"I can recommend body 441 for the use in the Raku technique. The body is excellently prepared and good to process. When the body is cut with a wire, the cut-off slab shows a very nice structure which is retained during the further processing if it is hot air-dry treated for a short time. I pug the individual 10 kg lumps free from air one on the top of each other by using a wooden hammer. The clay is too solid to be formed with bare hands.
However when the body is processed, it is surprisingly plastic and should not be softer.
The contained chamotte with a grain size up to 0.8 mm is something special and enables to cut exact borders as I need them e.g. for my Ikebana vessels. All Raku bodies normally contain chamotte up to 1.0 mm grain size and the larger grains disturb the trimming. Surprisingly the chamotte can be completely polished while in a semi-hard condition so producing glassy surfaces suitable for e.g. for Naked Raku. With appropriately controlled drying, there is no warping. This enables the production of exact, planar objects. Body 441 is absolutely shock resistant while being fired (including large pieces) and post-reduction displays a classy anthracite grey on the unglazed areas."
von Ragnvald Leonhardt