Clays

Fire Clays are used as the main ingredient in stoneware bodies. Often then can be use by themselves with just 10% feldspar at cone ten. If aged well they tend to work well by themselves.

• Greenstrip Fireclay is a light burning (low iron) fireclay that is relatively fine for a fireclay.
• Hawthorne Bond clay is a Missouri-type fireclay and is relatively coarse. It is good forrobust throwing, has a nice mix of particle sizes but is often contaminated with large junk.
• Newman Red is in many ways more like a fireclay than an earthenware clay. By itself it fires to cone 6 or a little above. I usually dunts at cone 10 in the soda kiln. It is coarse and has lots of iron although less than Redart Clay.

Ball Clays are highly plastic clays. They have high shrinkage rates but add plasticity to bodies. They are particulary useful in poorly aged bodies as they slake quickly.

• OM-4 Ball Clay is a standard ball clay used for general ceramic bodies. It is not good in slipcasting bodies. Ball
• KT1-4 is very similar to OM4 but is useful in slipcasting bodies.

Kaolins are relatively pure clays. The are usually not very plastic and require good preparation techinques and aging. They are mostly used for porcelain bodies iwht the additon of feldspar and silica.

• EPK or Edgar's Plastic Kaolin is just what it says. It is a standard clay for making inexpensive porcelains. It is not considered as good a throwing clay as #6 Tile Clay or Grolleg but if mixed wet and aged is just fine. It does not seem to flash as well as #6T in light soda.
• Devore Kaolin, is a European (French?) Kaolin that flashes well in the soda kiln.
• Grolleg is an English Kaolin used for porcelain bodies. It is expensive.

High Iron Clays are used for earthenware and as glaze ingredients. They usually have been transported far from thier parent rock. Often they contain glacial silt or are found in flatlands. High iron clays are easy to find and common.

• Redart is an earthenware clay with lots of iron. It is used as a source of iron in stoneware bodies where it also seems to improve the throwability. By itself in can form a glaze-like mass at cone 10.
• Alberta Slip is a substitute for Albany Slip from Alberta. It is used in glaze recipes for once fire, in kakis and tenmokus and in small quantities as an impure source of iron.
• Ranger Clay is a clay like Newman red falling between earthenware and stoneware temepratures. It is only available from Trinity Ceramic Supply in Dallas .
• Arroyo Slip clay is an very inexpensive high iron clay considered as a possilbe substitute for Albany Slip. It is only available from Laguna Clay

Plasticizers

• Bentonite is very high shrinkage plasticizer used in porcelain bodies and as a suspension aagent and thickness control in glazes. It does have some iron specks
• VGumT is a compound similar to Bentonite but is expensive and has no iron specking
• Macaloid is similar to Vgum