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Make clay from brick? (not the other way around)

 
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Can old bricks be broken-up, smashed, crushed, and then mixed with water to make fresh clay?

Specifically I'm thinking of common soft red brick. (Brick that has already been fired, decades ago, and used in the construction of a house or chimney or patio.)

The soil where I live is probably 1-3% clay; however, I can find bricks for free.

I would really appreciate feed back on this, as whenever I search online for "make clay from brick," I get bombarded with results titled, "make brick from clay" (which is the opposite of what I'm trying to learn about).

 
Adam Stjohn
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.... Don't make me try this as an experiment..... grrrr
 
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Would be rather like trying to make flour starting with a loaf of bread. Bricks are cooked clay, so you need to find a way of un-cooking them.
 
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Powdering bricks results in "schamotte", which is often translated to fire clay in English dictionaries.
However "schamotte" does not have the properties of natural clay.
It is impossible to powder bricks fine enough to regain the properties of natural clay.
 
Adam Stjohn
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Okay, yes. After further research I figured out that,

When clay dries (without being fired yet), water evaporates from it. This is reversible. It can be broken up again and recombined with water.

However, when clay is fired, there is a temperature at which 'chemical-water' leaves the clay. Again, water is leaving the clay, but this time there is a chemical reaction going on. This is (moreorless) not reversible. It canNOT be broken up and recombined with water.

sources:

http://www.bigceramicstore.com/information/tip31.htm

www.ceramicartdaily.net/PMI/KilnFiringChart.pdf
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