clay for cob oven or ?

A client of mine a mile away, has an almost full large trash can full of clay, its really nice quality!  A little bit of gravelly bits in it, but mostly nice, feels much like pottery clay.  Its an organic garden so it should be healthy stuff. 

My questions, I'm tempted to take it as local cob oven resource, but am not ready/prepared to build it yet, so looking for discussion on the merits of trying to save it, rush to get an oven built, give it to someone who promises to use it, or ?  How much of an issue is the little bit of gravel in it and if it should come out, what's the best way?

I'd grab it! 

me too! why wouldn't it keep till when you wanted to use it? maybe there is something I dont know and should. I would assume that if left covered it would be just fine.

I thought the top would dry out and crack and the bottom get all slimy or something?  Its monster heavy...

Anybody out there done clay plastering, cob building?  Do I have to screen any gravel out or do any prep or just do it as I go?

so this is wet clay? I assumed it was powdery and would need the additon of some water and maybe some sort of binder before its use.

yes, its wet clay.

anybody out there know how to work with this stuff?  Or anybody in the Seattle area want it?  Seems like a resource, but more than I can manage right now.

you could always post an ad on craigslist or something. I wonder if there is anyway you could dehydrate it and bag it???

I'm in monroe.  I'll take it.  I don't even have a project for it, but I can't help but think that sometime in the next two years, something will come up.

Now the trick is to get it from point A to point B without spending an excess of time or money.

ok Paul, message me privately and we'll figure it out.  Its near Sandpoint Magnuson park in Seattle.  Its quite heavy and the clients are very generous and also  privacy conscious so its behind a locked gate.  The remodeling contractor that's been making my life *very* hard there is supposedly making a dump run tomorrow (Tues) and going to just dump it, so let's connect soon and figure something out.  I might be able to talk him into his guys loading it into my truck, but then I've got to deal with it soon and if I'm giving it away cuz I don't have the energy and have an injured hand... do you have any Seattle friends with a truck to get it and hold it for you?

What kind of clay is it? Find out before you start searching for info. Not knowing much about it, I know there are at least three common types of clay:  kaolin/porcelain (pale gray)), terra cotta/earthenware (red/orange/yellow), and stoneware (gray), but there are all kinds of variations in naturally-collected clays.

I would contact a local potter or pottery source and ask for some ideas.

The big place in WA is the Clay Art Center in Tacoma (253- 922-5342).  But there should be small local places somewhere near you that can provide someone who could advise you.

In Olympia, OPAS/Olympia Art & Frame  888-943-5332 (toll-free) · 360-943-5332 (in Olympia)

Just look up Clay or Pottery in your local Yellow Pages and call for info.

Sue