Batching

The clay is brought under roof into the batching area. Each, individual clay has its own storage bin allowing production to run regardless of rainy weather. Each batch consists of 7000 pounds of material. The crude clay is loaded into crushing hoppers mounted above each of the two-blunging tanks, using a Case front-end loader. The clay is carefully weighed using a calibrated gauge connected to the loader's bucket hydraulic system. Sodium feldspar is added to the batch to improve the body's fired fusibility and thermal expansion. Once the batch is fully loaded into the clay blunger, (a large, porcelain-brick lined tank with two large, high speed, low shear agitators) it is allowed to mix (blunge) in excess water for 30 to 40 minutes. During this time the clays are dissolved and any foreign matter (stones, roots, etc.) are released from the clay.