You may want to develop your own throwing clay body. Clay bodies used for throwing must be plastic and yet strong enough to hold up under the rigors of being thrown on the potter's wheel.
General Guidelines
Here are some general guidelines if you are developing a throwing clay body from scratch. (If you are not familiar with clay recipes, you may want to check out How to Read a Clay Body Recipe first.)
- use no more than 30% ball clay in your clay recipe (some potters say no more than 25%)
- use no more than 8 - 10% grog or sand to add strength
- the best grog or sand to use is 30 / 80 mesh; particles should not be larger than 30 mesh or smaller than 80 mesh
- if adding bentonite for plasticity, use very low amounts (some potters say less than 2%, while some potters use up to 3%)
- if adding macaloid, Veagum T, or Hectobrite for plasticity, use less than 1%
- for darker clay bodies, use dry clays that already contain iron to add color and aid fluxing.
Recipes for Throwing Clay Bodies
Here are a few DIY recipes for clay bodies I have used in the past with good results. If you are unfamiliar with specific names, check out- Dry Earthenware Clays and Slip
- Dry Stoneware and Fire Clays
- Dry Ball Clays Used in Pottery, and
- Dry Kaolin Clays.
Black Plastic, cone 6
50 RedArt
15 Hawthorne
15 GoldArt
10 ball clay
10 Barnard
3% red (ferric) iron oxide
6% 30 / 80 mesh grog
Plastic Orange Brown, cone 6
30 GoldArt
30 Hawthorne
40 RedArt
6% 30 / 80 mesh grog
Creamy Tan, cone 10
58 Hawthorne
38 ball clay
4 GoldArt
10% 30 / 80 mesh grog
