BALL CLAY:
A very fine particle sedimentary clay.
It can withstand high tempertures. Therefore, it is
frequently used as a stablizing agent in clay bodies.
BALL MILL:
A rotating chamber, often a porcelain
jar, filled with porcelain balls. The balls smash any material in the
chamber; reducing it to a powder. i.e. You could take green glass beverage
bottle and reduce them to a powder to make a glaze component.
An attatchment to the potters wheel
used to center and open large balls of clay; quickly and efficiently.
There are two tutorials on the ball opener; a. how to use a ball opener
and b. how to make your own.
A real banding wheel from a ceramic supplier
is a beautiful cast metal turntable. They are avaiable in a variety of sizes.
They are used to apply decorative bands of glaze to ceramic
ware. A perfect, inexpensive substitute is a plastic turntable designed for
kitchen cabnets.
Click on the links below tosee more...
BASALT:
A black clay body developed by Josiah
Wedgewood in the 1700's to immatate classical pottery.
A small board; wood, plaster or plactic,
usually round, used to move clay pieces around the studio. They are
attached to the wheel to make it easier to take pots off and on. They are
called bats because attached pots were hung upsde down on racks to assist drying.
Just like bats in a cave.
BATCH:
The chemicals that comprise glazes are
not mixed with formulas. Formulas are exact, repeatable and predictable.
Glazes are mixed with recipes. This is because,
the minerals and chemicals used are inconsistant
in quality and vary from one bag to the next. When the components of
a glaze are weighed and ready to mixed, the result is a
“batch” of glaze. Preformance of hand mixed glazes is
somewhat unpredictable. Quality from batch to batched, mixed from the
same recipe, can can vary. Each batch may require a little
chemical tweeking to make it work as desired.
BISQUE or BISCUIT:
Ware that has been fired once is commonly
refered to as bisque. In England and other English speaking
countries, it is also called biscuit. No doubt in reference to the dry baked
surface of biscuits. Clay is usually bisque fired to a slightly higher temperature
than the anticipated temperature for the glaze firing. This is done to assure a
better fitting glaze. The clay contracts more at the higher temperature,
if the glaze is fired at a slightly lower temperature, the clay body will
be more stable and contract less when cooling.
BLOATING:
Faulty firing or a deposit of carbon
caught within the walls of a pot will cause the clay to form a bubble.
The entire pot does not bloat; just the area around the bubble.
BLUNGE:
The process of mixing freshly dug solid
clay with enough water to reduce it to a liquid. This is done to separate
raw clay particles from sand, stones and other foriegn materials. Clay
is then filtered and poured in shallow vats to evaporate off the water
and wedge the clay usable to a usable state.
BLUNGER:
The machine that breaks up the clay
with rotating blades and mixes it with lots of water to prepare it
for use.
BODY:
Modern clay is seldom used directly
from the ground. We buy it ready to go. The clay substance from the ground
is cleaned and mixed with other clays, minerals and fluxes to yeild a clay
that is predicable and yeilds repeatable results. The mixture created is called
the clay body.
BONE ASH:
Animal bones are baked dry and ground
into a fine powder for use in bone china.
The process is called calcine.
BONE CHINA:
Calcined animal bone is added to the
clay body to make it fire to a translucent white.
BOTTOM FINDER:
A device that determines the thickness of a vessel's
bottom, when the mouth of the vessel is too small to insert a hand.
BURNISH:
When clay has partially dried it still
is slightly plyable, yet brittle. The cracks it gets from bending too far
and back look like old cracked leather. When clay is at this leather
hard stage , it can be rubbed with the back of a metal spoon or a smooth
river rock. The result is a very very smooth shiney surface called
burnishing. The shine remains after firing and looks as
bright as glaze. The leather hard stage is also when pieces are attached.
i.e. handles, spouts, knobs, etc.
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