The First Cut
The First Cut
Wedging your clay is a very important step. It homogenizes the clay and removes air pockets. One way of wedging clay is the cut and slap method. This method works best with five pounds or less of clay being worked at a time.
This is most easily accomplished with a plaster-topped wedging table with a cut wire stretched taut diagonally from the front table-top corner to the top of an upright post at the back of the same side of the table.
It can also be done with a hand-held cutting wire or line, however, and working on a plaster or canvas surface.
The lump of clay in this photo has just been cut across for the first time. You can see some of the many small air pockets present. Each of those pockets can cause serious problems when forming the clay if they were allowed to remain.
Slapping the Clay
After the clay has been cut, one section must be forcefully slapped down on the other section. The force applied must be enough to weld the two pieces, but not so much as to thin the clay into a patty.
It can take practice to be able to accomplish this slapping without introducing more air pockets into the clay.
After slapping the two pieces back together, cut the lump again, making certain that you are cutting across the clay at a different angle and place. As you continue the cut and slap cycle, rotate the lump so that all areas are cut through and the air released.
In the photo above, the clay has only gone through ten cycles, but you can already see that the smaller air pockets are almost gone, with one large one left to be worked out of the clay.
As you go, use your hands to smack the lump together at the edges of the lump, being sure not to allow the clay to fold over itself or trap air in between the edges of the cut layers. Continue the cut and slap cycle for twenty to fifty times, checking the clay for homogeny and air pockets at each cut.
Wedging your clay is a very important step. It homogenizes the clay and removes air pockets. One way of wedging clay is the cut and slap method. This method works best with five pounds or less of clay being worked at a time.
This is most easily accomplished with a plaster-topped wedging table with a cut wire stretched taut diagonally from the front table-top corner to the top of an upright post at the back of the same side of the table.
It can also be done with a hand-held cutting wire or line, however, and working on a plaster or canvas surface.
The lump of clay in this photo has just been cut across for the first time. You can see some of the many small air pockets present. Each of those pockets can cause serious problems when forming the clay if they were allowed to remain.
Slapping the Clay
After the clay has been cut, one section must be forcefully slapped down on the other section. The force applied must be enough to weld the two pieces, but not so much as to thin the clay into a patty.
It can take practice to be able to accomplish this slapping without introducing more air pockets into the clay.
After slapping the two pieces back together, cut the lump again, making certain that you are cutting across the clay at a different angle and place. As you continue the cut and slap cycle, rotate the lump so that all areas are cut through and the air released.
In the photo above, the clay has only gone through ten cycles, but you can already see that the smaller air pockets are almost gone, with one large one left to be worked out of the clay.
As you go, use your hands to smack the lump together at the edges of the lump, being sure not to allow the clay to fold over itself or trap air in between the edges of the cut layers. Continue the cut and slap cycle for twenty to fifty times, checking the clay for homogeny and air pockets at each cut.
