this isn't about throwing on a wheel but handbuilding type stuff, if that helps at all.

IDK if I know any ceramic artists, but re-plurked just in case! I've got a lotta artsy friends on my plurk :3

I did a little in high school and college, though that was many years ago

Including hand building at least one or two things as part of the class

loyalwolf: i appreciate you!

chocoballs: it's more experience than i have! i've worked with pieces from molds post-firing but that's about it.

i've got some clay i'm getting ready to get into and it's pretty tough so i'm looking to find out if there are ways to make it easier to make malleable or cut a chunk off

or am i just gonna have to work it harder

re: my clay will be used to make ceramic rune sets

and some other things but mostly that

Hmmm, I feel like I should know the answer to this... I will ponder and see if it comes back to me, and someone else might know in the meantime

chocoballs: no worries!

what type of clay? some you can add fluid to and some not so much

cutting a chunk off shoooouuld be easy with a piece of flexible wire. floss would do if it's soft enough

KabochaKitsune: ...ceramic clay? i don't remember what cone it needs to be fired at

heavy sigh i've had this project sitting on the backburner for so long i've forgotten rip

i have some wire in my kit i think!

Well there are a lot of different kinds of ceramic clay. Hopefully it isn't porcelain clay

chocoballs: i'm supremely unhelpful lmao but i am like 99% sure that it is not porcelain.

i think it might've been cone 6 now that i'm trying to get it out of my jumbled memory ffs

YES it's either 5 or 6 bc when i bought it i asked if i could use the jungle gems glaze with it and they said yes!

What to do with all that dry clay | TAB Studio with ...

you'll probably need less than two cups if yours is only sorta dry

ahh thank you!

The answer to make it more malleable' is likely to be 'dampify it'!

Clay is essentially mud. If it's tough, keep it in a humid environment. (Like... do so generally anyway, but.)

source: Mom was an art teacher. I haven't worked with clay in a dog's age, but I picked up a lot of the standard practice once upon a time.

setecastronomy: thank you!

starktech might be able to help you!

yep I'm a ceramicist what's up

so if your clay is too dry to work with there are a number of tricks to soften it up, various ways of reintroducing moisture content. you will likely have to re-wedge it afterwards depending on how much clay we're talking about

if your clay is moist enough but it's too stiff/doesn't bend without cracking, it isn't plastic enough, which requires you blending in a different kind of clay

you can likely wrap/cover your clay in a wet cloth or just spray the surface with water and place it in an airtight container for a few days until the moisture content equalises. if you have a lot of clay poke holes through it and sit it in water again for a day or two

whatever you do make sure to wedge the clay afterwards to make sure it is evenly moist throughout or you will get some very strange shrinkage and even breakage as it dries

any other questions feel free to ping me!

oh if we're talking a whole ass bag of old clay poke some holes into it and/or use a wire to cut it into smaller pieces, pour water into the bag and tie it sealed again, wait a few days, same dealio

your clay is most likely low-fire earthenware clay which should be fired to cone 04-06 but if you show me a picture I might be able to identify it for you

in any case it'll need to be bisque fired to cone 04 either way

starktech: ahh thank you so much. i don't have the bag anymore, but it was in one! i have it in a sealed bucket atm

can just add a bit of water to the bucket and leave it for a bit?

yep! it'll get wet unevenly though so I'd rec wrapping it in a wet towel in the bucket to help distribute the moisture

starktech: thank you so much! I'll do that hopefully before I sleep or I can see if I have a grocery bag big enough for it

wrapping in a wet towel and then a plastic bag (even a garbage bag would do!) overnight is probably your best bet yep

I want to say Mom's clay storage method for her classes was 'giant trash bin with an equally giant trash bag inside.'

Which, you're clearly not working at classroom scale here, but the principle stands. XD

yep and if you want to keep clay workable without wrapping it you can make a damp box by getting a rubbermaid tub (with lid) mixing some plaster of paris up and letting it set in the bottom with the lid on. the porous plaster retains moisture and with the lid on the enclosed air helps to equalise.

damp boxes are great for projects you can't complete in one go and even getting overdried pieces back to being workable if you leave them in and let the moisture saturate evenly 😌