Best thing since sliced Clay

I said in the last post that the new clay I’ve been using is really wet.  So I started to lay it out the day before I needed to use it so that it would be a little stiffer.  I did this by cutting the clay into four pieces and arching them on the table to get the most surface area to dry out.  I did this for a while by cutting it free hand but that gave me uneven slices, which dried at different rates.  What I needed was a way to cut even slices consistently.  So I looked around to see what I had to use for this project.  What I found was two pieces of 2 by 4’s roughly the same length.  So I measured the thickness of the 25lb bags that the clay normally comes in, and they are roughly 4 inches tall.  So I took the 2 by 4’s and measured three one inches segments, and then cut a shallow groove on those marks.  I now can take one of my wire tools and place it in those grooves and slice even slabs every time.  I just have to be careful I don’t leave them out too long or else they go from too soft to far too stiff.  

Now that I’ve taken care of that problem I can move on to the more enjoyable throwing bits.