Plainsman M390 Cone 3-6 Dark Red Ceramic Clay Body, 20 kg

Plainsman M390 Cone 3-6 Dark Red Ceramic Clay Body, 20 kg

Mid-temperature, finely ground and smooth, very plastic, semi-vitreous, dark red-brown burning native body for functional ware.
M390 fires dark red and is the material of choice for dark burning functional ware. It contains more of Plainsman's native Redstone material than any other body.
M390 has high plasticity and feels smooth (possible very slight tooth). It generates significant slip during throwing if too soft. Care and attention during drying are a must, especially with larger pieces, flat plates, shallow bowls, and sculptural ware. Put the focus is on evenness of drying rather than speed.

M390 is a fairly high iron body and thus burns red to brown as it matures. At cone 3-4 it is a very warm toasty red. The red intensifies as it approaches cone 6 and turns brown by cone 7. Plainsman maintains the porosity at about 2.0% at cone 6 to hold onto the red color. They regard it as over-fired at cone 7 (although you might have success) but at cone 8 it will definitely be unstable (tending to bloat and warp). This instability occurs even though it has not reached zero porosity.

M390 is quite fine and produces a homogeneous fired surface for most glazes. Since it is a dark stoneware, the iron in the clay will bleed into glazes and colors and significantly stain or mute certain colors (compared to porcelain). On the other hand, this effect will enhance the appearance of earthtone, rutile and variegated glazes.

Proudly Manufacturered in Canada by Plainsman Clays.

Storage: Protect ceramic clay bodies from direct sunlight, avoiding excessive temperature changes and protect from frost.

Use: It is recommended to test clay body prior to large scale use in order to verify suitability in both the ceramic process (shaping, drying, firing and decoration) and the final application that is expected to be obtained.