Normal Hours of Operation Open Mo-Fr 8:30-5PM, closed Sat, Sun and long weekends. Next closure for stat holiday is for Canada Day, closed on July 1. Information Plainsman Products ClaysLow Temperature ClaysMedium Temperature Clays High Temperature Clays Porcelains Other Clays Native Clays Casting Slips MaterialsDry MaterialsStains Encapsulated Stains Liquids GlazesLaguna Dry Low Fire GlazesSpectrum Opaque Gloss Low Fire Glazes Spectrum Semi-Transparent Low Fire Glazes Spectrum Satin Matte Low Fire Glazes Spectrum Crackle Glazes Spectrum Metallic Glazes Spectrum Raku Glazes Plainsman Dry Glazes Potter's Choice Cone 5/6 Glazes Celadon Cone 5/6 Glazes Moroccan Sand Glazes Spectrum Hi Fire Cone 6 Glazes Spectrum Shino Glazes Cone 6 Spectrum Celadon Glazes Cone 6 Liquid Brights UnderglazesSpectrum 500 UnderglazesUnderglaze Tools Amaco Velvet Underglazes EnamellingEnamelling SuppliesEquipmentKilnsElectric Pottery KilnsElectric Glass Kilns Kiln Furniture Cones Elements Kiln Parts, Accessories Exhaust Systems Refractories Potter's Wheels Slab Rollers Hand Extruders Pugmills Scales Banding Wheels Air Brushes ToolsBrushesThrowing Tools Trimming, Turning, Cutting Tools Wood/Bamboo Tools Wire and Wood Tools Rollers/Stamps Decorating Tools Glazing Tools Ribs & Scrapers Ribbon/Wire Tools Rasps Knives, Needle Tools, Cutters Sculpture Tools Tool Kits Unclassified AccessoriesMiscellaneous AccesoriesCorks/Stoppers Cork Pads Oil Lamp Accessories Dispenser Pumps Teapot Handles Bisque Tiles | Covid-19 Status: Click here to find out more
Western Canada's largest distributor of pottery materials and supplies. Clays, raw materials, tools, wheels, kilns, slabrollers, books & much more. Our continuing goal is to supply artists, potters and crafts people with great quality products, knowledge and customer service. Our staff is familiar with all the items we stock and can help you through the selection and ordering process. We will also see that your order is shipped according to your directions, or put together for pick up at our retail store in Surrey, BC. Sculpture Materials on Sale! The following items are now discounted while stock remains! 1. Roma Plastilina, Grey/Green, oil based clay, offered in soft/med/firm- now at 25% discount. Sale priced at $19.19/2Lb block + tax 2. Armature Wire (not intended for firing within a kiln): - 1/16" by 32039; roll: now at 25% discount. Sale priced at $6.19/roll + tax - 3/8" by 10039; roll: now at 25% discount. Sale priced at $17.89/roll + tax
25% TARIFFS - Watch this space for updates, please! As of March 7, 2025, Greenbarn anticipates that some tariffs will impact our pricing. Greenbarn expects that Canada will leave all tariffs against the USA in place as long as any tariffs remain in place against Canada. Specifically, this policy may increase the pricing of the following US items by 25%. Greenbarn will attempt modify this list for our customers as the situation develops, and as we learn more details: Confirmed 25% Tariff on Skutt Kiln elements
Copper Enamel Shapes on SALE at 50% off! Enamel Powders and Accessories on SALE at 25% off! Metal shapes, punched out of copper sheet, are now on SALE at 50% off! Great for use with Thompson brand copper enameling materials and tools (now at 25% off) for your school art/metal projects, your mixed media crafts, and for jewelry. Once the enamel powder has been applied to the copper shape, fire it with a kiln, or a torch, to 1450-1500*F to melt the enamel into a glass finish. Use our search box and enter "enamel", or use our website index in the left margin and click on "Enamelling" to see the shapes, tools and enamel pigments.
Technical Tips BlogMel Noble at Plainsman Clay's Ravenscrag, Saskatchewan quarry![]() Six different sedimentary clays are extracted from this quarry. It was opened in the 1970s, the best location available at the time. These test bars were made by slaking select lumps from each layer (thus exhibiting their best performance). The left-most dried test bars show the layers (top to bottom). The A1 top layer is the most plastic and has the most iron contamination (it is used in our most speckled reduction firing bodies). A2, the second one down, is a ball clay (similar to commercial products, although darker burning), it is very refractory and the base for Plainsman Fireclay. A3, third from top, is a complete buff high-temperature stoneware (like H550), although sandy and over-mature at cone 10. 3B, third from bottom, is a smooth medium-temperature stoneware; it contains significant natural feldspar (although fired color and particulate contamination are the most variable). The second from the bottom, 3C. fires the whitest and is the most refractory (it is the base for H441G). The bottom one, 3D, the best product in the quarry. Although the least plastic and most silty, it is also very fine particled and the cleanest (consistently free of particulate impurities and sand), it pairs very well with a ball clay to make a cone 6 stoneware. Context: A1 Ball Clay, A2 Ball Clay, A3 Stoneware Clay, 3B Clay, 3C White Ball Clay.., 3D Clay, How to Find and.., Plainsman Ravenscrag Quarry in.., Plainsman Clays Website -.., About Plainsman Clays, Secondary Clay, Plainsman Clays, Clay, Mother Nature's Porcelain -.., Plainsman 3D Mother Nature's.. Wednesday 28th May 2025 An All-Canadian Fine Ball Clay is in Sight!![]() On the right is Plainsman A2 ball clay with 35% nepheline syenite added to vitrify it around cone 6 (these bars are fired at cone 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 - top to bottom). Using our grinding equipment, we can process it to 42 mesh, as we have done since the 1970s. On the left is a Flintoft ball clay (cone 10R top and 10, 9, 8, etc - top to bottom). But this is the raw material, just slaked (not ground). It reaches zero porosity at cone 6 without a feldspar addition (because Mother Nature has added it for us). And the plasticity? This ball clay dry shrinks 9%, it is super plastic, much more than the A2/feldspar mix. While nearby deposits also contain refractory ball clays, this one is truly something special. It enables not just highly plastic vitreous stonewares but it fires white enough to be a potential ingredient in an All-Canadian plastic cone 6 porcelain. In an unexpected turn of events, we now have the opportunity to get this clay in a way that is much easier than expected. We have tested mixing this with PR3D, the best material in our Ravenscrag quarry - together the two can make killer clay bodies! Context: El Dorado of Pottery.., Another Saskatchewan Outrop We.. Friday 16th May 2025 Here is What Processing a Clay Can Do![]() The clay is Plainsman 3B. Context: Mother Nature's porcelain and.., Make your own sieve.. Friday 16th May 2025 A Highly Plastic White Burning Kaolinized Sand:This proves we can have a Canadian kaolin![]() This is kaolinized sand from Flintoft, Saskatchewan. It is among clays we are currently rediscovering. This is far more plastic and fires much whiter than our Ravenscrag quarry equivalent. Consider highlights of physical tests to characterize it (data shown lower left): Context: Will soil testing help.., We Have Been Overlooking.., El Dorado of Pottery.., Claybank Brick Plant National.., Insight-Live com cloud-based ceramic.. Friday 16th May 2025 We Have Been Overlooking Better Clay Deposits![]() An update of the book "Clay Resources of Saskatchewan". The cover photo is titled "Kaolinized sand of the Whitemud Formation". The writers are lamenting the underutilization of this resource and almost pleading for industry to recognize its value! The cover shows the mining face at the historic Claybank brick plant. This clay is far whiter than what Painsman Clays mines at Ravenscrag, Sask (about 250km west of this). This site was mined from the 1800s to 1970s. Bricks were made in half a dozen large beehive kilns and, even though reduction-fired with gas, they burned far too white. The company increased reduction to the point that soot formed on the bricks to darken the color and turn them brown! Context: Landmark Book on the.., A Highly Plastic White.., Whiter Clays and Grinding.., Claybank Brick Plant National.. Friday 16th May 2025 Another Saskatchewan Outrop:We need to pay more attention![]() This one is saying: "I am the whitest kaolin in Saskatchewan. And, I am so plastic that even though I am mixed with 50% sand, I can be modelled and formed with no problem. Just remove the sand and you will have a world-class kaolin that is Canadian". W. C. Worster, called these kaolinized sands, which can be found in south central part of the province, "splendid". This outcrop is in Halbrite, a small town southeast of Weyburn. There are lots of other deposits, especially in the Wood Mountain, Flintoft and Claybank area that are also much whiter than anything we currently can get in Ravenscrag. But this one is king so far. Should we keep importing from Georgia or develop our own Canadian kaolin? Context: Landmark Book on the.., An All-Canadian Fine Ball.. Friday 16th May 2025 Whiter Clays and Grinding Capacity:Two problems solved in one place!![]() This is at the Whitemud Resources metakaolin (MK) site midway between Scout Lake and Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan. They mine ore that is separated into kaolin (reject material is silica sand) then dehydroxylated into metakaolin; an SCM (Supplementary Cementing Material), MK itself is a natural aluminosilicate pozzolan. They have a giant plant (the dome is big enough to play soccer in) and are capable of processing an order of magnitude more than we can. The mining face in their quarry appears to have the same layers that we mine in Ravenscrag. But, there are very fortunate differences: Context: We Have Been Overlooking.., El Dorado of Pottery.. Friday 16th May 2025 Meet two glazes at the rim using wax emulsion. Why? How?![]() Reactive glazes (melt-mobile, crystallizing or heavily pigmented) are the least suitable for food surfaces because they have the potential to leach metals. Liner glazing ware is an excellent way to deal with this problem. Not only does this approach improve functionality but it can be aesthetically pleasing and practical in production. Context: Wax Emulsion, A functional matte liner.., Gunmetal black mug demos.., G2926B cone 6 transparent.., Liner Glazing a porcelain.., This GA6-B glaze is.., Commercial glazes on decorative.., Food Safe, Liner Glaze, Liner Glazing Friday 16th May 2025 3D-printed Mold for Giffin JiggerAvailable on the Downloads page ![]() This jigger mold-making method features a hybrid plaster form of the outside profile attached to a 3D-printed clamping baseplate. Clamp-on rails enable easy setup and extraction for mold production. Here are the steps: Context: v2 DIY Jiggering is.., Jigger wheel aluminum cuphead.., Using a Giffin Grip.., Giffin Grip alternatives at.. Tuesday 13th May 2025 El Dorado of Pottery Clay Finally Found!![]() It has been five years since getting and testing samples of an amazing porcelain-like, clean-burning, highly plastic middle-temperature stoneware raw material from south central Saskatchewan. It is far superior to anything we have now. But, due to mix-ups, it appeared its location had been lost! But coming here to search again has turned up new information and I am quite certain this is the site (at Flintoft, Saskatchewan). Seeing and walking it has confirmed, contrary to the information we had, that the site is highly suitable for extraction (previous mine workings to the left are not shown). And, it is not the only site in the area. The Whitemud clays here are quite different from those in our Ravenscrag quarry, they are so good they obsolete almost everything we have (except perhaps PR3D). On seeing the range and quality, I am beyond excited! There are a lot of ducks that have to be lined up to be able to actually extract from a site like this, but the location has a lot of advantages. The current economic realities will be a powerful motivator to developing Canadian clay sources. Context: Whitemud clays in dinosaur.., A Highly Plastic White.., An All-Canadian Fine Ball.., Whiter Clays and Grinding.. Tuesday 13th May 2025 Buffalo skull that inspired the Plainsman logo![]() This in on display at the visitor center of the Grasslands National Park in Val Marie, Saskatchewan. Perhaps ones like this formed part of the inspiration Luke Lindoe had when conceiving of the logo for the company he would form. To us, this area is "clay country", but to tourists it is a place to see the living prairie and also history like dinosaur fossils, the mass extinction boundary, hearth sites, tipi rings, bison drive lanes, and cellar depressions. Context: Luke Lindoe in 1971 Tuesday 13th May 2025 What is the simplest, most practical raku base crackle recipe?![]() Many people suffer high-percentage Gerstley Borate "bucket-of-jelly" raku recipes they find online. Most of these are just transparent base recipes to which colorants are added. After years they found ways to tolerate this strange bedfellow. Now, a more normal material, Gillespie Borate, seems odd and is causing issues in the alternate reality "Ghastly Borate ecosystem". There is a better way. A frit is perfect for this application, Ferro Frit 3110 (or Fusion frit F-75). All it needs is 15% kaolin (e.g. EPK) to produce and easy-to-use recipe that is guaranteed to craze. The degree to which it crazes can be adjusted by trading off some of it for Ferro Frit 3249. We have assigned it a code number of L4264, a raku base transparent recipe. We have also catalogued some common recipes that people use and outlined the issues they have: L4264A, L4264B, L4264C, L4264D. Do you need a white? It is a simple matter of adding 10% Zircopax to this. Context: Raku, Crackle glaze Tuesday 13th May 2025 Using a Giffin Grip for jiggering![]() This is not as good as using a cup-head, but it has advantages for potters and hobbyists. These include easier mold making, only the top side needs to follow a precise contour, the bottom is just flat. And a wide range of sizes can be accommodated. It is also more convenient because the wheel head of the potters wheel does not need to be removed. And, of course, it is less expensive. Context: 3D-printed Mold for Giffin.., Jiggering Sunday 11th May 2025 Ceramic Oxide Periodic TablePretty well all common traditional ceramic base glazes are made from less than a dozen elements (plus oxygen). Go to the full picture of this table and click or tap each of the oxides to learn more (on its page at digitalfire.com). When materials melt, they decompose, sourcing these elements in oxide form. The kiln builds the glaze from them, it does not care what material sources what oxide (assuming, of course, that all materials do melt or dissolve completely into the melt to release those oxides). Each of these oxides contributes specific properties to the glass. So, you can look at a formula and make a good prediction of the properties of the fired glaze. And know what specific oxide to increase or decrease to move a property in a given direction (e.g. melting behavior, hardness, durability, thermal expansion, color, gloss, crystallization). And know about how they interact (affecting each other). This is powerful. A lot of ceramic materials are available, hundreds - that is complicated when individual materials source multiple oxides. Viewing a glaze as a simple unity formula of ceramic oxides is just simpler. Context: KNaO, Li2O, ZnO, Na2O, MgO, SrO, ZrO, MnO, MnO2, V2O5, CrO3, Fe2O3, FeO, NiO, ZrO2, TiO2, SiO2, PbO, Al2O3, B2O3, BaO, Bi2O3, CaO, CoO, Cr2O3, Cu2O, CuO, SnO2, Changing Our View of.., Understanding Ceramic Oxides, Glaze Chemistry Basics -.., Ceramic Oxide, Oxide Formula, Glaze Chemistry, Decomposition, Oxides Thursday 8th May 2025 Custom-printed rib smooths this plaster surface![]() This is part of a test hybrid case mold for a Medalta Potteries ball pitcher. The bottom plate is 3D printed and the top form is solid plaster. Recessed holes in the back of the plate enable securely inserting screws into threaded anchors embedded into the back of the plaster form. The upper plaster surface has artifacts (stair-casing remnants) from the 3D printed shell used to cast it. While these could be sanded out, we find that a flexible metal rib works much better. Even better than that is this custom 3D printed rib that I made, the edges are sharp and precise. I designed it with contours to match the belly, neck and rim of this piece. Using this, it takes minutes to smooth out the surface. Context: Hybrid plaster 3D printed.. Tuesday 29th April 2025 SignUp For Monthly Tech-Tip EmailPlease visit https://digitalfire.com and use the Register feature at the top of the page. No art or sales language, no tracking and no ads. To find past posts please use the search bar on this page. |
Greenbarn Potter's Supply Ltd., 9548 - 192nd Street, SURREY, BC V4N 3R9
Phone: 604-888-3411, FAX: 604-888-4247, Email: sales@greenbarn.com