Clay Mixers
Clay mixers blend clay body ingredients and then combine them with water. They are also used to reclaim clay scrapes by combining the very wet slaked clay with dry clay. Clay that has been processed with a mixer must be unloaded by hand and wedged to remove air pockets.
Clay mixers are rated by batch capacity. In other words, how much clay fits into the mixing bucket or tub, and how much weight can the blades and motor handle.
Pugmills
Pugmills homogenize moist clay. Rather than blades, as in a mixer, pugmills use an internal auger that compresses the clay and forces it through a nozzle in one continuous log. Some pugmill models also have a de-airing feature. This removes almost all air pockets which in turn greatly reduces time and effort spent wedging the clay.
Pugmills are rated by how many pounds per hour they can process.
Pugger-Mixers
Many potters opt for the third type of clay processor, the pugger-mixer. Pugger-mixers combine the functions of the clay mixer and the pugmill. Some models are also able to de-air the clay during processing.
One of the most alluring features of pugger-mixers is that they do not have to be manually unloaded and re-loaded as the clay moves from mixing to pugging. By cutting these steps out, there is a tremendous savings in the effort and time needed by the potter. Other benefits are that pugger-mixers save space since you only need one machine instead of two, and they are able to efficiently recycle clay scrapes with a minimum of effort.
Pugger-mixers are rated by both batch capacity and pounds per hour.
