Question: Clay for Kids

[phil_davis]

I have twin 7 years old boys that have taken a real interest in making things from clay after doing so in their art class at school. I know very little about clay.

1. Can anyone recommend a particular type of clay, preferably low cost, that would be good for kids - I think they’ll make balls and animals and so forth - probably not bubble free.

2. Is there a miscellaneous scrap clay bin at DMS that I can raid (happy to make a donation) to get a pound or two - or is that a bad idea?

3. Is there training required or instructions for using the DMS kiln, should anything be worthy of kilning (if that’s word).

Thanks in advance,

Phil

[Diplomat]

Most clay is relatively inert.

Toxic clay would generally mean you have a toxic final piece.

Up until probably the mid 1979’s there were lead glazes that gave beautiful bright colors. AND toxic when acids were poured in them, think orange juice. You got lead poisoning as the acid leeches out the lead. There were several mystery illnesses until they figured out the lead link.

Meanwhile, clay can be a pretty unforgiving media. It has to be dried correctly or the piece will crack. Attached parts have to be attached correctly or they will fall off. Then there is glazing which is generally a bit toxic. The whole process takes time.

All that being said. For a non-fired pot, clay can be fast and easy and cheap.

Although there is no permanence, think about Play-doh. Fun fast easy safe.

There is also a kitchen oven fired clay called WonderforU polymer clay.

Here is a really cool kit.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0753ZFBN6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516138559&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=WonderforU&dpPl=1&dpID=51P7Or8xWiL&ref=plSrch

The WonderforU clay has many great colors, the ‘clay’ has all the color, no glazing needed. So for making an American flag or a butterfly, this stiff is amazing.

[cmcooper0]

Sculpting is an excellent activity for people of all ages! Let me throw a few thoughts your way.

Air dry and oven dry clay is an affordable and forgiving direction to go with clay. It stands up well to beginners and gives more time to work. The turn around time between creation and dried/fired completion on air and oven clays is also much shorter and possibly a better match for those with shorter attention spans. Kiln clays have a balance of moisture going on where you need to move quick, they begin to crack fast and if you add water, that has to be done carefully/slowly or you just create more cracking. If you decide to go with kiln clay, I would highly recommend paper clay as it is more forgiving (available at Trinity Ceramics for ~$20 per 25#).

If they are making pieces to go into the kilns then you/they will need to be thinking about the construction. Solid items (balls) are tricky as they can trap moisture and if not completely dry, explode and take out other pieces in the kiln. Hollow forms are better. Thick pieces will need to dried for a very long time before going into the kiln for this same reason.

There is a scrap bin of clay in the Fired Arts area along the back wall labeled ‘Free Clay’ that you are welcome to use. It is a general cone 6 stoneware. As far as kiln use, the Firing Team handles the actual firing and there is no training necessary to put your pieces on the shelves to be fired. If you decide to go the kiln route, I can meet with you to go over suggestions to help make for a more successful venture! I would also recommend checking in with us on those first pieces before you shelf them to make sure they will hold up to firing and aren’t rejected for structural issues, etc.

As far as ‘kiln-worthy’, I have a pretty broad definition there, personally. My primary concerns are in the safety of other’s work and throughput/volume. As long as the pieces are safe and the number/size of items aren’t putting an undue strain on the system, and that’s the same for anyone having work fired, then it’s all good. Though I do want to warn that we try to fire as equitably and efficiently as possible and that sometimes means pieces take more time/less time to go through the process.

So! That was a lot of words to basically say: I’d personally recommend starting with air/oven dry, but if you are stoked about kiln work, I’ll absolutely help you out with that. Let me know!

[meanbaby]

Have a talk with Beth, I’ve seen her do child parent teaching/ demos .

[Cairenn_Day]

I would also be willing to work with parent child on handbuilding just PM me if interested

Right now Trinity has a sale on clay good time to pick up some It is about 40% of I think

[MrsMoose]

ŽMy students get modeling clay at school. Cheap low fire body is more forgiving to newbie building issues and glazes are cheaper. I appreciate parents who get their kids Fimo or another polymer but at the same time spend a lot of moments undoing bad habits as a result because they loose the sense of urgency and care with keeping it moist. Bubble thing is a myth. You can fire anything no matter how badly made if it sits long enough or is properly handled.

Couple questions…

Do you have a spouse equally supportive of clay dust in the home or a separate work area like a shed?
Do you want to invest in a small home kiln, learn raku, or bring green ware to DMS? Bone dry clay is super fragile and doesn’t like being transported
Do you want them to practice then maybe make final pieces elsewhere?

Waterbase clay
pro it’s cheap. You can make dinnerware. It’s what they’ll use in their classes k12 so faster skill development for portfolio and maybe scholarship
Con requires kiln or delicate transport. (120v kilns are pretty cheap). Dusty dirty.

Fimo/Sculpy/Polymer
Pro doesn’t dry out, endless reiteration before keeping one without reclaim. With proper softener similar methods can be explored
Con expensive. No dinnerware. No challenges with worktime which is the bane of ceramic artists like mentioned

Oil clay
Pro hardens if left to dry like water but can be reconstituted. Con can’t be fired.

[phil_davis]

I wanted to express my appreciation for all the helpful responses.

As an interesting side-bar, I was talking to the art teacher at their elementary school and she told me that she has an extra kiln and offered it to me. It’s pretty big - she told me it would take two strong men to move it. I told her I was interested and I’ve asked for more details. Is this something MakerSpace could use?

Phil

[dryad2b]

I’m not sure. We’ve been talking about buying another of the same size as our larger kiln, as we’d kinda like a spare that also fires to Cone 10. Apparently the smaller kiln doesn’t fire quite that hot.

Although, “takes 2 strong men to move it” could apply even to our smaller kiln – the one we don’t want another of.

I’m dubious. The current folks are more about “new-new-new” and seem to give less value to donated items. The other thing that’d make a difference is the age of the kiln. The 2 we’ve got are all programmable. The smaller one is old enough that its’ schematic isn’t available on the Paragon website, FWIW. We wouldn’t want one that old, as we’ve had a few repair issues with it recently.

[Cairenn_Day]

I would think that getting the detail on it would be helpful While buying new
is great, a donation would gibe us more money for other tools

[cmcooper0]

Thank you for thinking of us! I am always interested in hearing about a possible kiln. I’ll pop you my contact info in a private message.

In regards to yea/nay on donations, I am 100% in favor of needed, donated tools. I’m more of a 70% on loaned tools, not against them, we have a couple of very generous FA benefactors that I greatly appreciate, but I am more cautious about that category of items. I want to make sure both the donor and committee will be comfortable with the tool use and maintenance.

[phil_davis]

I know it’s been awhile, but here’s the details. The kiln is a Cone 10, Shimpo 1822-1. See photo and specifications attached.

Phil

[dryad2b]

This is probably the same size as the small kiln. Both the kilns we’ve got are about the same height, and I’ve measured that at about 22" for a couple of folks. We just measured the larger kiln the other day, and it was about 22" in diameter as well. That makes me assume that the smaller kiln could be about 17" diameter, like this one.

[cmcooper0]

Cone 10, nice. I’ll send you a message with a few questions, thanks again for thinking of us!

(Edit: For the committee - I am getting details and will either post a poll in Talk or place this on the April meeting agenda for a vote!)