Clay Packet Guide

Properties of Clay
1. Plasticity
2. Porosity
3. Vitrification

Types of Clay Bodies (based on properties or ability to vitrify)

* Earthenware
* Stoneware
* Porcelain-type

Basic Formula (clay is mineral) = dry, powdery dust in clay studio or dried out ware
* Al2O3 * 2SiO2 * 2H2O
* 1 part alumina (oxygen+aluminum) , 2 parts silica (oxygen+silicon) & 2 parts
water (chemical water)

Clay Categories
Primary (residual) Secondary (Sedimentary)
*closest to basic formula *more weathered
*more plastic & easier to work with

Kaolin * Ball clay

* most common * Secondary Kaolin
* used to make porcelain * Earthenware
* Stoneware
* Fire clay
* Adobe
* Terra Cotta
* Bentonite

Firing Cycle
* Water smoking - water of plasticity burned off at 212 degrees
* Dehydration - 950 degrees - all chemical water is burned off, chemical change
(mullite)
* Quartz inversion - 1000 degrees - quartz crystals in the clay grow and change in
shape
* Oxidation - 1600-1700 degrees - organic materials burned off
* Vitrification - begins as temperature rises (determined by the type of clay body) -
melting of clay platelets

VOCABULARY
CLAY

USES AND SOURCES OF CLAY

Ceramic - nonmetallic mineral thats been fired
Fire (firing) - exposing to extreme heat
Refractory - resistant to heat or melting(firebricks, spark plugs, electric insulations)
Ware - pottery
Wedged - kneaded

PROPERTIES OF CLAY
Platelets - particles of clay
Bentonite - clay that is extremely plastic, used as a plasticizer
Plasticity - ability to hold form to make clay workable (term also on Ceramic
Vocabulary handout)
Porosity - clays ability to dry without cracking. Fillers help reduce shrinkage, warping
and cracking while drying and firing.
Grog - clay that has been fired and ground into powder
Vitrification - process of becoming glasslike or hard

TYPES OF CLAY
Earthenware - most common clay body. lots of iron. low-fire clay, usually red, must be
glazed to be waterproof, soft, not strong, non-vitreous
Glaze - glassy layer melted onto pot to seal pores or decorate ware
Stoneware - usually buff (light yellow after bisque fired) or grey, sometimes red, never
white, vitreous, harder than steel, matures 2100-2400 degrees or cone 5 - cone 10.
Porcelain-type - white/off white clay, vitreous, hard when fired, nonplastic clay body,
difficult to handle, matures 2250-2600 degrees or cone 8- cone 16, not natural clay
(manufactured), Kaoline+ball clay+flint+feldspar
HOW CLAY IS FORMED: THE BASIC FORMULA
Chemical water - water in basic formula, found in dry clay, two molecules attached to
one alumina and two silica molecules
Geologic Weathering - process of forming clay (rains on rock, ice forms in cracks of
rocks and rock crumbles, glaciers grind rock pieces smaller, gather in bottom of
streams, wind carries to swamp where it picks up chemical water)
Feldspar - granite-type rock

CLAY CATEGORIES
Primary - see above
Kaolin - China Clay, major part of porcelain, Chinese - Kaoling meaning high hill
(mountain it came from) Secondary - see above
Ball clay - secondary clay which has considerable amounts of organic matter, very
plastic and slippery, fire almost white, high shrinkage, from swamps
Secondary Kaolin - found in the southern U.S.
Earthenware - see above
Flux - something that aides or helps cause melting (iron, talc, feldspar, bone ash)
Fire clay - secondary clay and refractory, becomes vitreous and 2700 degrees, firebrick
Stoneware - see above
Adobe - clay used for bricks and is not fired
Terra cotta - clay that is very coarse, used for large sculptures
Bentonite - see above

CLAY BODIES
Clay body - an adjusted clay or clay mixture (term also on Ceramic Vocabulary handout)
Fillers - reduce shrinkage (sand, grog)
Flint - silica

FIRING
DRYING
Leatherhard - dried, but slightly damp, firm, but not plastic. (term also on Ceramic
Vocabulary handout)

THE FIRING CYCLE

Bone dry - ware feels completely dry (look of dried bones)
Firing cycle - process of firing ware in kiln to maturity
Mullite - aluminum silicate

THE BISQUE FIRE

Bisque fire - (1800 degrees) partially vitrifying fire (term also on Ceramic Vocabulary
handout)
Bisqueware - pottery, or ware, that has been bisque fired (term also on Ceramic
Vocabulary handout)
Shards - pieces of fired clay
Foot - bottom of ware
Glaze fire - fired to vitrifying point (quartz inversion occurs)
Pyrometer - thermometer to measure heat (like draw ring)
Pyrometric cones - clay that is compounded to react (bend) the way the clay and glazes
react