A high absorption batt, used in the process of wedging and kneading clay.
£20.83 ex. VAT
Our homemade*, pre-made plaster batt, made using potter’s plaster which has a high-water absorbency rate.
To recycle and reclaim clay. Collect your clay in a bucket and allow to dry out fully, if its in smaller pieces it will dry out faster. Then add enough water to cover the surface of the clay. Allow time for the clay to rehydrate and settle down. Once it is a silt/mud consistency pour off the excess water. You can now start taking out the clay, spreading it on to the plaster batt, leave it and let the plaster do its work. When its ready to work the clay will release from the plaster. Roll the clay into a long sausage. Lift from the batt and you can now begin to knead the clay using traditional spiral or ram’s head kneading techniques. If you do so on the batt, it will dry the clay out quicker. If the clay is still too wet to work, leave as a sausage but place the end’s on the batt but shape into an arc. This gives maximum air to all parts of the clay allowing it to dry faster.
When the clay is ready to work with you can start wedging, you will need a thick pottery wire. Using the wire, halve the clay and place (almost throw) the cut half of the clay in the same direction, and knead into a long loaf shape and repeat the process several times. This will reduce any inconsistencies in the clay, finish with more traditional kneading.
Leave plaster batt on sunny shelf to dry, turning occasionally. If you have a dehumidifier this will speed up the drying but raise on rolling guides to allow good airflow underneath.
*As this is an in-house made product it will have a rough edge or the odd small bubble hole this will not affect its performance indeed it will look like you made it yourself.
Size: 320mm x 320mm x 50mm (w x h x d)
Weight: 7kg
Does what it says on the tin, happy with it. Only drawback is it’s fairly small.
