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Facts About Pugmills
Facts About Pugmills
1. The pugmill serves an invaluable purpose in the studio. It will save countless hours of wedging time. By eliminating wedging, you will eliminate the “hand strain” that wedging creates, and so avoid. the perils of “carpal tunnel syndrome”. Many potters already have faced this painful disorder, and wished that they had taken advantage of the pugmill earlier.
2. The “de-airing” style of pugmill comes with a vacuum pump connected to a vacuum chamber on the barrel. The vacuum process eliminates the air in the finished pug as well as increasing the plasticity of the clay Pugmills without a vacuum pump only compress and blend the clay, but air pockets will occur with enough frequency to require additional wedging.
3. When choosing a pugmill, it is important to select a unit that is in proportion to your yearly consumption of clay A unit that is too small will slow down prep time and require maintenance. A unit that is too large will not get used often enough to cycle the clay through the barrel, requiring the entire barrel to be cleaned out on a regular basis. You want to use a pugmill at least once a week to keep the clay moving through the barrel. This will keep the clay within the barrel fresh and consistent with what you are feeding through it.
4. Pugmills should not be considered for “mixing” clay They are not set up to do this adequately. Use a mixer for mixing, and a pugmill for pugging! To efficiently process scrap, keep the scrap moist in an airtight container and run it through the pugmill on a Bluebird Model 440.
