How to wedge
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How to wedge
After selecting a clay, you must wedge (knead) it to remove air bubbles and insure uniform consistency. A clay body that has been mixed properly and extruded from a de-airing pug mill is homogeneous, and because a vacuum removes most of the air, it does not usually need as much wedging for its first use. There are two common kinds of wedging, the cut wedging method associated with potters in the Western world and the spiral wedging method associated with potters in the Eastern world. The spiral method is more efficient, particularly when wedging a large chunk of clay, but the spiral method does take longer to learn. Cut wedging is only successful when the clay is very soft, so it is only recommended if you are mixing a very wet and a very dry chunk of clay for later use.
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| Lynne Christen |
