Clay recommendations please

[ForrestW]

Hey Fellow potters... I may need to try some new clay bodies soon and would love if anyone has some tried and true suggestions. I have been using Highwater Clays for years, and their Asheville location was destroyed, and their second location may reopen someday but it is in St. Petersburg Florida (2 back to back hurricanes hit the two locations).

I am looking for a cone 6 clay-body that works well for our function (frost proof). I like to make big pots (up to 36") so it needs a lot of grog,-- essentially a sculpture clay, and would prefer a brown color. I do have a pug mill I can mix in extra grog but the consistency between batches may not be very good for quality control. Sadly I feel like I am stretched too thin with my teaching job, family, life commitments, to dig too deep into developing my own recipes, and hope to find something comparable I can get on the east coast. If you have any suggestions I may be able to test out this fall/winter I would be very grateful please let me know.

Thanks you very much-- Rob

 

[NaoTK]

I'm sure others will chime in with your local clay selections. Long term it would be best to develop your own. Do you have anyone near you who can do large custom clay batches? Like not hobby level but production since you use a lot of clay too

 

[BrightsideB]

Both locations hit is really sad. I loved visiting Highwater in Asheville. That grit was really good for pots. I think I found a clay just like it when browsing a while back. I’ll shoot you a message if I can find it.

 

[BrightsideB]

I'm sure others will chime in with your local clay selections. Long term it would be best to develop your own. Do you have anyone near you who can do large custom clay batches? Like not hobby level but production since you use a lot of clay too

Slim Pickens on down here in the south. As far as I know Highwater was the best. We have something in north metro ATL. It’s nothing like the scale of Highwater. I buy mostly online now.

 

[penumbra]

Standard 547 is my go to for a groggy clay. Their 710 is black with grog but a bit more plastic. Kentucky Clayworks has some nice smooth plastic clays that I like, but I don't know about groggy.

 

[ForrestW]

I'm sure others will chime in with your local clay selections. Long term it would be best to develop your own. Do you have anyone near you who can do large custom clay batches? Like not hobby level but production since you use a lot of clay too

Nao, there is a clay about 4-4 1/2 hours away who will take your recipe and mix batches of it for you. I think they have a 2000 lb minimum which is fine and I have a trailer I could go pick it up but I do not yet have any good recipes. You are 100% correct that I just need to work towards that. I have been mixing glazes for years (since graduate school) but I have never mixed my own claybody. I know its not complicated, but I need to do some homework on it and I need time to try things out and test them before I can commit to 2000 bs that could cause a lot of failure.

 

[ForrestW]

Standard 547 is my go to for a groggy clay. Their 710 is black with grog but a bit more plastic. Kentucky Clayworks has some nice smooth plastic clays that I like, but I don't know about groggy.

Thanks-- the standard 547 is what I was eyeing, but the Kentucky mudworks big turtle, was another consideration.

 

[bisonburt]

A new clay company, Mammoth Clay has a good selection of groggy clays. I'm evaluating cone 10 bodies now. I believe the owner is into big sculptures and has one of the biggest Bailey gas kilns to fire in!

I've been told that they can do a run of custom clay at a minimum of 1000 lbs. If I ever formulate my own body, I'll have them make it.


I'll post more info on my cone 10 results eventually. I am hand building some large pots and will have a good idea how they handle drying/firing. So far I have has a couple of hairline cracks in some large bisqued pots but that might of been avoided if I added some sand under the feet of the pots? Going to dry really slow as well...

For you mid fire potters, I would recommend L&R Deep Red - "Deep Red is responsive like a red porcelain and throws like smooth stoneware." for small unglazed pots.