Is there anything i can mix with clay so it wont shrink as much?

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Question:

I have this block of clay, Marblex, that is fine when modeling but when I woke up it was soo many cracks in it!. I tried to mend them but it ruined my piece which just broke down, I had to throw it away!.

I still have like 4!.5 lbs!. of it left!. Is there anything I can mix with it to lower the cracking and make it stronger!?

TIAWww@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

I do not know about Marblex, but here are some things that work with high fire clay!.

I have been sculpting in high fire clay and also doing some ceramics!.

One technique is to control the rate of drying by using a spray bottle of tap water and wrapping in plastic wrap or a damp cloth!.

Try to have a constant thickness with the clay!. I do figures so I have to hollow!. I cut the pieces apart!. I scoop out the clay to get a thickness of about 3/8 of an inch!. !. I rough up the cut surfaces with a fork and apply a slip!. The slip is a mud made with the clay and water!. Then I force the pieces together!. and smooth the seam!.

If you can find a class that will help!.
When Marblex is dry, can it be reconstitute with water!?
Normal high fire clay takes some work to reconstitue, but it can be made usable again until it is bisque fired in a kiln!.

Here is some information I was able to find out about Marblex
http://www!.amaco!.com/prod-marblex-336!.ht!.!.!.

Edit!. -- The foam armiture could be part of the problem!.
With the clay drying and shrinking and the foam staying the same size!.

The information I found out said that the Marblex is water based but not intended for firing in a kiln!.

If you can find a class in ceramics, that might be a good way to learn!.

You could also consider trying a polymer clay like sculpty or super sculpty!.!.Depending on the size you form your piece around an armiture!. There are a couple of books in book stores!. Sculpty is normally baked to harden!.

There are a number of people on yahoo answers that use polymer clayWww@QuestionHome@Com

is this water based clay!? Water based clay shrinks and will develop cracks if you either dry it too fast or build it over an armature which does not shrink!. also you can't really fire anything in much exess of an inch thickness, you will have to build hollow structures!.
Mixing grog (fired and ground up clay) into clay gives clay more stability, less shrinkage but also less fine detail!.

If you don't have a kiln, work with ovenbake/polymer clay!. Or take a class which will teach you how to work with water based clay and also give you access to a kiln!.Www@QuestionHome@Com