Firing Clay & Additives

Earthenware

White Art Clay is an extremely plastic low fire clay that is ideal for wheelthrowing, handbuilding, and modeling. Its versatile nature makes it perfect for all skill levels. $17.85/25lb.

Red Art Clay is a classic medium plastic fine bright red burning earthenware clay. A good base for throwing and slip casting low fire bodies. $1.43/lb.

Sedona Red 67 is a rich red color before and after firing. It has excellent plasticity for all methods of clay modeling: slab, coil, pinching, and even wheelthrowing. Does not slump or warp at low temperatures like other red clays. The firing range can extend up to Cone 02. $17.77/25 lb.

Brown Stone 29 is light brown and looks like a gas-fired or reduced stoneware with speckles. This clay is formulated from several different clays for plasticity and texture and has a wide firing range from cone 05-5. It is excellent for wheel throwing, handbuilding, and slab work or sculptures. The added grog makes the fired ware stronger and also allows larger pieces to be thrown on the wheel. 33.75/50lb.

Sculpting Clay

Any Cone 04-06 clay can be used for sculpting, but the following are the most popular.

EP (Edgar Plastic) Kaolin is a secondary water washed kaolin mined in Florida. It is fairly plastic and very white firing compared with most other American kaolins. It has excellent casting properties. $1.50/lb.

Tile & Sculpture Clay is remarkably resistant to cracks and warps. It's highly grogged and beautiful in color (it almost looks like a reduced stoneware when fired at cone 5 in an electric kiln). Does well at cone 5 and can possibly go higher. $0.61/lb.

Large Sculpture Fire Clay is a fire clay used for many years by sculptors in the Southeast. Large sculptures are possible. Large slabs and pots are a snap. Cone 10, $0.53/lb.

Norma's Porcelain fires cool white with medium translucency in reduction at cone 10. Originally designed by Harlan House, it is a classic, high kaolin/low ball clay, porcelain for throwing and handbuilding. It is particularly easy to trim and dry. $0.60/lb.

Wood Fire Stoneware

Luguna B-Mix is a specially formulated version of Laguna's popular B-mix body for wood and salt firing. Takes Salt and Soda well and exhibits very nice flashing characteristics in wood firings. Holds up well in Cone 12 atmospheric firings. $0.63/lb.

Wood Light Clay is specially designed for wood fired kilns. It shows excellent glaze results at high temperature. It is screened and iron filtered for consistency. $29.75/50lb.

Table Stoneware

White Stoneware 38 clay is formulated from choice clays for plasticity and whiteness and fire-clay for additional body. This clay contains no grog, yet has the strength for throwing large pieces, slab rolling, and hand building. $19.75/25lb.

Buff Stoneware 46 clay is excellent for making durable dishes, sculptures, planters, patio bases, and other utility and decorative ware. The bisque is very dense and semi-vitreous and is buff at cone 5 and soft gray at cone 10. 
Ideal for all hand methods of modeling including: slab, pinch, coil, sculpture, and wheel throwing. $31.50/50lb.

Warm Brown Stoneware 58 clay is formulated from several clays for plasticity and reduction-like color spectrum in firing. It is a warm brown when fired in oxidation up to cone 7 and more of a terra cotta color when fired at cone 05. Excellent clay for all types of hand building, slab work, extrusions, sculpture and wheel throwing. $31.50/50lb.

Oven Stoneware

Phoenix C 7-10 is a stoneware body for throwing and hand building, this is one clay that seems to throw itself. It has a good amount of tooth without being rough on beginners hands. Fine mullite grog has excellent thermal shock properties making Phoenix a superior choice for ovenware. It also works nicely for a smooth raku body. In reduction, Phoenix fires a toasty light gray. In oxidation, Phoenix fires to a warm buff tone. $0.68/lb.

 

Superior Ovenware contains certain clays added for thermal shock value. These additives also change the color of the clay in reduction. Fired pieces will have a more orange-red tone. More vitreous when fired to higher cone range. Bisque 08-04. $0.29/lb.

   

Black Raven Stoneware is jet black in color, when fired to Cone 6, and is ideal for dinnerware and other functional pieces. Black Raven vitrifies (becomes water-tight) at Cone 6, and should only be fired to Cone 6 oxidation (never in reduction). A Cone 04 bisque-firing is highly recommended. It needs lots of oxygen during the bisque firing to avoid bloating in the glaze firing. Fire to Cone 6 and remove without cool down. Unlike many other "black clays," Black Raven is a true stoneware, and can be used for functional as well as decorative work. When fired properly it can be used in the oven, stovetop, microwave and dishwasher. It's gorgeous color is not created with stains (so it will not be true black until fired to cone 6), and the Black Raven contains less than 1% Manganese Dioxide. $0.49/lb from Magnolia Pottery Supply

Flameware

Flameware is safe to use directly over a gas flame or an electric burner as well as in the oven and even the microwave. These pieces provide an even heating surface and continue to hold heat long after they have been removed from the oven or stovetop. A flameware skillet can actually replace cast iron and surpass it. Unlike cast iron, acidic food and pasta can be cooked in flameware. Like most cookware, you will want to use a cooking medium such as oil, butter, or another liquid. Never use your Flameware dry. After food has been removed, quenching hot pans with water will make cleaning a breeze. Cold water on hot cast iron will cause it to crack. Flameware is dishwasher safe and can be cleaned with metal pads or utensils; they are very durable and almost impossible to scratch. Cast iron cannot be placed in a dishwasher and can only be cleaned by scrubbing with salt. It is heavy, very high maintenance and rusts badly. You won't have any of these problems with flameware.

Fire or Refractory Clay is used for making dark flameware. It also requires a special glaze if one is to be used. $15.50/25lb.

Hawthorne Bond 50 Fire Clay is used for making light flameware. It is a popular buff firing plastic Missouri fireclay of fine particle size. It fires a light color with approximately 10% shrinkage at cone 10. Ground to 50 mesh. $1.46/lb.

Hawthorne M35 is a coarse fire clay mix (either 20 or 35 mesh) that is "toothy" so it is a good clay for any kind of adobe construction. For this type of oven building, people will mix the clay in various proportions with chopped straw and mason's sand. Clay adobe ovens do not get hot enough to actually turn the clay to hardened ceramic like it would in a kiln firing. The clay will be quite hard to the touch but will turn soft again in rain so backyard ovens should have a shed roof or some other way to protect it from the elements. Some folks add some Portland cement, especially in a finish coat to help give a bit more water resistance. $48/50lb.

DIY Flameware Clay Body, Cone 10

30g Spodumene

10g G-200 Feldspar

10g Pyrax-HS

25g Ball Clay (OM4)

25g Hawthorne 50 Fire Clay

5g Kyanite Grog (48 mesh)

2g Mineral Oxide Pigment

Fire Brick Refractory Cement

1-1/2 parts Portland Cement

2 parts Perlite

2 parts Silica Sand

2 parts Hawthorne Bond 50

Mix the Portland cement, Perlite, and silica sand together thoroughly. Combine the mixture with 2 parts fire clay.

Once the mix has the consistency of stiff cookie dough, pack it into a brick mold. You may need to add a little bit of water to get the right consistency. Allow it to dry for several days.

Clay Additives

Ball Clay OM4 is a fine-grained ball clay with excellent plasticity and strength. Old Mine #4 is an "industry standard" based on its popularity in both casting and plastic formed bodies. It is also widely used as a suspension aid in glazes. $1.33/lb.

Ball Clay OH5, Old Hickory #5 is a kaolinitic ball clay containing low levels of carbon. It provides high suspension and plasticity to a variety of ceramic formulations. $1.29/lb.

Calcined Kaolin is a medium particle size kaolin clay heat treated at a high temperature with high whiteness and good opacifying properties. $2.30/lb.

Pioneer Talc is a white burning Texas talc low in calcium and grey in unfired state. A high organic talc which yields good green strength and plasticity. A major component in low fire, Cone 02-Cone 06 white ware clay bodies. $1.41/lb.

Spodumene is a source of lithia, which is a flux, that helps to develop copper blue tone glazes. Can replace feldspar and also reduces the vitrification temperature and shrinkage rate in glazes. This grade is Australian. 90% thru 200 mesh. $3.34/lb.

G-200 Feldspar is a 200 mesh flotation grade soda Feldspar. $1.40/lb.

Pyrax-HS (Pyrophyllite) is an aluminum silicate which is added to clay bodies to reduce thermal expansion. $1.58/lb.

Kyanite Grog (48 mesh) is a refractory material used to reduce shrinkage in clay bodies. Because of its interlocking crystal structure it also gives strength to clay bodies. $1.59/lb.

Silica Sand F-65 Ottawa is a high purity silica sand from Illinois. $1.34/lb.