Chapter 137 Then he remained silent
"That's it." An Qing was thoughtful, and after speaking, he stayed still and watched the movements of Gong Zhou's men.
The mud with added water was kneaded into shape under Gong Zhou's hands in a short time. Seeing this, Bai Miaomiao couldn't help but curled her fingertips slightly: "The mud is reconciled, Teacher Gong. "
"So, we can play with mud next... ah no, we can start making purple clay pots Or a cup?”
“No,” Gong Zhou denied without hesitation, “The internal structure of the current purple clay is not even enough, and its adhesion is relatively poor, so it cannot be taken out. The skill of making a pot and making a cup is far from enough, we have to make clay first.”
"Refining clay...what is the next step?" Xu Yichi scratched his head in confusion.
"Mud refining is... to keep beating the mud with a big wooden mallet of this kind." Gong Zhou smiled, and as he spoke, he took out from under the table, as if by magic, a half-foot-long stick with the thickness of two adult arms. A wooden mallet that is long and smooth on one side and rounded on the other.
“Through hundreds of beatings, try to squeeze out the air wrapped in the mud as much as possible, and at the same time make the tissues in the mud evenly arranged.”
“Uh... What will happen if there is no slapping or insufficient slapping, Teacher Gong Zhou?" An Qing raised his hand and asked a small question. , "Will it cause bubbles in the inner wall of the finished pot that is fired later?"
"Yes, there will be bubbles." Gong Zhou nodded in agreement. If it hadn't been for these people, they would have found him all his life. He also felt that the talents of these girls were quite good, and they could be said to be just a little bit revealing - thieves were suitable for being tricked into learning how to make pots.
"Smaller bubbles may affect the air permeability of the purple clay pot. Larger bubbles may seep directly, or cause the pot body to be damaged during firing."
"The clay refining is indeed necessary. ." An Qing was convinced.
“Yes, refining clay is also a very labor-intensive process - many studios now use machines to refining clay, but our studio specializes in making pots using ancient methods, and we still use manual labor.” Gong Zhou said, picking up the mallet and hammering the mud ball mercilessly twice, "Oh! Don't say that, This new mud is pretty good."
"Come on, do any of you want to try it?"
"Senior Gong Zhou, I want to give this a try." Xu Yichi rolled up her sleeves with rare interest. Seeing this, Bai Miaomiao and others quickly turned aside to make room for her.
The solid wood mallet was heavy when I first felt it. After a simple weighing, I realized that the weight of this thing was no less than the small dumbbells that the cook usually used for fitness.
"If you feel uncomfortable holding it with one hand, you can hold it with both hands. It doesn't matter. It's just an experience anyway." Gong Zhou said with a kind look on his face, "When knocking, try to use the strength of your upper body. At least you have to use The strength of the whole arm."
"Like this, with a little swinging motion." Gong Zhou raised his arm. He waved his arm and gave Xu Yichi a simple demonstration, "——This will be easier. If you just use your wrist to exert force, you won't be able to move your arm for a long time!"
"Hey, Okay, I'll do my best." The little girl lowered her chin slightly, then raised her lips, imitating Gong Zhou's behavior before, and nervously swung the gavel.
“Bang——”
The mallet made a muffled sound when it hit the mud ball, and Xu Yichi felt that his entire arm was numb from the force.
The mud ball after a simple knock will not only stick to the table, but also stick to the flat hitting surface of the mallet. Every time the little girl pulls out the mallet, there will be a small sound coming from the mallet surface. The small suction force always reminded her of the puddle of soft mud she stepped on in the countryside when she was a child. ——The feeling of pulling out the mallet is similar to the feeling of digging your feet out of the mud.
It just doesn’t take that much force to pull out the hammer.
But...
"Hiss~ This mud refining is really a laborious job." Xu Dafa grinned as she knocked out four or five hammers in succession. She usually boasted that her physical fitness was pretty good, but after knocking so many times in a row, she really started to My arms are sore.
For the sake of normal work in the next two days, she decided to finish the experience and stop when she was satisfied - they came here mainly to take some practical lessons and find inspiration and new angles for making games. It’s not really because he wants to be an apprentice learning to make purple clay pottery.
——It’s better to leave it to someone special.
She will not compete with others for this job.
"Hey, Xiaoyi, are you so weak?" Bai Miaomiao frowned unconsciously when she saw this, and took the mallet from the little girl's hand - but she swung it After the hammer struck twice, there was no movement.
Hmm...this stuff.
This stuff is really strenuous.
A little sweat quietly broke out on the top of the Hanfu girl's hair. She was silent for a moment while holding the mallet, then turned around and stuffed the thing into it. The only person present who had never experienced what it felt like to make mud. In the hands of Mr. An.
An Qing:...?
“Ahem, try it, Qingqing, we both have tried it, you should try it too.” Xu Da made a playful smile and encouraged An Qing to get started. After some struggle, Mr. An finally refused. Can't beat the curiosity in my heart...
Then everyone fell silent.
"Haha, how are you? Making clay is not easy, right!" Gong Zhou, who noticed the strangeness of a few people, laughed and took back the gavel, while demonstrating a few more knocks on the clay. Group, "Actually, your actions just now are generally correct, but you little kids don't seem to be the ones who love sports at first glance...you don't have enough stamina, knock two I'm tired after just a few strokes."
"But it's normal to be tired. This thing can't be practiced in a day or two... I'll knock it out a few more times to show you, and then we should go see it. It’s the next steps!”
“Can you start making pots later?” Bai Miaomiao’s eyes flashed - she really wanted to start playing with mud!
"It's a pity, Comrade Xiaobai, it's not possible yet." Hearing this, Gong Zhou shook his head again pretending to be regretful, "The mud we hammer out here cannot be used to make pots yet. ——This mud is called 'raw mud'. The state of the mud is not stable enough, the sand and slurry have not been fully integrated, and the material is crispy, making it difficult to shape the pot. ”
"If it wants to be used to make pots, it has to go through another step of 'aging' - the 'cooked clay' after being 'aged' is the purple clay that can really be used to make pottery."
< br> "'Stale' means spraying and sealing the purple sand mud into a plastic bag, placing it in a relatively dark, humid and closed space, and fermenting it for several years, allowing it to generate more humic acid - —This will make the sand in the purple sand mud It can be more thoroughly integrated with the slurry, and it can also lower the firing temperature in the later stage to a certain extent and reduce the precipitation of iron. ”
“After all, we are making ancient pots by selecting materials and removing impurities in the early stage! It won’t be as thorough as their machine to remove impurities...Okay, kids, come with me to the warehouse dedicated to stale mud in our studio.”
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