Clay Body Ceramics

Non clay materials can be added to bodies to enhance their workability or fired surface characteristics.

Clay body ceramics.

A term used by potters and in the ceramic industry. The crystallinity of ceramic materials ranges from highly oriented to semi crystalline vitrified and often completely amorphous e g glasses. When a clay body is vitreous it means that water cannot be absorbed into the clay when it is fired to maturity. Grog is prefired ceramic material that is ground up into different mesh sizes then added back into a raw clay body.

Firing other brands of glazes on our clays will offer successful results as well but may vary in appearance mid high fire clays we manufacture mid high fire ap labeled ceramic clays in a variety of formulas for many different uses. Common examples are earthenware porcelain and brick. For example clay has chemically bonded water in it which will cause it to slake down disintegrate when a dried clay object is put in water. Please read the details for each.

Mixing clay small to medium batches 500 to 20 000 grams there may come a time when you wish to test a new clay body recipe or to make a small amount of a special clay body such as a porcelain or a grit loaded clay body. In general terms the higher a clay body is designed to fire the more vitreous it is. We carry just about every clay offered by standard ceramic supply one of the biggest most reliable go to brands in the world of commercial clays from low fire to high fire and everything in between including wood fire bodies flameware and more standard ceramic supply has a clay for you and we carry it. Clay bodies can also be produced by mixing dry clays and additives with water to create your own desired clay body.

By mature we mean fired to the point for which they were formulated. Today we re going to talk about the most common clay additives. For potters and in industry the term clay is not specific enough thus the term body is used. Different clay bodies mature at different temperatures.

Lower fire ranges anywhere from cone 022 1087 degrees f to cone 2 2088 degrees f most popular firing range is cone 04 to 06. All three are available commercially in moist ready to use form. Once heated fired to between 660 and 1470 f 350 and 800 c the clay is converted to ceramic and will never dissolve again. When buying your clay it s important to know what temperature the kiln will be firing to and the cone size of your clay body and glaze.

The most common form. Yagi studio getty images. Grog paper sand and nylon fibers. A ceramic is any of the various hard brittle heat resistant and corrosion resistant materials made by shaping and then firing a nonmetallic mineral such as clay at a high temperature.

It refers to the earthenware stoneware or porcelain that forms the piece as opposed to the engobe and covering glaze. Low firing pottery will not be waterproof unless it is glazed.