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What is Wedging? Wedging prepares the clay for optimal use. Wedging makes the clay more pliable, ensures a uniform consistency, and removes air pockets as well as small hard spots in the clay before you use or reuse the clay for a project.
What are the two types of wedging clay?
So it’s important to learn how to wedge clay properly. There are various different ways to wedge clay— ram’s head, spiral wedging, and wire wedging to name a few.
When should you wedge clay?
You should wedge at least 30 times when it’s fresh out of the bag. When it’s recycled clay, you will need to wedge it at least a 100 times if not more depending on the condition of your clay.
Do you wedge clay before Handbuilding?
If you’re throwing, no matter what, it’s a good idea to wedge the clay so no air pockets are trapped. Hand building is a bit more forgiving since your manipulation of the clay will allow you to see/feel and air pockets. Trapped air = explosions in the kiln and potentially loosing an entire kiln load.
What are the six stages of clay?
There are 6 essential stages of clay: 1. ) Slip. Slip is clay with added water to make it into a paste or liquid. 2.) Wet clay. Wet clay is used by many potters to produce their work. 3.) Leather-hard clay. 4.) Dry clay. 5.) Bisque. 6.) Glaze ware.
What are the 4 main ways or techniques to form clay?
Forming Clay Hand-building. Handbuilding is exactly what it sounds like; using your hands to form an object out of clay. Slab Building. Coiling. Throwing. Extruding. Slip Casting.
What does it mean to throw clay?
To throw the clay means to bend it between your finger joints. The right finger is lower than the left. This is important since the discrepancy is what forces the clay to bend. As the potter’s hands move upward, the clay is stretched through the bend, with the excess clay being forced upward.
What are the 4 reasons for wedging clay?
Wedging prepares the clay for optimal use. Wedging makes the clay more pliable, ensures a uniform consistency, and removes air pockets as well as small hard spots in the clay before you use or reuse the clay for a project. When reclaiming clay, wedging ensures all the clay is incorporates together.
What surface should you wedge clay on?
Every potter needs a surface to wedge clay on, and there are many different types. The most common are plaster, plaster covered in canvas, and plywood covered in canvas. Other possibilities are concrete, granite, masonite, concrete board and hardibacker board. The simplest wedging surface is a piece of canvas.
What is clay slip made of?
Slip consists of clay particles suspended in water. Its consistency will vary according to use, ranging from thick cream to butter milk. It can be used to bond pieces of clay together, to decorate and protect pottery or it can be poured into a mold and used to cast objects.
What surface is best to work with clay on?
Some artists prefer glass or tile as a work surface because they can help keep clay cooler if the artists has rather hot hands. They can also go directly into the oven with your project. In fact, at lots of retreats, small tiles are used as baking surfaces, because several can be placed in the oven at one time.
What is wedging clay similar to?
Wedging soft, plastic clay is similar to kneading bread dough. Clay tends to set up over time. And the growth of mold can discolor the surface and cross section and create non-homogeneous stiffness across the matrix. Pugmills produce laminations in a slug of clay.
What does it mean to score and slip clay?
Score and Slip Score and slip refers to a method of joining two pieces of clay together. First, score the clay; this means that you make scratches in the surfaces that will be sticking together. Then you slip it; that is you wet the surface with some slip, using it like glue.
What is wedging in art?
A technique in which clay is thoroughly kneaded before use in sculpture or pottery, to make it malleable and remove air pockets.
What is kneading clay called?
Download Article. Last Updated: October 8, 2020. Before using clay for a project, you need to prepare it by kneading it, also known as wedging. Kneading clay properly will make it easier to work with and will eliminate air bubbles. Upper body strength and strong hands are helpful when kneading clay.
What is scoring in pottery?
To score a pot or piece of clay means to scratch hatch marks on it as part of joining clay pieces together. This is done before brushing on slurry and joining the pieces together. The process is often called “score and slip.” For example, you may say, “I scored and slipped the pitcher before joining its handle to it.”Nov 13, 2019
What is the difference between wedging and kneading clay?
Wedging is a specific type of kneading. The goal with wedging is to mix the clay without adding air bubbles. If you do it correctly, you’ll remove air bubbles. I was taught two types of wedging- knead (or ram’s head) and spiral.
What are the 5 stages of clay?
Terms in this set (5) slip. a mixture of clay and water, the consistency of pudding. wet/plastic clay. new clay from the bag, very workable. leather hard. the clay has lost most moisture, but you can still carve into it. bone dry or greenware. totally dry clay, all moisture is gone, ready to fire. bisque.
What happens if you dont wedge clay?
What happens if you don’t wedge clay when doing pottery? As previously mentioned, wedging removes air pockets from the clay. If you let your clay dry enough before firing you wont get an explosion, but an air pocket in your peice will show up very soon while wheel throwing pottery and it will mess up your piece.
