|
| |
Appalachian Center for Crafts - Clay Studio
Vince Pitelka, 2008
Bluebird Pugmill Instructions
CAUTION: Used properly, a pugmill is a very safe and
effective machine, but no one should operate a pugmill without being fully aware
of the danger. Pugmills are incredibly powerful machines, geared down to a slow
speed that is almost unstoppable. The similarity to a large meat-grinder is
appropriate, because the pugmill cannot tell the difference between plastic clay
and your arm. The outcome of pugmill accidents is almost invariably gruesome.
Under no circumstances should your hands or anything other than the built-in
plunger ever pass beneath the top of the hopper opening while the machine is
running. If you need to clean the inside of the pugmill or retrieve
something from the hopper, turn off the main pugmill switch AND the wall
disconnect switch above the pugmill. Do not EVER put your hands
inside the pugmill or disassemble the machine without turning off both the
pugmill switch and the wall disconnect switch.
When You Are Ready to Pug Your Clay:
 | Remove and save the plastic from the hopper opening and the
extrusion nozzle. |
| Place the rectangular wood stool in-line with the pugmill under the
extrusion opening to catch the logs as they are extruded. Keep a cutoff wire
draped over the extrusion nozzle, and cut off the extrusions when they are
about 18" long. We normally keep a small table in the clay mixing room, and
you can stack your pugs on that table, or else put them straight into your
clay barrel (don't compress them into the barrel - stack them loosely for
easy removal). If you are mixing a large quantity of clay, you can also
stack your pugs on one of the platform carts. |
| What to Do About Clay Already in the Pugmill: Unless you know for
sure that the previous user was processing the same claybody, as you start
pugging your clay, extrude the first three 18" logs and set them aside. If
the previous claybody is similar to yours, simply include a chunk of that
clay periodically as you process your clay in order to blend it evenly into
yours. If the previous claybody is quite different from yours, keep those
three logs in reserve until you are done, but blend the next three logs into
your clay as described above. As you finish processing your clay, pug those
reserved logs last, in order to push as much as possible of your clay out of
the mill. |
| This pugmill will efficiently self-feed if your clay is proper
plastic consistency. If so, you should be able to simply toss lumps of clay
into the hopper and the machine should self-feed. When/if the clay backs up
in the hopper you can use the attached plunger. If your clay is a little too
wet, the pugmill will not self-feed, and you will have to use the plunger
every time. If your clay is very wet, don’t even bother trying to pug it. |
| When you are finished, replace the plastic over the hopper opening
and the extrusion nozzle. |
| Immediately after Mixing/Pugging Clay: |
- Clean clay residue from the outside of the pugmill.
- Place empty materials bags in trash barrel. If you produce more than
a few, take them out to the dumpster.
- Scrape accumulated clay from floor with a square-point shovel and
place in the trash (not the recycle barrels).
- Sweep up remaining clay residue and place in the trash (not the
recycle barrels).
- After scraping and sweeping up all clay debris, hose down floor and
squeegee into floor drain. We must minimize the clay in the floor
drain. Do not hose down and squeegee until after you have scraped and
swept up as much clay residue as possible.
What kind of shape was the clay-mixing room in when you started?
If you find the floor, mixer, or pugmill a mess, please report
it to the instructor or the resident artist, and we will do our best to identify
the offender and suitably flog them. When you mix clay it is always your
responsibility to clean the floor, the mixer, and the outside of the pugmill,
regardless of the condition you find them in.
|
