•Bat. Or "batt." Less commonly also known as a "batterboard", thin slab of wood, plaster, or plastic used to support pottery forms during throwing, attached to the head of the potter's wheel by clay body or "bat pins"
•Bisque. Pottery that has been fired but not yet glazed. (W)
•Bisque fire. Preliminary firing prior to glazing and subsequent firing again.
• Body. The structural portion of a ceramic article, or the material or mixture from which it is made.
•Bone china. Vitreous, translucent pottery made from a body of the following approximate composition: 45-50% calcined bone, 20-25% kaolin. 25-30% china stone. (W)
•Bone-dryThe final stage of greenware dried to a completely dry state and ready to be fired. In this stage, the clay is very fragile, non-plastic and porous.
•China Clay synonym for kaolin, which is the primary clay used for producing porcelain.
•Clay body The material used to form the body of a piece of pottery. Thus a potter might order such an amount of earthenware body, stoneware body or porcelain body from a supplier of ceramic materials.
•CoilingA hand method of forming pottery by building up the walls with coils of rope-like rolls of clay.
•Deairing. The removal of entrapped air from a mass or slurry, often by the application of a vacuum. (W)
•Dipping. Glazing pottery by immersion in a glaze suspension.
•Earthenware. A pottery created by low temperature firing. (W)
•Fire clay A highly heat resistant form of clay which can be combined with other clays to increase the firing temperature.
•firing. The process of heating clay pottery in a kiln to bring the glaze or clay to maturity'
•Potter's gauge. A tool used to ensure that thrown pots are of uniform size or shape.
•Glaze. A coating that has been matured to the glassy state on a formed ceramic article, or the material or mixture from which the coating is made. (W)
•Glaze firing A firing cycle in a kiln to the temperature at which the glaze materials will melt to form a glasslike surface coating.
•Greenware. Unfired clay articles.
•Grog. See chamotte, above. (W)
•Kaolin. Otherwise known as china clay, white or off-white firing kaolinitic. Used to make porcelain(W)
•Kiln A furnace for the firing of ceramics.
•Kiln furniture Refractory shelves and posts upon which ceramic ware is placed while being fired in the kiln.
•Kneading is a step in preparing clay for shaping. It involves manipulating the clay in a fashion somewhat like Kneading dough for bread. It ensures the even distribution of moisture in the body.
Leather-hardThe condition of a clay or clay body when it has been partially dried to the point where all shrinkage has been completed.
•Once-fired, green-fired (W)
•Paper Clay Adding reconstituted paper pulp to ordinary plastic clay in proportions up to 50% of the total mass. The added paper gives an unfired material great strength, giving an advantage to hand builders and sculptors.
•Plasticity is the quality of clay that allows it to be manipulated and still maintain its shape without cracking.
•Pinch Pottery made with a small ball of clay that is formed with the fingers into a bowl or pot shape by pinching the finger together to form the pottery.
•Porcelain. A vitreous ceramic material. Traditionally considered to be white and if, of thin section, translucent. (W)
•Potter. A person who makes pots or other ceramic art and wares. (W)
•Potter's clay. The clay used by the potter (W)
•(Potter's) Wheel.
•Pug. Also pug mill. A machine for consolidating plastic clay or body into a firm column. It consists of a barrel which tapers at one end to a die, through which the clay or body is forced by knives mounted on a shaft which rotates centrally to the barrel. A vacuum system may be installed to de-ier the clay or clay body. (W)
•Raw, is unfired clay
•Raw glazing. refers to applying a glaze to an unfired ware and firing both in a "Once-firing".
•Slab A flat piece of clay used to create pottery pieces.
•Score and Slip: Processed used to attach two pieces of clay together, scratching the surface of both and applying slip before pushing together.
•Slip A suspension of clay, clay body or glaze in water.(W)
•Stoneware. A vitreous or semivitreous ceramic material. Traditionally made primarily from nonrefractory fire clay.(W)
Slurry is a semiliquid mixture of clay and water
•Terracotta (W)
•ThrowingThe term used when referring to forming or shaping on a potter's wheel. (W)
•Underglaze Decoration applied to bisque pottery and covered with a glaze.
•Water Absorption. The mass of water absorbed by a porous ceramic material, under specified conditions, expressed as a percentage of the mass of the dry material. It is used as a common quality control test used for both ceramic raw materials and ceramic bodies. (W)
Wedging. A procedure for preparing clay or a clay body by hand: the lump of clay is repeatedly thrown down on a work bench; between each operation the lump is turned and sometimes cut through and rejoined in a different orientation. The object is to disperse the water more uniformly, to remove lamination and to remove air.
Clay types:
Kaolin – Porcelian – high fire clay, very durable, used for aplications that require very strong materials like toilets, electrical supports.
Earthenware – low fire clay, usually used as for garden containers or low fired art pieces.
Stoneware – mid high fire clay, used for daily dishes and decorative pottery.
Fire clay – fire resistant clay that is used to make fire bricks used in kilns and chimineys for houses.
Earth clay – Clay found on the earths surface that is used for building house and other constructions, usually not fired but dried in the sun.
Tools:
Pintool
Rib Tools
Footing tools
Bat
Wheel
Kiln
Slab Roller
Wax Melter
Tongs
Wooden Knife
Paddle
Clay Evolution
Ball Clay :Clay is full of water and very plastic
Leather Hard: Clayis hard but not dry and still has water from the moisture but is no longer plastic or moldable
Bone dry: Clay is hard and dry to the touch but still has water from the air but is no longer plastic or moldable
Bisque: Clay has been fired one time making it stronger because the fibers have been fused together but is still thirsty and absorbs clay from the air.
Glazed: Clay has been fired twice and is stronger because the fibers in the clay have fused twice making it twice strong. It has been covered with a glaze and is now water resistant.