Today's clay review is Little Loafers, from Highwater Clays.
Formulated as a cone 6 version of their cone 10 Loafers Glory, it is also a smooth, white stoneware with no grog or grit.
I started using this body last spring, after another potter suggested that if I liked the Standard 563, I'd probably like Little Loafers. They were right! To me, it has all the smooth response of the 563 without as much of the fussiness. It seems to stand up better, and the S cracks have been nearly non-existent. The ones that did appear were clearly my fault, and were on pieces intended as tests and not at all properly thrown.
Like the 563, it takes a beautiful burnish and saggar fires well. I haven't done any handbuilding with it, but from the way it throws, I'd suspect that while it might not be ideal, it's probably better behaved than the 563.
It quickly became my favorite. But alas, there was none on the latest clay shipment.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Brian - your clay reviews are interesting. I personally like dark toothy clay bodies. I find -for me- the darker clay bodies give a more interesting glaze result in oxidation. Also I alter my pieces when wet & find I need a little grog to be successful.
Throwing with smooth clay body feels like throwing with butter to me!
I use Standard's #211 Hazelnut. I wish I had access to Highwater clays here.
Judy,
As far as results w/glaze, I agree. That's the main reason I'm using the #112 for a bit for some glazed work. I also have access to #266, which I saw some very interesting results from on a friends work.
Toothy doesn't really work well when you're after a smooth burnished finish. You can push the grit down, but as it dries and shrinks it pokes back out.
Post a Comment