Trying to Mix dry clay with Soldner mixer

[BodinSculptor]

First I need help! I am constructing several pieces using Cone 6 Chestnut from Mile Hi Ceramics, and anyone who knows, once you start a piece in a type of clay, you can not switch to a different kind mid project without massive complications. I am now out of that clay, and Mile Hi is also out Chestnut in wet form.

They do sell the clay in dry form; so, I decided to take it upon myself to learn how to mix my own clay from the dry. I have a Soldner Mixer; how hard can it be? Well…I tried mixing 150 lbs of dry clay in the soldner mixer, and it did not work. Then I went back to the drawing board, found the right water to clay ratio, and learned that the clay needs to be mixed for several hours. With new information I tried to mix a batch of 200lbs of dry clay. The results were the same. It is really brittle and doesn’t have much plasticity, it is wet to the touch but it doesn’t work the way clay should. When I break the clay apart, the clay particles don’t line up like they should (clay particles stack up on top of each other like slates of sheet rock only on a much smaller level). I have no idea what to do. If anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. If you know someone who has experience mixing clay, please put them in contact with me. Also if you know anyone who has access to a pug-mill in the Denver area, I would be forever grateful. Thank you.

[Ronald R Deaver]

I have never used a soldner mixer but I know that when folks mix dry powder clay by machine there is a tendency for the clay particles to not all get surrounded by moisture. I have had great success just putting dry clay/mixtures into buckets of water so that it goes all the way to slurry form. Then let it settle and scoop off water until you are able to ladle onto plaster or cloth lined trays. Then dry it down to kneading stage and you are good to go. Clay made this way is superior to machine mixed from dry in my opinion. Another option is use the machine and make the clay a bit soft and then it has to age. Aging gives the moisture time to surround the clay particles. Slurry made clay doesn't need to age like the other.