Benzine

Much like @Callie Beller Diesel, I have a full plate tonight.  In celebration of my youtube channel reaching 100 subscribers I decided it was a good idea to throw 100 bowls.  Now that they're all drying at a rapid rate, I'm having second thoughts on how great of an idea it was! Haha
 

I've got a pile of rocks, that I am "decomposing", to create some new clay.  I am a patient person...

How about a large plastic storage tub with lid made into a Damp Box? Mix enough potters plaster to make about a 2" layer in the bottom and after it sets hard, add a cup of water to the tub. (I add about a cup of water every 4 to 6 months and as long as I keep the lid closed, that's all it seems to need to keep things moist.)  I checked mine today and I have a pair of bowls that I threw in 2013 and they are on the damp side of leather hard...too soft to trim. I want to see how long I can keep them there before they start to fall apart. Place the box on a dolly from Harbor Freight and it can be rolled anywhere!

rolling bakers' racks with drywall shelves.  self explanatory.   too bad there aren't very many old refrigerators with wire racks in them.  i have about 18 and have not seen any more of them for years.   they are wonderfully useful for carrying pots after hot waxing and glazing to the kiln.   cannot use when the work is fired because the metal marks the foot. or foots?

The first thing I thought of was a paint sieve that fits on a 5 gal bucket.   I had bought several of them when I painted the house and had a extra one.  I tried one out when I was mixing a 3 gal batch of glaze.   I sieved it through the paint mesh before I sieved it through my 100# mesh sieve.   Doing it this way seem to make the whole process easier and faster.   They are also very inexpensive,  about $3 each.   For people who work with slabs a seam roller for wallpaper can help mesh your seams together.    A vinyl layout pad with measurement marks for fabric  can also be helpful for slab,  both are also inexpensive.    Denice

Hi folks, ONCE AGAIN, no new suggestions in the question pool. I will fall back on something touched on a while back, but maybe mentioned in a different way: What tool or piece of equipment non related to Ceramics would you recommend? 
All of you have probably heard me brag about my re-purposed  electric caulk gun, and the use of plastic plumbing parts for trimming chucks, or using bamboo kitchen utensils to make wooden ribs, or stick blenders for mixing glazes in the commercial ceramic sprayer. I will not go through these again. However, I would recommend that anyone getting into ceramics not waste their time on cheap shelving, as it can only lead to disaster when a shelf collapses from weight, or tips over for some reason. Years ago I purchased a few commercial grade shelving units from a big box store that would hold over 2k lb. in weight. This holds most of my dry glaze and clay materials without the worry of tipping or collapsing.  The other advantage of shelving for these heavy bags is to keep it off the floor to stay dry, and to save on my body when moving them around or filling bins etc. . That also brings me to another tie with the shelving. a good steady metal cart that allows you to move a bin under the bag, and cut the bag on the shelf to fill the bin.
 
Have a good day folks, and think about What tool or piece of equipment non related to Ceramics would you recommend? 
 
best,
Pres

Just been doing some experimenting since I have plenty of bowls, mugs, spoon rests, etc.  I'm thinking about entering our local guilds call for entry, it's the annual teapot show.   I had a dream about something like this so am trying to get it right.  This is the second prototype and it's getting closer.
Also been making taller two part vases, but the problem is my kiln is only 18 inches deep and 23 inches wide so i can't go too big.  This vase is 20 inches tall wet, hoping it fits and fires on its side ok.
 

I don't think potters drive enough of a demand for cobalt to be worried that they're the reason for bad mining practices.  I don't know the numbers but I'm going to guess that potters use less than a thousandth of a percent of the cobalt mined.  We use cobalt alloys at work and I know they're the metal of choice for prosthetics and implants because they're biocompatible.  Of course the electronics industry is the biggest consumer.  So as far as feeling guilty, I just can't.  Too far removed from the problem and not driving demand.  
Speaking of which, I guess demand has plumeted because cobalt is cheaper than I've seen in long while.  Last time I picked up a pound I was shocked to see it at like a quarter of it's usual price.

Recently, Min posted by way of @preeta : @preeta brought something up that I've been pondering for years. In this thread she asks "i wonder are potters now going to treat cobalt blue like blood diamonds? Whole ‘nother Subject."
I realize as potters there's a strong probability that the cobalt we use is from the DRC and child labour plus health and safety concerns is a very valid concern in the mining practices there. We are not the reason for the mining, battery market seems to be the big driver now, but how do we feel about using cobalt or for that matter do we look into the mining practices of any of the materials we use? Cadmium inclusion stains to my knowledge are only being made in China and India, now why is that? (rhetorical question)
For myself, even though I have been aware of the problem, I believe that much of the fix may be as much a problem for potters as the cure is for the children. Conditions in 20% or more of the mining operations use child labor in horrendous circumstances. However, as the demand for cobalt becomes more and more prevalent for car batteries, and other smaller modern batteries, the demand will climb, as will the need for more efficient methods of mining. This will mean mechanization, and other cost saving measures that will probably remove children from the equation. That said, it is rather certain by all predictors that the cost of cobalt will go up, and the welfare of the children will be in further jeopardy with this source of income. I will continue to buy cobalt, hoping that my suppliers buy from the 80%, but at the same time I use very little cobalt carbonate in my glazes, and no cobalt oxide.
 
Asking in another manner,  How will you treat the use of cobalt in your work?
 
best,
Pres
 

I've got a pile of rocks, that I am "decomposing", to create some new clay.  I am a patient person...

I've got a pile of rocks, that I am "decomposing", to create some new clay.  I am a patient person...

I'm still trying to save up enough to make a big bottle of gold lustre, will let you know if I've got enough in 20 years hah.  It's just for fun

I've got a pile of rocks, that I am "decomposing", to create some new clay.  I am a patient person...

I'm going camping this weekend and plan to bring back a bunch of decomposing bedrock.  I do some gold prospecting and so I always have granular magnetite but as I was washing a bunch of bedrock clay down the stream last time I thought hey I bet this would melt in a kiln!

Finally settling on a single glaze for all of my work.

My answer may be a little different, because it concerns someone else’s ceramics... but I was his HS teacher.  Many years ago, I had an extremely gifted student who was enrolled in each of my art classes throughout  his 4 years of high school.  I needed to be a Jack of All Trades, as the only art teacher in a rural high school... taught First Year Studio, Drawing and Painting, Printmaking, Photography, Sculpture and of course, Ceramics. His 3rd year, after Studio, and Drawing and Painting, he enrolled in Ceramics.  However, he always seemed to gravitate right back to his easel... he really was getting better and better at painting, BUT he was ignoring his Ceramics.  I knew he had a bright future, and was trying to help him get a scholarship to college... BUT did not want to mess up his chances with a low grade in Ceramics... so we made a bargain.  I would sustain his 4.0, but he had to put in double time after school or whenever, to get his Ceramics done.  Well, he did it. Then went on to win  a scholarship to the Boston Museum School (affiliate Tufts U, at Boston Museum of Fine Arts.). His first year in Boston, he excelled in Ceramics and became a fantastic, prolific, creative  potter. (but still painted :-) That young man went on to work at the Guggenheim, then the Smithsonian.  Now in his forties, he just completed a book, and has created an exhibit comparing Matisse’ inspiration to the work of native Alaskan indigenous peoples.  He has made me proud. :-)

That's a very tough question.  It's a great question, just tough to answer.  
I would say the thing, I am currently most proud of, is having myself and my Art Club make mugs for all the Staff, in our Building.  It ended up being about 90 mugs.  I did most the heavy lifting, in regards to throwing, as I wanted them to be consistent, but the kids added handles and a raised mascot head, that we press molded.  They also glazed everything.  
The Staff seemed very appreciative, especially the Associated, Kitchen Staff, and Custodians, who don't get a lot of credit and recognition.  The Head Custodian, came up and gave me a hug!
We are still making them for new Staff as well, as a Welcome.  The goal was only to do a few here and there, but we've had quite a bit of turnover, for various reasons, so we've been busy...

That's a very tough question.  It's a great question, just tough to answer.  
I would say the thing, I am currently most proud of, is having myself and my Art Club make mugs for all the Staff, in our Building.  It ended up being about 90 mugs.  I did most the heavy lifting, in regards to throwing, as I wanted them to be consistent, but the kids added handles and a raised mascot head, that we press molded.  They also glazed everything.  
The Staff seemed very appreciative, especially the Associated, Kitchen Staff, and Custodians, who don't get a lot of credit and recognition.  The Head Custodian, came up and gave me a hug!
We are still making them for new Staff as well, as a Welcome.  The goal was only to do a few here and there, but we've had quite a bit of turnover, for various reasons, so we've been busy...

That's a very tough question.  It's a great question, just tough to answer.  
I would say the thing, I am currently most proud of, is having myself and my Art Club make mugs for all the Staff, in our Building.  It ended up being about 90 mugs.  I did most the heavy lifting, in regards to throwing, as I wanted them to be consistent, but the kids added handles and a raised mascot head, that we press molded.  They also glazed everything.  
The Staff seemed very appreciative, especially the Associated, Kitchen Staff, and Custodians, who don't get a lot of credit and recognition.  The Head Custodian, came up and gave me a hug!
We are still making them for new Staff as well, as a Welcome.  The goal was only to do a few here and there, but we've had quite a bit of turnover, for various reasons, so we've been busy...

For me it may be building two salt kiln conversions at a Molkai Art center on two different trips. Pro Bono as well. I am in the giving back space of life and passing on knowledge is part of that process. It felt right and was for a good cause . It still feels great years later

Smithsonian Craft Show.
20 years ago I thought it was an impossible goal. 20 years from now, I'll be thinking "I can't believe that really happened."

That's a very tough question.  It's a great question, just tough to answer.  
I would say the thing, I am currently most proud of, is having myself and my Art Club make mugs for all the Staff, in our Building.  It ended up being about 90 mugs.  I did most the heavy lifting, in regards to throwing, as I wanted them to be consistent, but the kids added handles and a raised mascot head, that we press molded.  They also glazed everything.  
The Staff seemed very appreciative, especially the Associated, Kitchen Staff, and Custodians, who don't get a lot of credit and recognition.  The Head Custodian, came up and gave me a hug!
We are still making them for new Staff as well, as a Welcome.  The goal was only to do a few here and there, but we've had quite a bit of turnover, for various reasons, so we've been busy...

That's a very tough question.  It's a great question, just tough to answer.  
I would say the thing, I am currently most proud of, is having myself and my Art Club make mugs for all the Staff, in our Building.  It ended up being about 90 mugs.  I did most the heavy lifting, in regards to throwing, as I wanted them to be consistent, but the kids added handles and a raised mascot head, that we press molded.  They also glazed everything.  
The Staff seemed very appreciative, especially the Associated, Kitchen Staff, and Custodians, who don't get a lot of credit and recognition.  The Head Custodian, came up and gave me a hug!
We are still making them for new Staff as well, as a Welcome.  The goal was only to do a few here and there, but we've had quite a bit of turnover, for various reasons, so we've been busy...

Table vase from recent firing. This one used a white glaze on the entire piece inside and out. As compared to the one before you can see how the white glaze bleaches browns on the SS 630

working on a new batch of pots for soluble salts. will be writing 2 articles about discoveries in PMI and Revisita Ceramica International. Workshop schedule filling up for 2020. 
 
Marcia