as this video makes clear.
@@AncientPottery Sorry, I had a few of your videos open at the same time and posted to the wrong one. Thanks for the reply, that makes sense. I appreciate that dry is probably the better method in the vast majority of cases but to a complete layman with neither a deadline for drying out or a robust grinder, wet seemed like an accessible (if imperfect) option. I'm just giving it a go with stuff I have to hand.
If sand would sink, and charcoal presumably floats then I wonder if there is a temper that is roughly the same density as clay that would be neutrally bouyant. I know you mentioned crushed old pottery (shards) in another video. Without the benefit of experience that sounds like it might work.
New to wild clay and have a few questions. Where do you get dry clay? is it the same dirt you would use to render wet clay? if so, how do you know what percentage is actually clay? Finally, isn't it possible to have too much temper? i.e. your dirt is already 20% sand before you grind it then you add another 20%, also what about silt content? I understand how in wet processed clay all these things are separated, how does that work with dry processed clay/dirt? Thanks!
With dry processing the impurities become temper, it is a more natural process that uses the whole buffalo. You should check out this video th-cam.com/video/ca20JkKFAcE/w-d-xo.html
Well that was fun! Okay, as I mentioned I gathered some dirt last winter and I levacated it. However ya spell that, and I put the bucket of, what I THOUGHT was the clay in my entry room and left the other bucket of sand and silt on the porch. I just found out I had the wrong bucket inside. BUT alas, the more processed clay is much better but it won't keep a shape. I roll it into a cigar shape and it just breaks The other bucket has very fine dust in it, I am guessing sand. I wonder if I can use that for temper? Anyway, I am correct in thinking that I need to process this clay more and go find me some better dry clay to play with. It should be able to be shaped into a cigar shape and bend around my finger, right? The weather is finally nice, the garden is in, it's finally time to get into making some pottery! 😁
I've been experimenting with paper clay with 10-30% paper. The fibers makes the clay act much better when attaching handles etc. The problem is the paper will get moldy in wet clay if not used immediately. Your dry clay sounds the perfect match for using paper clay. You motivated me to get a corn grinder and just as luck would have it, the same one you're using was on sale at Walmart for on $20! Of course I'm not going to use that Native American clay given to me by that Hopi potter for paper clay. Although I've noticed in some of the Acoma pottery I've collected when one broke it almost had a texture of clay mixed with paper. The Jimez seems better quality clay with much more strength.
Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this video and are interested in finding and processing wild clay, then check out my wild clay playlist here th-cam.com/video/ca20JkKFAcE/w-d-xo.html
Levigation is my new favorite word lol
Here where I live in the Midwest USA, we have an excellent and deep layer of growing soil and unless you’re getting clay from a riverbank you have to dig at least 3-6ft down to reach the clay layer. However I found an easier way. I just look around for the nearest Fox den! They dig a small tunnel straight down to the clay layer and then dig a larger den out of the clay because the clay is less likely to collapse. This means that outside every Fox hole there’s a HUGE mound of loose clay already dug by little Fox claws!! A single Fox den can yield up to six 5gal buckets full! I’ve processed and used ‘foxhole’ clay for years and it’s great!
Awesome, thanks for sharing. I imagine constructions sites might bring it up too.
Dude. I just want to say you guys that give your secrets are really ok. I’m 65 years old and wanted a hobby. My grand daughter turned me on to clay I’m impressed.
Awesome, so glad that you have found my videos useful. Have fun!
I think it's amazing that you are keeping up, and teaching us, ancient pottery techniques. Though I'm admittedly not that great at it, but I've loved using clay since I was, well, VERY little. I grew up and live in Oklahoma that is notorious for its red clay soil. I remember playing in my backyard digging up clay to sculpt with. My mom told me that I started doing it at TWO years old and making flowers with it!
Oklahoma has a lot of great clay. Thanks
I found a large vein of light gray clay in a construction site I was working, grabbed a 5 gal bucket of it, it has some brown clay dirt that adheared to it while harvesting. Came from a site thats from bottom land in a valley not far from an existing river stream. It's a very fine and smooth slick material, no odor. Came to this page to figure out what to do with it.
Congrats on going over 25,000 subscribers. Woo Hoo!
🎉
You made a believer out of me, who's new to pottery. I dug red iron clay from Northeast Texas, so it's likely close to Caddo tribe materials. I sifted it and got all the powder out. All the clay pebbles that wouldn't pass thru a flour sifter I separated and then ground with a rock against a piece of MDF, and then flour sifted that pile and used the finer particles. The consistency was perfect; made nice snake coils. Took a short time to make about 5 lbs. We'll see how it fires. Thanks for helping.
Awesome, glad I could help. I hope it works out for you.
I know you are no fan of wet processing, but you might be interested in what I'm learning anyway.
I've watched some of your wet processing vids and from other channels. I saw comments on one of yours about using a plaster bat. As well as seeing some side of the road pottery operations from India and elsewhere. Here's what I'm doing now to good effect.
Get a piece or three of plywood. Make them as wide as you feel comfortable grabbing to carry/move around by as maybe 18" deep.
Wet process, pour off water, let stand, pour... When about milkshake thick, maybe a little thinner, start dipping out with a cup or whatever. Pour onto plywood in the sun carefully. Come back in a little while with a trowel and smooth from wet areas to dry areas. Repeat as needed. Pour more on top, repeat., repeat, ...
I hate using bags with a passion I've learned. This is a bit more work, but faster and way less messy/sloppy.
I think I'm going to make a pan from plywood and some trim wood for a lip. Then just pour a thin layer, wait a bit and do another pour until my bucket is empty.
Thanks for the vids.
I'm working on my first ever project. A wood fired forge. Using local clay instead of buying a bunch of fire bricks at 5 bucks a pop. Fingers crossed.
Next up will be a wok stove.
Then who knows, but I'm having fun.
Lot of good food for thought in here, Andy. My local clay absolutely needs to be levigated, so it has to start out wet. (I tried using it as is, but the fine silt and sand it contains is like ball bearings, and the stuff just doesn't hold together while working it.) I originally tried to let it dry to the point that it seemed the right plasticity, then I would add in my temper wet. I had to estimate the amount of shrinkage still remaining in order to figure out the temper volume. That definitely was a lot of trouble, and required almost pinpoint timing. Now I just let it dry completely, then mill it in an old cement mixer. I can pour in a batch and then walk away until it's ready. I also need to add in 1% smectite to give it enough plasticity, and that also has to be dry.
Your other point about tempers of different sizes was one I'd never thought of before. I have dune sand and volcanic ash, the first medium-fine, the other like flour. I've been experimenting with each one individually, but I never thought of mixing them. Still struggling with drying cracks, do you think a size mixture would help?
Good comment Dave. As you have discovered, any clay that has a large percentage of non-plastic material will need to be wet processed to remove that and make the clay more plastic. So dry processing is best used on clays that start out at least 70% pure clay. I have to wonder if some better clay is available to you, along the Colorado River or in some of those dry lake beds they have in that country.
The size of temper could make a difference in your cracking, it is worth a try. But you also indicated that your clay is also lacking in plasticity, so perhaps you really need to find a better source of clay.
@@AncientPottery I've got one nearby dry lake bed that I've made several attempts to work with. It's even worse, cracking below the bonding pinch while I'm adding coils. There's another more distant lake bed with a different surrounding geology I plan to try at some point. We're a long way off from the Colorado River, otherwise I'd sure be focusing on it. The clay I'm using is actually a joy to work with once it's formulated. It just needs to be really babied through the drying process. I've had a few successes, and I really love the color and texture of the fired clay. I just need to be more consistent in how I protect it during drying.
Drying cracks could come from your clay having a high shrink rate, like more that 13 percent. Have you tried wrapping in plastic for a slower and more even drying and shrinkage? EDIT.. oops I just saw your post , it seems you do wrap
@@coopart1 Hi, Jeff. Our local clay shrinks about 10-11% when drying, so it's not too bad in that respect. Part of the problem is our extreme low humidity, typically less than 10% and often close to 5%. Things dry really, really fast. I first went with just covering the pot in cloth, but that wasn't nearly enough. Even after starting to use plastic, I would take a pot out for scraping and smoothing after a couple of days, and it would begin to crack in minutes while I was still working on it. Adding the small amount of smectite helps some, but the real trick is that I have to frequently hit it with spritzes of water spray while its exposed. It's not something that I can set on the shelf for a few days and fire at the end of the week. Also, I've discovered that tempers are different. I began using 20% very fine volcanic ash temper, and that doesn't seem to work well. 30% works better for me, but 20% sand from a local dune seems to be even better. I'm actually making progress, I have a pot drying now that looks like it's going to make it, and I think ultimately it will be worth it!
@@llanitedave cool deal ! It’s rewarding when you make troublesome clay workable , I live in very dry climate as well, one good thing is I can make test tiles of clay and paint in the morning and fire them that evening ! Cheers
I really enjoy watching your videos; I appreciate your thought process & the way you lay out the information. The way you teach is clear, quick, & very efficient!
I am glad to help, thanks for watching.
I couldn't agree more. Thanks, Andy. I'm so grateful for all these videos you've shared so generously.
Personally, I prefer to do a mixed method of processing clay. I like to collect it and then process it down to powder. But for mixing in temper I prefer to mix it wet mostly because even with the wind the dust is too much to handle.
Seems like making work for yourself but to each his own. Thanks for sharing your process.
How do you measure your quantity of temper?
@@ColCurtisMeasure it out like you would if it was dry, then add water and temper to the clay until it's where you want it.
All good points, I have done both but now prefer dry processing myself.
Thanks Jeff.
A sleu of reasons. But seriously if anyone considered wet processing they need to watch your wet processing video. Your face at the end tells the story. 👍
LOL, true
I'd argue that low effort, undemanding and efficient are three ways of saying the same thing, but I get the picture. You save time and effort and it stores well. Thanks.
Low effort relates to labor saved. Undemanding relates to time saved. Efficient relates to materials produced from that labor and time.
You're a hero
I tried out the dry processing with some new clay I found and it does seem easier, great tips, thank you! I was hesitating till now because I didn't have a corn grinder, but actually I grind the clay by hand: in Sweden all clay you can find still has some humidity in it, so it's not hard to do so with rubber gloves or without, and you can pick out the stones more easily as you feel them. I don't grind it down to powder like this, but I guess I can kneed it several times and let it stay to homogenize. It is great to be able to stock clay dry indefinetely as you said.
My other limiting factor was that I didn't find any clay as everything is covered by snow here for 6 months and when it melts you find out that most of the clay is buried under several meters of silt and sand due to the land uplift and the shifting deltas which follow the receding sea since the ice cover melted here some 10000 years ago... but I did find clay at a construction site fortunately where machines dig into the soil and it is everywhere in the valleys, but just deep down. Balint
Awesome, glad too hear you are having success with wild clay. Construction sites are a great place to find clay, I heard from somebody recently who was getting clay from well drillers. You probably have glacial clay in Sweden, something we don't have in Arizona.
Yes we do have glacial clay, although the one I got I presume is postglacial, but I can't be sure: it is upon unsorted gravely silt which is glacial and underneath sorted silt which is postglacial (glacial clay is often followed directly by postglacial clay and is found in the same places on the edges of river valleys so it is not easy to distinguish them). It has a lot of silt in it and at first I made the mistake to add 20% sand: it became very sandy; I made nevertheless a beaker of it with coarse decoration and rustication. I made another beaker with pure clay which went a lot better: it is a clay you can burnish for a long time-span at several times, probably because it's got naturally silt in it instead of the sand I used to add as temper. It does not seem to need more temper to add to it. I'm curious about how it fires but have to wait now for drying.
سلام بما اني لافهم اللغة سؤالي كم وضعت من الطين والرمل متابعة دائمة شكرا لك
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5 أجزاء من الطين إلى جزء واحد من الرمل ولكن قد يتغير ذلك حسب جودة الطين الخاص بك
If you make a plaster bat out of plaster of paris, you can wet process and dry it for use on less than 1 hour, I've done it just about every way possible, I don't know why people are afraid to ppur the clay into a pillowcase or t shirt because of product loss, I never lose but less than 5 percent, however my favorite way is using a plaster bat to dry and wedge the clay, for me its the best way to get the clay as pure as possible.
Like stated though, whatever works for you the best is the best way...there is no wrong way to do it as long as the end result is successful. Cheers!!
So what works for you. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
@@AncientPottery The wet process and levigation is my preferred method, then pouring the slip onto a plaster bat to dry the clay, although I have been doing the pouring into a cotton t-shirt and hanging it to dry only because I'm working on building up a new studio, once I build a table with a plaster top, then that will be my method. When I get set up I plan on posting videos on my methods as well. I'll keep you posted. I've only been doing pottery for a hanfull of summers, never once have I used store boight clay, I dont know why im so attracted to indigenous clays, but ever since I was a kid clay has fascinated me. Perhaps it's my Tsalagi heritage, I've always been into arts and building things as well. I love the potter community though, everyone is always so welcoming. I hope to make it out to AZ and attend a convention soon.
we use to find broken pottery here in west virginia, it contained shells from the river ground up in it, you could see the white speckles
Yes, a lot of the eastern Native groups used shell temper. This works great as long as you keep your firing temperature below about 820 C, otherwise you get calcium pops.
Wow! I really like that this is storable. I am wondering however, if dry method is easier for people who live in arid regions whereas maybe people who live in humid areas might like the wet method. In an arid region, the clay collected may be dry and crumbly already. Being new at this, I must figure out what works best with my clay & climate by trying all you recommend. I bet labor factors into what people like, too. The grinding looks like it takes big muscles. In an area where it is humid like GA, it may have to lay it out for awhile to dry out. I laid out clay on tarps from digging to plant trees, and those shovels of clay clumps never dried out through a drought of several weeks. But, maybe it needs to be broken up more first? But, thing is, waiting for that to happen, is a lot like just laying it out in a pillowcase to drain the water, or in a container to evaporate the water. After watching all your videos and the ones you've recommended on processing clay, but having no experience, except waiting for the clay to dry which never happened, makes me wonder if dry clay in a dry climate may as well stay dry while processing and storing, and moist clay, in a humid climate may as well stay moist. One thing is certain, the only way to find out is to get my hands dirty.
got my first batch of wild clay.......doing both methods to process and I can already tell I like dry better
Wonderful!
I tried it like it. Dry is great. Just took longer to dry out the lumps and crush down since my clay always starts out wet. But awesome video as usual.
Drying clay is pretty low effort though. Thanks!
Trying to thoroughly dry *anything* in a humid mid-atlantic summer isn't always an option ;-) I see your points though.
I've gotten better at wet refining my clay (kaolin-rich light gray Delaware stuff) but I've also gotten more cracking in the process. My clay has a lot of mica and silt in it straight out of the ground. If I leave the silt and stuff in, the clay is limp and structurally difficult to work with but seems to crack less. If I remove it and add back sand and grog to temper, I get more cracks. Trying to find the happy medium.
You have to get to know your clay. Hey, good idea for a new video. Anyway thanks for that perspective. I have lived in damp climates before (Louisiana and Washington State) but never tried to dry clay in those places.
Hey Ken I live in Maryland not far from Delaware and tips on finding good clay?
i paid less than 100 for my cement mixer, and it can eat yer corn grinder fer breakfast. (1)
the cement mixer can grind up anything a corn grinder does. still wet here. i just pour a little of the sand over with the clay. being me, i never measure things. i cook bread and don't measure. i just know. (2)
my clay gets no checking. it's settling in covered buckets. (3)
my clay can sit in the bucket forever. i can keep a tiny bit of water pooled over it. i could just let it dry for that matter. (+++) silicosis of the lungs is baaaad news, but there must be dust to cause it. dust you are putting all over your shop. by the way, you clean up your shop every day, i imagine. how often do you think i sweep around the cement mixer?
when it comes to this wood firing, you the man. i still have too much breaking. but dry clay? nah.
Don't knock it until you try it. All your negative mentioned above are based on assumptions.
Totally agree. Unfortunately my local clay is filled with rocks and sand, about 40%. Wet processing works but its a PITA. Then if you want to dry out the finished clay and grind it up for storage it often gums up the grinder. I never thought of grinding up the course sand, good idea.
Yes, it will only work if your source material is at least 70% clay, otherwise you need to purify it first which means WET.
@@AncientPottery
Haha, my clay is about 70% sand. Its ball/bentonite, loaded with iron laden gravel and a superfine powdered sand. Im going to send you some and watch you struggle 😉
Ohhh wowww dry process is much better but i have a question, what if we put too much sand to our pott what can happened?
Clay with too much temper will lose plasticity and make weak crumbly pottery
I don't know why but these videos make me want to go process my own clay, and I've never even done pottery in my life. lol
It's never too late to start
@@AncientPottery
You're right, man. As soon as I get settled in to my new place I'm gonna try it out. never hurts to try.
Love your work sooo much, plz can you tell me how long take the firing and how much time keep putting wood?
My firings are fairly quick, less than an hour. I have a lot of firing videos you should check them out, here is a good one th-cam.com/video/ztLn3BsYuJ8/w-d-xo.html
@@AncientPottery ohhh soo you mist put a lot of wood for that to keep the temperature very height
Or im wrong i do no you are my teacher 😂😂😂😂
@@mohsenjomaa Not really that much wood. Please watch one or two of those videos to see how I do it.
@@AncientPottery i respect your great work keep going god bless you wish to learn from you as much as possible ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I make purely utilitarian pots for holding food I grow and preserve, and I can sorta cheat, I found a spot of good clay with very minimum roots in it, so I just break off wet chunks the size of a cup coaster and run my hands through it to find any big rocks, then I start my pile of slabs that have been picked through and then add temper which makes it super easy
That's pretty cool. So you are basically just using clay straight from the ground with a little added temper?
@@AncientPottery exactly, I pull from a dry creek bed that fills every rain, so I'll wait for the day after the rain when it's the perfect texture for what I like, then I harvest enough for a few pieces and process it very minimally.
Great info thanks
We planted some bushes and shrubs in my yard and Flagstaff and saw some awesome looking chunks of what looks like very pure clay so I've decided I'm going to try and process it to use it. Can you do a combination of wet and dry processing?
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!
You are so welcome
I just came across your channel, and it’s fascinating! I can’t wait to dig in more.
I am curious though-are you not worried about silicosis when doing this indoors and without a respirator?
I didn't do any of this indoors. I think I said in the video but maybe I didn't, that my studio is on my back porch and is well ventilated.
Thank you 😊
Welcome!
Dry processing: generally easier overall and generally produces a more local unique clay
Wet processing: results in a more refined/filtered clay that is likely more consistent between batches (due to filtration)
Perhaps, but I have not noticed inconsistency in my dry processed clay between batches.
It rains here almost every day wet works for me it has to makes it a challenge to fire
Wet climates are the hardest to make pottery in. I have heard that is why the native people of the Pacific Northwest did not make pottery.
@@AncientPottery I have had some success a few failures but it is nice to learn and share so the knowledge is not lost
Hi Andy! I realize that I was putting much more sand into the clay as you were, because I "wet process" (actually I buy the clay) using the same measure of 1/5 and when you dry process, the clay has a much smaller volume. Maybe I should put less sand than 1/5 and I could benefit from a higher plasticity of the material.
Less temper will increase plasticity. This clay uses less temper than most that I use. More commonly I use a 4 to 1 ratio for my clay to temper.
Love your videos, lots of good information. So with wet processing you know the temper is removed and you add 20% sand right?. Now with dry processing temper isn't removed so how do you know how much sand you need to add? It would seem like you wouldn't need as much sand in dry processing. I defer to your wisdom :)
You are correct. But even if you use wet processing the 20% is just a starting place, you will need to do some experiments and find out what works for your clay. Maybe this video will help th-cam.com/video/l4QjKYP3fGk/w-d-xo.html
What if your material isn’t mostly clay? How would you make the soil have less temper in the dry process
Very useful information. Do you have any thoughts about whether clay is improved by storing wet? I see many references to the way wet storage lets the clay ferment (for want of a better word) and become more malleable.
I really like the storage aspect of dry processing. The main thing I'm wondering is do you just grind in the small amounts of bio material like dry grass or bits of pine needles?
Yes it all becomes temper
I will say wet method is an excellent method for getting clay out of the ground in places where clay is hard to find. I once had to process buckets and buckets of sand and water to get enough clay to work but dry is definitely better where you can collect clay by the handful.
Also, Andy, you could take the hand crank off your corn grinder and hook up an electric corded drill and really work through your clay super fast with zero effort lol
Also for the wet method, you COULD hand knead It and wear yourself out, or you could throw it Into an old dough mixer and toss in your dross and a bit of water and let it do the work for you too 😁👍
I actually have a friend who has his corn grinder hooked up to an electric motor, which works real good to automate the process. If your clay is not pure enough then you need to use the wet method to remove some of the impurities.
@@AncientPottery aw yeah true. Forgot about impurities like sand or roots and stuff. I'd still be curious to know if a dough mixer could automate the hand mixing portion of the wet process 😁
@@IngeniousOutdoors it might, I should grab one at a thrift store and see how it works
I dry large boulders of clay and after they are fully dry ,when i add water they completely disolve in 10 minutes.
Dry the clay first .
That's great, not all clays slake down so easily.
there is one advantage of the wet method: I myself control the quantity, composition and quality of temper
That's for sure. But if you know your clay, then you know how much it needs.
You had sold me on dry processing in an earlier video. But you definitely make a strong case for it here. I guess the thought that always nags at me is, how do I know my clay, is actually clay? What I have now I dug up during a thaw last winter when I was all excited about doing this. I've let it dry so I can dry process it. But, sure it has shrunk, it felt plastic when I was digging it last winter. But there's still that nagging thought, what if this isn't clay? I guess clay is dirt. It's not organic material, it's not sand, so what ever is left is clay enough? lol I probably just have to go for it and see what happens and learn from experience. I have this bad habit of wanting to have it ALL figured out.
If you wet a little bit and squeeze it in your hand you will know if it is clay. Wet a small amount and try bending a coil around your finger.
You could wet process first to make a pure clay. Dry it completely. Then dry process it for storage. A few extra steps, though still less work?
if your clay was relatively impure at first then, yes that would be a good way to do it.
I'm a bit confused. For dry processing you just mill the clay? I would have to dry it a bit, the clay is pretty moist here. But I wouldnt need to separate it from the dirt? Just need a little bit of clarification.
A lot of wild clay is naturally pure enough to use as is, sorted by nature into an acceptable level of purity. Dry processing will only work for those clays that are relatively pure to start with.
You mention sand and sharp edges. Would glass work then? And how about metal flakes?
Not sure about metal flakes but glass could work if ground fine I think. I might tear up your hands though
Seems like anything wet is automatically less convenient. Dry is already preserved, no mess etc
I'm not near any sand what else could I use to temper my clay?
Ground up, fired pottery (grog), volcanic ash, diatomaceous earth. See this video for more info about temper and possible materials to use th-cam.com/video/uZZdLLCO8Iw/w-d-xo.html
wet ADN dry method? I add temper to very wet clay while still in the pillow case (still eyeballing the mix ratio) but it's a quick and easy process and adding temper helps to dry up the clay faster.
OR
When the clay it's almost almost ready I remove it from the pillow case, roll it in a thin layer (about 1/4" thk.) on a unpainted plywood panel and let it dry. once bone dry (24 hours are usually more than enough in a sunny and/or windy spot), I can grind it as per dry method and then add temper.
Make sense to you?
If you can’t find good sand near you- golf course bunkers. Fine white powder sand.
Would you please tell me how to process tons of clay in a day for hollow bricks making ,for example?
❤
I only process small batches, I would not have much to share about processing tons of clay.
I have a question. Do you know if it's possible to throw with wild clay??
Yes, many people do it. If you are on Facebook check out "The Wild Clay Club" group.
That’s all good Andy, but what if the material we collect has a lower percentage of clay to dirt/soil/silt. I’d love to be able to dry process, but everything I’ve found in my area has too low a clay content and to get workable clay, I need to wet process. Happy days if you live in a place that has good workable clay bodies.
Sure, not everybody has the luxury of the dry process method, I said it was the best method not the only method. Those that need to purify their clay should try using paint strainer bags to remove all larger particles.
So after your done dry processing the clay you just add water and use a pillow case?
Hey... Jay from Canada... Ok so i saw earlier in the summer I found a we have a nice clay pit with a creek and noticed in the créek all the tumbled clay pieces... Right away I thought of trying my hand at pottery then left it at that... It sat in my mind most of the summer while I passed the creek going on other outdoor adventures. With winter quickly approaching and prepping for the cold months ahead cutting firewood i was thinking can i make primitive pottery from home so i looked up some videos... Found your channel and thought lets give it a try... I first gathered some sand from one of the sandy beaches near by and sived that out. Then i went to the creek and harvested some clay i figured pick out the rock looking pieces due to that they are sticking in clumps already as apoose to the sandy stuff that dosent stick...now do i just let it dry then break it up or do i break it up and let it dry??? How dry should ot be ect???
You could just let it sit out and dry. But with cool and damp weather that could take quite a while. I don't have much experience processing clay in a cool place in the fall
Are you worried about silicosis at all? I'm new to clay generally and have not done anything with wild clay, but all that dust worries me.
If it starts getting dusty I stop and leave. My studio is a back porch that is well ventilated. I mix the clay in the back yard. It’s not dusty, I don’t allow it to get dusty. People think it is but I wish I could invite them all over to see that the process is totally un-dusty.
Sir what is the purpose and reason of adding little amount of sand with the clay in making ceramic work.kindly explain.
It’s called temper and it helps the clay dry more evenly and protects against thermal shock in the firing. I made a video about temper here th-cam.com/video/uZZdLLCO8Iw/w-d-xo.html
Just a question from someone who doesn't know, can you let your wet process just dry out and grind it up?
Sure, but that will make for a lot of work.
@@AncientPottery I see I see.
Hi Andy, couldn't you just wet process it then let it totally dry out, crush and add temper then store ?
It just would seem less work than adding temper when wet. and as you pointed out it stores better dry.
Yes you could, that is more work than the way I do it though
But if u are dry processing clay , how do u remove things like leaves , grass roots, worms , soil critters etc ? , ( total newbie , I havent made anything yet. )
Ok , ive watched another of ur vids, got it sorted now 👍
What about when the clay you collect has a lot of rocks sand and organic debris
If your clay has a lot of impurities in it then the dry method won't work. The clay for the dry method needs to be at least 70% pure clay.
Thank you
make a video tutorial at making a puki because i probably can't have emails because of my age
You are never too old for emails. My mom has emails.
I'm 13 (2nd account from parents)
I've done wet and dry processing. Dry only for me!
It's what the ancient potters did, those ladies knew what they were doing.
Hi. Why did you put sand in the clay
I’m looking to build a small house in the woods
Hi, I'm using red clay, very clean but processing it anyway, and fine almost white quartz sand as my temper.
Is quartz ok to use and what ratio??
Learning a lot from your videos!!!
Yes, quartz sand is a very common temper in this area. The ratio depends on the clay, but 20% temper is a good place to start.
So, this process allows organic material in the final mix and you really don’t know how much temper, since some was in the rocks in the original mix?
Don't get too stuck on minutia. The process of mixing clay need not be rocket science.
When you add vinegar to clay is that to remove lime
No, it would take a ton of vinegar to dissolve all the lime in a clay body. Usually it is to adjust the pH of the clay
@@AncientPottery thank you
Hi Andy we are brand new in this field but want to ask about wood ash glaze where and when to put it on. can we let the clay dry, put the wood ash glaze on and let it dry completely and then burn it on the fire? sorry for our English we have used google translate and it does not sound quite right (translated from Danish)
I never glaze, and do not know the first thing about wood ash glaze. I am pretty sure you will need much higher temperatures than I can get with the way I fire to turn wood ash into a glaze. If you want to see how I fire check out this video th-cam.com/video/ztLn3BsYuJ8/w-d-xo.html
@@AncientPottery can you seal the clay bowl whitout glaze ? full seal we want to have soup whitout dripping on our clothes
My non glazed clay cooking pot got broken into two halves from the middle. Is there anyway i can join it to cook? Please help
I don't know of any way to fix it so you can use it. I mean you can glue it but then the glue may contaminate your food and the heating might even cause it to come apart. Maybe this is an opportunity to make yourself a new pot. th-cam.com/video/Oboza8SfaZI/w-d-xo.html
Hi Andy. I just discovered your channel, and its wonderful. On another note, is there a way to message you privately about a piece of advice?
Thanks but I am apprehensive about "advice". I am on Facebook and Instagram which both have messaging. There is a contact form on my website.
In wet processing you pour off a large portion of non-clay material. How do you get usable clay from dry processing? Wouldn’t there be non plastic dirt, particles, etc? Are you just more selective of the dirt you are collecting?
I am definitely collecting only clay, so there is a limited amount of non-clay material. The thing is I remove the impurities when wet processing but then I add impurities back into the clay in the form of temper. With this method I allow the naturally occurring impurities to act as temper.
Ah, you must be new here. Welcome 🤗
I have been following the channel for a long time now and can say that Andy has generously included his methods of selecting/collecting clay from different areas in some of his earlier videos.
I dump a lot of organic matter out of the cement mixer and screen lots more out. i'm using stuff from a friend who does oilfield work, i can have a few tons any time i want it, but it might have a piece of concrete or some such in it. Andy is meticulously picking up stuff from the claybank and he would throw away a leaf right there. and he makes a righteous olla.
@@drakekoefoed1642 The source definitely makes a huge difference on what process you choose.
I have been ask to make some rocks out of a dear friends son remains. Can you tell me if I can mix some in to the clay?
Sorry I have zero experience with human remains in clay.
I am learning about clay and pottery because I want to start doing some stuff with it and I have a question that maybe stupid but here it is... Can I use cement as the temper?
NO! Please do not use cement. If you want to buy temper at the hardware store try sand or diatomaceous earth.
Thank you for the quick reply the reason why I thought about using cement is because I want to make a small pizza oven with clay. But you're the expert so I thank you for your advice.
Sir did you experiment with mixing clay and lime, what did you get with that at all?! Tnx!
Lime? No! Lime is calcium which you should avoid like the plague in pottery, I don't need to do experiments to know that. I have had a few bad experiences with calcium in the past though.
@@AncientPottery ok i understand you! however, I heard some time ago that some people put lime when making bricks, to supposedly prevent cracking when drying in the sun, and I'm just interested in how the clay will behave, so for the test I mixed a small amount of liquid clay with 20% lime, for three or four days the result for me to be convinced of your statement 😁 ... thank you again for your answer! 😉
i just watched you video about Caliche in clay, now i fully understand that lime is not good for pottery 😁
Hi Andy, where I’m getting my clay from, there are a lot of larger stones and smaller stone mixed in with it. I don’t have a corn grinder unfortunately, so I will have to grind mine on a stone but what do I do about all the rocks, I don’t think I could grind those with a stone? I’m trying to work out how to get the clay and not the stones. Cheers Noni
If you can, pick the stones out manually as you are processing it. If there are too may for that then you will need to go to wet processing and pass it through a screen.
@@AncientPottery Thank you Andy :)
Can fired brick powder used as temper?
If yes than how fine the particals should be ?
Thanks for you help
I’ve never tried it but if you have access to brick powder that should work fine. The particles could be course like sand or fine, do some experiments to find out what you like best.
@@AncientPottery one more question:
how to age clay
@@cjgaming5544 wrap it up in a plastic bag but you don’t really have to “age” it
@@AncientPottery dose it have to be wet clay?
What about aging wet clay with bio agents like apple cider vinegar? That reacts to bentonite but also creates microbial interactions that can add to plasticity?
I did mention these sorts of things briefly in this video. And I said that they make very little difference. Such things can make a good clay a little better but cannot make a bad clay good.
@@AncientPottery yes, ty. I want to make the best clay
@@maggiefranks6849 sorry Maggie I was confused. The video I was referring to was this one. The Worst Wild Clay Ever (and what to do about it)
th-cam.com/video/VdkjntdO4G0/w-d-xo.html
@@AncientPottery np and ppreciate your advice
I am an artist exploring primitive skills
Sticks, weaving and clay
Also in AZ and I recognize the pit from your other video
@@maggiefranks6849 awesome
My question is do you add 20% temper for the dry processing? The thing I'm stuck on is if the wet has no impurities and the dry does why do they both get 20% to both wouldn't the dry have too much?
20% temper isn’t a hard rule, it is merely a starting place. Every clay is different and needs to be treated as such, some may need 30% or more, some may need none at all. This is true for clay that is wet or dry processed.
I submit that you try wet processing automated with dry processing afterwards for structural integrity. Focus on the hard one make it easy.
Great video! I'm wondering, what happens to the process of improving your clay through 'aging' if it is stored dry? Should the quality of the dry-processed clay be so ideal that aging/levigating is only necessary for not-so-great clays? Thanks!
No, if your clay needs aging to be usable, then dry processing won't improve that, you will still need to hydrate your clay and wait the allotted time. I find this varies quite a bit between clays, while some benefit from aging, many do not improve significantly after a few hours. But many wild clays that can be stinky can be used with minimum stink by mixing and using quickly. The longer those clays sit around wet the nastier they get.
@@AncientPottery Ha! That was the case for my dry lakebed clay. I hydrated and wedged up one batch that ended up sitting in the bag for a couple of months while I got interrupted by other things. When I took it out I could barely see the clay for all the mold. And no, that did NOT improve the working qualities any! I ended up throwing it out.
How do u separate wood / debris from clay ?
With this method any organic material gets ground up and goes into the clay as temper.
Simple question, when wet processing why don't you add and mix the temper to the clay while it is much wetter and looser, rather than have to knead it in when it is hard to add?
This video is not about wet processing. If you add the temper to the clay while it is liquid the temper will settle to the bottom and will require kneading. If you add the temper to the clay while too dry it will sit on top and require kneading. I suppose there is a perfect level of dryness where you could mix the temper and it would stay in place but it would be very hard to add the temper at the exactly right moment. So I will stick with dry processing which is easier and better as this video makes clear.
@@AncientPottery Sorry, I had a few of your videos open at the same time and posted to the wrong one. Thanks for the reply, that makes sense. I appreciate that dry is probably the better method in the vast majority of cases but to a complete layman with neither a deadline for drying out or a robust grinder, wet seemed like an accessible (if imperfect) option. I'm just giving it a go with stuff I have to hand.
If sand would sink, and charcoal presumably floats then I wonder if there is a temper that is roughly the same density as clay that would be neutrally bouyant. I know you mentioned crushed old pottery (shards) in another video. Without the benefit of experience that sounds like it might work.
Do you bake the clay?
Yes of course.
How do you know your clay is pure enough to just dry process?
have you watched this one yet? th-cam.com/video/ca20JkKFAcE/w-d-xo.html
@@AncientPottery I did but its been a while and now that I feel more comfortable finding clay the refresher was helpful.
Hello Andy How can I tell if the firing worked...the piece is solid with some black discoloration, but is it ceramic?
Flick it with your finger, does it ring? The ultimate test is to put water in it and see if it stays together or falls apart.
@@AncientPottery
It fell apart when I added water. Not fired long enough or bad clay? Can I patch it and fire again?
@@JosephrWeber-e3j better to start over and get hotter next time.
That’s way too much dust 😮 I choose wet process
Did you see the dust in this video? Don’t make assumptions about the dust levels.
If it gets too dusty just wear a mask lol
Good video .please pin
Thanks
How do I know if my dirt/clay doesn’t have too much temper once ground up?
New to wild clay and have a few questions. Where do you get dry clay? is it the same dirt you would use to render wet clay? if so, how do you know what percentage is actually clay? Finally, isn't it possible to have too much temper? i.e. your dirt is already 20% sand before you grind it then you add another 20%, also what about silt content? I understand how in wet processed clay all these things are separated, how does that work with dry processed clay/dirt? Thanks!
With dry processing the impurities become temper, it is a more natural process that uses the whole buffalo. You should check out this video th-cam.com/video/ca20JkKFAcE/w-d-xo.html
when grinding it up , what about small twigs and plant matter?
As long as there isn't too much debris, just grind it up with the rest and it will become temper.
Wet processing might be good for facial masks 😊
Hello Andy; as fifth point i will say less water. Great channel thanks.
Well that was fun! Okay, as I mentioned I gathered some dirt last winter and I levacated it. However ya spell that, and I put the bucket of, what I THOUGHT was the clay in my entry room and left the other bucket of sand and silt on the porch. I just found out I had the wrong bucket inside. BUT alas, the more processed clay is much better but it won't keep a shape. I roll it into a cigar shape and it just breaks The other bucket has very fine dust in it, I am guessing sand. I wonder if I can use that for temper?
Anyway, I am correct in thinking that I need to process this clay more and go find me some better dry clay to play with. It should be able to be shaped into a cigar shape and bend around my finger, right?
The weather is finally nice, the garden is in, it's finally time to get into making some pottery! 😁
Yes, it should show plasticity by being bendable and moldable. If after you levigated it, it still resists, find a better clay source.
And let's be real you can buy corn mills with a motor so you don't even need to crank it.
The sky's the limit, you could rig it up to run on a little 2 stroke engine or have one powered by a dog on a treadmill if you wanted to.
@@AncientPottery oh never thought about something like that! I should draw up some plans and beginn to enslave dogs for nearly free labor!
I've been experimenting with paper clay with 10-30% paper. The fibers makes the clay act much better when attaching handles etc. The problem is the paper will get moldy in wet clay if not used immediately. Your dry clay sounds the perfect match for using paper clay. You motivated me to get a corn grinder and just as luck would have it, the same one you're using was on sale at Walmart for on $20! Of course I'm not going to use that Native American clay given to me by that Hopi potter for paper clay. Although I've noticed in some of the Acoma pottery I've collected when one broke it almost had a texture of clay mixed with paper. The Jimez seems better quality clay with much more strength.
I have never seen a corn grinder sold in Walmart so that was a great find.