Production of Plates, Dishes, Saucers, Cups, etc.

Plates, Saucers, Oatmeals or Oval Dishes

1. We take the mould.
2. On the mould we place a wad of clay.
3. The mould is placed into the Jigger-Head (a metal basket to hold the mould in place) on the Semi Auto Making Machine.
4. The Roller Head (tool which forms the item) then comes down to make the item by rolling the clay over the mould.
5. While the roller head is making the item, a scrapper removes any excess clay from the edge of the item.
6. The formation process is now complete, the operative takes the mould and places it on a dryer to dry off the item.
7. Once dry, the operative takes the items off the mould and places them onto a truck ready for the sponging process.
8. The edges of the item are smoothed off on the sponging machines or, in some cases, by hand.

Cups, Mugs, Eggcups, etc.

1. We place clay onto the clay belt to feed the Semi Auto Cup Machines.
2. We fill the carousel on the cup machine with moulds, 36 in total.
3. Turn on the machine, the clay automatically drops into the moulds.
4. The cup tool comes down into the mould and forms the cup.
5. While the cup tool is forming the cup, the scrapper removes the excess clay.
6. The carousel moves to the next position into the dryer and the process starts again.
7. When the carousel has completed the cycle through the dryer, the operative removes the cups from the moulds and places them onto the Sponging Unit to smooth of the tops.
8. When the sponging process is complete they are taken off the sponging belt by an operative.
9. The second operative wipes away any excess slip after sticking on the handle.
10. The third operative inspects the cups, makes any necessary repairs, then sticks the cups together with gum (this helps them from going crooked while in the firing process). The cups are then placed onto a board, when full, the boards are placed onto the trucks provided.