The Amazing P. D. Little Clay Extruder (Patent (de)Pending)

Peter always wanted a patent, maybe this is his big chance. This surprised him by actually working on the first try. He thought that the pressure on the clay would force the whole thing apart, I wasn't worried about that, but I suspected the little drill wouldn't have the umph to force the plunger into the tube. We were both wrong it works great. Double click on the pics to see a larger image.

The drill, turns the ready rod through two pieces of angle iron (to guide it level and straight) and a 6 inch pair of vice-grips (as a torque arrester). The ready rod pushes the disc into the tube and forces the clay out the other end. The die is held in place by the rim of the end cap, which is held in place by the hole in the plywood.
It cost <$15. We bought the white drain tube, the end cap and a couple nuts. (I know, I know, we already had a couple of nuts...) We already had the ready rod, the angle iron, the plywood, the plumbing strap, the screws, the vice grips, and the clamp that holds it to the table. We also already had the screw gun, the drill press, the circle cutter, the table saw, the jig saw, the scroll saw, the grinder and the lathe that was used to build it. So if you need to buy those it will cost more. I requested that this be a horizontal extruder, because that means your clay doesn't get curved coming out. But now I realize that it also means it is a two person job, because someone has to hold and operate the drill while someone else catches the noodle. This is an extruded tile from a test die that we cut to see if the contraption would work, but since it did, I'm using it for a shrinkage test.