Cleaning out the pug mill

cleaning out the pug mill

The summer was hot, and I seemed to be busier than usual---firing kilns and decorating bisque, and firing more kilns---so I wasn't recycling the clay scraps from throwing and handbuilding, as I would do at other times of the year.  The combination of the hot and dry weather, and my work schedule, meant that the clay that was still in the pug mill from the last pugging dried up!  In order to use the mill this fall, Sheri and I had to take it apart, and clean out all of the dried and semi-dried clay, making sure that all the little dried bits were remixed, before we could pug another batch of clay.  

The pug mill has saved me a lot of wedging hours.  It mixes up all the stiff, but still pliable leather hard clay pieces left over from handbuilding with the softer clay scraps from throwing--producing a smooth extrusion of clay that is about 3" in diameter.  You can see the auger (just below the metal housing which Sheri is cleaning out) which mixes the various types of clay.  When I bought the mill, I installed a vacuum pump, and this does a pretty good job of taking out the air bubbles that might get mixed in.