How To Make Clay From Dirt Part 2

[@imasimpleguy543]

For anyone reading comments. It takes some tenacity to fine a good source of clay. Mr Andy talked about it and I am in complete agreement. Keep looking, experimenting and don't give up!

[@AncientPottery]

Thanks, it's my number 1 piece of advice. Not all clay is usable for pottery, if it doesn't have good properties, look elsewhere.,

[@cherylhager6065]

I live in Clay Springs, Az.!

[@AncientPottery]

I know Clay Springs well. I collect a great clay just south of there near the clay quarry.

[@Maintenance63]

Im in Wyoming, the Bighorn Basin is where im getting my red clay. It is very elastic. Once the weather warms up I'll start some pottery. I just bought an ebike. It'll help me get to the petroglyph sites. I really appreciate your videos.

[@AncientPottery]

I've seen a lot of clay in Wyoming, it seems like a fairly clayey place. Thanks

[@jennmorton3155]

I'm lucky that my house is built on a really good clay deposit. The lumps of clay I dug up from my backyard produced a nice red terracotta after being processed and fired. I do want to experiment with different types of clay though, but I'm not sure where to start looking.

[@AncientPottery]

Clay can be found almost anywhere. Try road cuts.

[@tracygunning]

I live in the uk where the soil here is different to yours but I love making clay. Thank you for your videos they are a great help to me.

[@AncientPottery]

Clay is universal even the the geology changes from place to place. Thanks for watching.

[@Cellottia]

I'm so glad I found your channel as I've been wondering how I can 'harvest' clay from round here. I think I've got 2 options: go down to the River Mudway -- ooops, sorry, I mean Medway -- and find a spot to dig there; or go up to the chalk hills. (I live at the foot of the South Downs and within reach of the Medway in Kent, UK.) Although I've been told chalk isn't clay (obviously, otherwise it would be called clay and not chalk) so won't be good for pottery, but do *you* know, are there likely to be clay-containing soils covering the chalk? Walking on those footpaths in the winter gets very slippery and gloopy -- the mud tries to suck the boots off your feet -- so I reckon there's potential for clay... What do you think? Thanks in advance for your answer 😁.

[@AncientPottery]

Chalk is calcium carbonate so you may want to avoid getting any in your clay, otherwise you will need to keep your firing temperatures below about 900 C , otherwise it can turn into quick lime which can cause spalls. I don't know much about the geology of England but I would be careful finding clay around chalk.

[@robsmith6961]

I BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE A VIDEO ON EACH AND EVERY ASPECT OF THE WILD OR NATIVE CLAY MAKING AND ALSO NATIVE POTTERY WORKING ,YOU HAVE DONE AND EXCELLENT JOB OF IT ALL . THANKS FOR YOUR HARD WORK AND YOUR SHARING OF YOUR 30 + YEAR OF EXPERIENCE. YOU ARE THE MAN . THANK YOU KEEP IT UP . ROB

[@AncientPottery]

You're welcome Rob. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@robsmith6961]

@@AncientPottery Your welcome.

[@LionsHoney13]

Andy i think you are the most wholesome person I have ever found on the internet. You have changed something in me, reminded me of a part of myself from childhood i had forgotten about. God bless you Mr. Ward.

[@ViktorBludov]

You get a thumbs-up on every video I see. It's very informational and well put together.

[@AncientPottery]

Thank you so much

[@karenhill9912]

Andy I have been watching your videos nonstop since I found your channel Thank You!!

[@AncientPottery]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@1a1u0g9t4s2u]

Good information on what makes good temper for clay. Thanks for sharing.

[@AncientPottery]

You're welcome

[@TheSchmidt62]

Stumbled on your channel. Love it! I am currently working with drilling cuttings that were obtained from an clay aquitard 100 feet below the ground surface.

[@AncientPottery]

Thank you so much. That sounds like an interesting project.

[@Bouzoukiellas]

I am a GC and I was thinking about doing the same when we drill for light pole bases.

[@6bonjour]

I've taken the on-line classes and they are very good. As Andy said they go into a lot more depth and I thought they were totally worth it. I'm looking forward to digging my own clay but in the meantime I've purchased some from New Mexico Clay that is supposed to work in an open fire.

[@AncientPottery]

Thanks for the endorsement Wes.

[@smokertwashington]

Thanks Bud! Really enjoy your work!

[@AncientPottery]

Thanks!

[@oscarpetter1710]

You are super helpful and a great content creator

[@AncientPottery]

Glad you think so!

[@runtt21]

Sir, have you ever made the "black on black" pottery like Maria Martinez?

[@AncientPottery]

No I have never tried. The pottery I make is replicas of ancient pottery, the black on black tradition was invented in the twentieth century.

[@sergioramirezreyes2186]

Interesting. I don't understand the English language well. But I share the language of mud through images. I wish the videos were subtitled. I am from Oaxaca, Mexico. Regards.(I made this message using Spanish to English translator)

[@AncientPottery]

There is some beautiful pottery that comes from Oaxaca. Thank you for watching.

[@nakoawarrior3186]

Can this pottery be used as cook ware? Are their any dangers to it? If you had a bunch of placer gold could you use it as tempering to hide it?

[@AncientPottery]

Yes you can cook in it kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYvddqNpjsd2nrc Gold melts at a temperature much higher than the firing temperature of my pottery so theoretically you could put gold in it.

[@nakoawarrior3186]

@@AncientPottery Saw Chinese hide gold that way in a movie to smuggle it past others.

[@rnisha8055]

Mr. Andy u make white chalk clay pot ?

[@AncientPottery]

I'm not sure what a "chalk clay pot" is.

[@amalienilsen2985]

hey im just wondering, i live in northen norway and it is almost wet everywere. can i use dirt for the Ocean. i live in an fjord so there is lots of kinda clay looking sand. do i have to dry it out first in the sun or somthing. fun and great videos.

[@AncientPottery]

Yes, you can collect clay from the ocean but you should try washing it in fresh water to leach some of the salts out of it first.

[@amalienilsen2985]

@@AncientPottery thanks alot for the response :)

[@ph3590]

This is hilarious - I was just wondering about this topic and said "hey I bet Andy Ward has a video on this!"

[@ph3590]

Andy, do you know if there are USGS or USDA maps of Arizona that may show areas with high clay content?

[@AncientPottery]

😂

[@AncientPottery]

Yes the USDA has soil maps and the AZ Geologic Survey has some great geologic maps too. But its sometimes hard to sort out where to look with those so I still find it easier to just drive around.

[@markbusch1252]

I live in the loess hills area of iowa. .. I'm going to try to extract some clay from the loess. ... What is your take on loess?

[@AncientPottery]

No idea, I had to look up "loess" just to find out what it was. It might work but I have zero experience with the stuff.

[@gbennett58]

The self-clean cycle in my oven reaches 900F. Can that be used to make pottery?

[@AncientPottery]

No, you need at least another 200 degrees or more Fahrenheit to do the job.

[@imasimpleguy543]

I am in tennessee, I am having a hard time getting the clay to be plastic. Any suggestions?

[@AncientPottery]

Have you tried levigating the clay to remove all impurities? If you have done that and it is still not plastic enough then it is probably time to move on and find a better clay source.

[@imasimpleguy543]

@@AncientPottery I have I tool the clay and remixed it with water again, let it sit for two to three hours and separated it again. Same. I am on the look out for a different spot.

[@hollymiller1623]

I've been going through and watching everyone of your videos! Great information and really interesting. I live in Pennsylvania and was wondering if you know what clay we mostly have. I found some clay near a creak that was gray and had an orange swirl in it and Im currently wet processing it. Do you know if this will be good clay?

[@Jog_l]

I have already tryed this kind of Clay, and it works pretty well but you have to use a little more temper than usual.

[@hollymiller1623]

@@Jog_l ok thx for your reply!

[@Jog_l]

@@hollymiller1623 Yw

[@AncientPottery]

Only experimentation will tell you for sure. I don’t personally know anything about the clays of Pennsylvania though. Good luck.

[@Haas0525]

Dumb question of the hour... Can I use sand from my kids sandbox to mix in?

[@AncientPottery]

It depends on the source of the sand. There are certain minerals that are not desirable to have in your clay body because they can cause pops and spalls. Some of these minerals are limestone, gypsum, caliche and pyrite. The sand may be perfectly fine though depending on whether it has any of these minerals, run a test and see how it does.

[@lesterjennings4044]

Is it bad if you separate clay with water ,then it rises and bubbles like yeast bread

[@AncientPottery]

If that's what you like, I prefer dry processing my clay. See this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKXRY2CCmpl3eJo

[@lesterjennings4044]

@@AncientPottery mine starts wet I live in a very wet state

[@huggins2012]

We came to portigual and I found brown clay I am going to make a pot

[@AncientPottery]

Cool

[@EXARCWithGrandpop]

I just wanted to thank you again for your channel. By watching your channel I have been able to turn my pottery from ashtrays to actual Pottery! Adding the grog to my clay has made a huge difference. Also, your pinch technique has helped me be able to add height to my pots. On a side note (just because I want to help make your channel better.) I think the video would be better if you edited out the parts where you are looking away from the camera. I know you are just checking to make sure everything is in the shot, but it is kind of distracting. Keep in mind, I am no expert, just adding my 2 cents. And it is meant with love.

[@AncientPottery]

Thanks for watching and the suggestions Anthony. There are some skills that come naturally to me but talking on camera is not one of them. I have struggled to do better and feel that I am making progress but it is slow. Go back and watch some of my early videos and you will see what I mean. Even making eye contact with the camera at all was something I had to work at. I really do appreciate your help, but my progress in being natural or personable on camera is very slow and incremental because it goes against my nature.

[@Floraholics]

Any help with kaolin?

[@AncientPottery]

Not sure, do you have some kaolin near you? I would assume it behaves about like other clays but I don't know.

[@Floraholics]

@@AncientPottery I do! Tons of it lol

[@gamestuff5944]

I only know one other guy who says the doobly doo. It's the science asylum guy!

[@AncientPottery]

Dooblidoo was invented by @wheezywaiter and made famous by the @vlogbrothers

[@AllisonRush-l9w]

So I try to make clay ,it works but it base no plasticity

[@Comm3nter0]

Try levitating

[@pursuitofadequacy]

Same 😢 I filtered the crap out if it, it still breaks when I squish it

[@AdriansPotteryArt]

I'm a natural at making dirt from clay

[@AncientPottery]

LOL. I'm pretty good at making broken sherds from dirt.

[@AdriansPotteryArt]

@@AncientPottery everything eventually returns to the earth 🌎💨🔥😏

[@cherylhager6065]

Anyone ever tell you "you look like John Denver?

[@AncientPottery]

I have heard that.

[@noob_496]

I i’m a kid

[@patriciofernandez6500]

All clay is dirt but not all dort is clay. All man are human, but no man is a woman.