The Influence of Talc in a Clay Body
I recently took an online workshop regarding clay body development. I was excited to hear what this persons thoughts were on it. He shared a lot of great information, but he said somethings I didn't agree on, he pointed out that it was absolutely pointless to use talc in a clay body. He created a recipe using talc verses a feldspar. Which meant he compared a clay body with 20% talc vs one with 20% feldspar, and not a surprise the talc clay body was considerable less mature, so he concluded that it was pointless to use. Let's take a quick look at talc and its application in clay bodies. Talc (Steatite) is an interesting mineral, it is a soft material, 1 mohs hardness, has a greasy, soapy feel to it, (also known as soapstone,) and is a magnesium silicate hydrate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talc *image from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jsjgeology/16921632302 Talc is not necessarily useless in clay bodies, because by adding it to the recipe it lowers the expansion, an...
