What is a pug mill mixer?

Pugmills are mixers that mix multiple materials into a homogeneous mixture very rapidly. Smaller pugmills are used to recycle and reclaim clay in pottery studios. These pugmills can also be used to de-aerate and add moisture back to the clay to make it usable again.

How does a pug mill work?

Pugmill Mixer Operation The counter-rotating shafts, combined with the mixer’s high torque and medium shear, create a kneading and folding over motion inside the trough, which lifts material up through the center of the shafts, and pulls it back down the sides to create an intimate mixture of materials.

How does a Deairing pugmill work?

Pugmills are often equipped with a vacuum pump and feature a chamber near the end of the barrel where the vacuum is applied to remove air (just before the auger that moves the material to the nozzle). The knives on the rotating shaft cut the clay within the chamber to expose as much surface as possible to the vacuum.

Do I need a pug mill?

A pugmill is not one of the first pieces of equipment a studio potter or even a school gets. But if you are throwing a lot of clay and want your body to last longer (especially the wrists), or if you generate a lot of scraps that you would like to recycle, then you may be ready to add a pugmill to your studio space.

Why is it called a pug mill?

Ceramics pug mills, or commonly just “pugs”, are not used to grind or mix, rather they extrude clay bodies prior to shaping processes. Some can be fitted with a vacuum system that ensures the extruded clay bodies have no entrapped air.

Is a clay mixer the same as a Pugmill?

A Clay Mixer works the clay and mixes it thoroughly distributing water throughout the clay until it’s at a perfectly workable consistency. A Pugmill prepares the clay by wedging it taking the air out of it, and moving it through the chamber. The clay then moves through the nozzle all ready to use.

Do you need a pug mill?

How do you reclaim clay in a pug mill?

A Community Studio Clay Recycling System

1. Collect all clay from studio users.
2. Pull out dry/hard pieces of clay so they can dry out completely.
3. Slake down the bone dry clay.
4. Fill the pugger about 75% full and mix.
5. Add dry clay to mixer.
6. Pug the clay.

What is an old fashioned pug mill?

A pugmill or pug mill is a machine in which clay or other materials are mixed into a plastic state or a similar machine for the trituration of ore. Industrial applications are found in pottery, bricks, cement and some parts of the concrete and asphalt mixing processes.

Is a pug mill necessary?

How many times can you reclaim clay?

We place the wedged clay in heavy duty plastic bags and store about 25lbs in each bag. When you store clay in larger amounts it doesn’t dry out as quickly giving longer shelf life. Additional Clay Recycling Information: There is no limit to how many times you can reclaim clay.

Can you turn fired clay back into clay?

Answer: Unfortunately, the answer here is no. The reason is that once you fire a piece of clay chemical changes occur. You first are chemically firing out the water which cannot be replaced. Second, if fired to what is called “maturity” you are actually “vitrifying” the clay particles.

Is a clay mixer the same as a pugmill?

How many times can clay be fired?

Clay is normally fired twice. The first firing, or bisque fire, takes around 8-10 hours. And the second, or glaze firing takes around 12 hours.

What happens if you underfire bisque?

Bisque firing too low: Underfired glazes can be a result of bisque ware that is underfired. That would mean that the bisqued surface is too porous and when you apply the glaze, the surface absorbs too much of it. The result could be underfired glaze, because there is too much glaze on the pot.