Most clays can be easily used for hand building! Most (but not all) of the clays included here include some grog or sand to help with green strength. If you are doing larger hand building projects, you might check out the Sculpture Clays, or for tile projects, see the Tiles/Architectural Clay section!
This clay is the same formula as Soldate-30, but contains finer 60 mesh sand. The texture is medium coarse. Gray in the raw form with a high sand content which makes it an ideal choice for large thrown pieces and sculptural forms. Reduction ( First Image), Oxidation ( Second Image).
$17.00 - $28.90
White, Low Fire, Talc-Free Sculpture clay body. We developed this body as a replacement for our Earthenware White Plus. We also recommend this as an alternative to the Flint Hills Raku clay (when used for sculpture or handbuilding purposes). It contains both fine grog and sand, so it's ideal for handbuilding, but can be thrown also. It's just a tad off-white in color at 04. For best glaze results and a whiter color, bisque fire a bit hotter, to Cone 01. The body is still porous enough to accept low-fire glazes and the increase in bisque temperature will not be noticeable in energy costs or element life. Flint Hills clays have been evaluated by a nationally certified toxicologist, and have been found to be in compliance with ASTM C-1023 and D-4236, and to not contain any material in sufficient quantity to be toxic or to constitute a chronic health hazard when used responsibly.
$19.50 - $34.00
As of October 2022, Buff Plus now uses only 40mesh fireclay and 35 mesh grog. A medium-range light stoneware body with about 9% fine grog which fires off-white to buff in oxidation and slightly darker in reduction. Flint Hills clays have been evaluated by a nationally certified toxicologist, and have been found to be in compliance with ASTM C-1023 and D-4236, and to not contain any material in sufficient quantity to be toxic or to constitute a chronic health hazard when used responsibly. RECOMMENDED VIDEO: White Stoneware Comparison by Bracker's
$19.50 - $44.50
Replacement for White Earthenware. For best glaze results, bisque fire to Cone 01 Talc is a material used in clay bodies that helps to prevent moisture absorption. Its presence in low fire white clays especially prevents crazing of the glazes, this is also true to a lesser degree in mid-fire clays, especially porcelains. The Texas talc mines are no longer selling their talc commercially... DalTile OWNS and OPERATES the Talc mines in Texas [as they have since 2017. Technically, they have owned them for much longer, but there is a very LONG story on which-company-bought-which-one-in-what-year. (C-95, C-98, TDM-95, Pioneer, AmTal.) It is the only remaining, white-burning vein of talc in North America that is being mined. They last sold it to market through the company name Natural Minerals. in 2020, DalTile's parent company (MOHAWK) decided to shut down Natural Minerals, and cease selling talc to EVERYONE. Distributors, manufacturers, and the rest of the industry were informed at that time, and given the opportunity to place final orders. The last shipments went out in Q1 of 2021. The talc mines are still in operation, but DalTile is keeping the talc for its own manufacturing uses. There are other talc mines in the US (Montana), but their talc fires with a noticeable yellow-ish cast. Currently, you cannot make a white clay or slip out of them. There has been *some* testing in glazes, but we do not have any information regarding suitability for a particular glaze. YES this is a struggle...for everyone involved. From the time the announcement was made, Kansas Clay went to work on reformulating all of clay bodies that contain talc. Earthenware white was the biggest struggle because 42% of the clay body was talc. We believe that the Kansas Clay chalk rock clay will work well in most applications where Earthenware White was previously used. They also found that for the BEST glaze fit, increasing your bisque temperature from Cone 04 to Cone 01 was extremely beneficial with minimal increase in time or cost of that firing. In some cases this is not necessary, for instance if you use underglazes and a clear glaze (we found Spectrum 700 to work the best with Mayco clears as a close second) the increased bisque temperature is not necessary. Most Mayco Stroke and coats also seemed to perform well with no crazing observed on 04 bisque. Kansas Clay is continuing to test this body and relies on customer feedback to make any necessary tweaks for better performance. Feel free to use their feedback from to share your experiences (click here)! Flint Hills clays have been evaluated by a nationally certified toxicologist, and have been found to be in compliance with ASTM C-1023 and D-4236, and to not contain any material in sufficient quantity to be toxic or to constitute a chronic health hazard when used responsibly.
$19.50 - $34.00
Late October 2022, we replaced the 35 mesh fireclay with 40 mesh fireclay, resulting in fewer impurities and a slightly smoother texture A medium range light stoneware body which fires off-white to buff in oxidation and slightly darker in reduction. Flint Hills clays have been evaluated by a nationally certified toxicologist, and have been found to be in compliance with ASTM C-1023 and D-4236, and to not contain any material in sufficient quantity to be toxic or to constitute a chronic health hazard when used responsibly. RECOMMENDED VIDEO: Buff by Bracker's
$19.50 - $44.50
A low fire red clay with approximately 10% fine mesh silica sand and approximately 5% fine mesh grog that fires to a light red-orange color at cone 06 to 05, and a richer, deeper red color when fired hotter, up to about a cone 2. During the summer of 2020, we completed a comprehensive test of our clay bodies. For each clay body, we tested 6 flat bars, which were rolled out on a slabroller. We ALSO tested vertical shrinkage of a thrown cylinder (6 sections, each with their own test) beginning weights in grams were recorded the lines and weights were measured & recorded when bone dry The samples were fired to Cone 04 lines and weights were measured & recorded again The flat tiles were then soaked in hot water for 1 1/2 hours, then weighed again Math magic was then done to calculate the average shrinkage wet-dry and average shrinkage overall for both flat and thrown tests, and the average water absorption was calculated based on the flat bars. We also figured the "LOI" (Loss on Ignition) by computing the fired weight against the bone dry weight. This tells us what percent of organics burn off in the firing. Flint Hills clays have been evaluated by a nationally certified toxicologist, and have been found to be in compliance with ASTM C-1023 and D-4236, and to not contain any material in sufficient quantity to be toxic or to constitute a chronic health hazard when used responsibly. RECOMMENDED VIDEO: Red Clay Comparison by Bracker's
$20.50 - $36.00
A red, slightly coarse clay with excellent working properties forwheel throwing and handbuilding. It is talc-free and contains sand, making it suitable for medium sized forms. Cone 5 oxidation produces red/brown and reduction color is dark red/brown. ***Oxidation ( First Image), Reduction ( Second Image). CharacteristicsCone: 5Wet Color: RedFiring Color: Oxidation: Red Brown - Reduction: Dk. Red BrownTexture: Slightly CoarsePenetrometer Target: 6.75Avg. Shrinkage 2±%: 10.5%Avg. Water Absorption 1±%: 4.5%
$20.50 - $36.00
This clay was designed specifically to achieve a rich brown color when fired in an electric kiln. It has good strength for both wheel throwing and handbuilding. Contains 60 mesh sand so the texture is slightly coarse. We do not recommend that Electric Brown be fired in reduction. Characteristics Cone: 5 Wet Color: Brown Fired Color - Oxidation Warm Brown Fired Color - Reduction N/A Texture: Slightly Coarse Penetrometer Target: 6.75 Ave. Shrinkage 2±% 12.5% Ave. Water Absorption 1±% 0.5% COE x 10-6: 4.86
$23.46 - $41.92
Big Stuff ^9-11 Toothy Stoneware clay with grog. Plastic, good for large pieces, handbuilding and throwing. Good atmospheric clay body. One of our most popular bodies. Darkest chip image is of reduction cooled wood fire. Right chip is oxidation cone 10 and medium brown chip is light reduction cone 10. SODA firing brings out the very bright orange tones in this clay body. Shrinkage 11% Absorption ^10 1.8%, ^6 3.1%
$25.50 - $42.50
A nice toothy, plastic stoneware body that fires a reddish brown at cone 6. Throws and hand builds well. Matures cone 5-7. Won't warp or bloat at cone 7 if slow fired through last 300F. Gives nice warmth to glazes, giving that reduction look to them in oxidation. Fine grog for tooth. Gorgeous in soda and wood firings too up to cone 8. Shrinkage 11.5% Abs at cone 6 less than 0.5%
$25.50 - $42.50
Roo is a peachy, lightly speckled mid-range clay body. It is very smooth and throws excellently. Handbuilds very well. No Grog. Our favorite thing about this clay is how the limited specks are random among the fired pieces. Shrinkage ^6 11%, absorption cone 6 less than 1.0%
$25.50 - $42.50
(Formerly Cassius Basaltic) Fired Shrinkage is 14.5% and Water Absorption is .5% when fired to cone 5. Very black, ebony like finish. Contains no talc. Needs lots of oxygen during bisque firing. Please refer to this link for our bisque firing schedule that was created with Obsidian in mind. ⚠ WARNING - This product can expose you to crystalline silica (quartz) which is known to the State of California to cause cancer. For more information, go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
$38.50 - $72.00
