This was a two or three hour demonstration, time was limited, thus the demonstration pot was always small. Made with local clay, the location of which was guarded. It was slaked in five gallon plastic buckets, which allows the clay to go into suspension while sticks and such float to the top, and rocks and such sink to the bottom. Selection of the clay was critical. If the particle size was too small, the clay would be wonderfully plastic and also crack apart when drying because of the increased shrinkage. The reverse was a very non-plastic clay, difficult o work with, but would not crack upon drying because of its larger particle size. The secret was finding a compromise, often adding some fine sand to "open" the clay so it could dry more evenly, which would lessen chances of shrinkage cracking while allowing for a more plastic clay body. The word is, clay is just not clay.