JohnnyK

I've tried making paper clay in very small amount to try using for patching but was not impressed...I did have a customer who wanted me to incorporate his parent's ashes into the surface of an urn he wanted me to make for him. This was the result:

How about a photo of the toy. It might help with suggested solutions...

Welcome to the Forum...The primary reason for using a foot pedal is to control the speed of your wheel and enable you to use both hands while throwing. If you were to use a VFD to control your wheel speed, you would lose the continuity of the throwing function by having to interrupt the process to change wheel speed. Plus, it would get pretty messy unless you cleaned your hand each time you wanted to change speed...thus slowing down the throwing process significantly.

In my case, the kiln came first. It was given to me by an 87 year old ceramist who turned me on to pottery by suggesting I take a pottery class. When I let her know I was taking the class, she gave me the old Cress kiln since it was a second kiln that she didn't need anymore. Then, when I was talking with another friend about the pottery class, he said he found a CI MP wheel in the barn on a property he just bought. He said I could "borrow" it for as long as I wanted it. After cleaning all the black widows and webs out of it, ai was off to the races. I've replaced the kiln with something used, but newer, and am still using the CI wheel...I have another friend who hasn't thrown on her Brent C for more than 2 years now. She says she may get back into throwing, but I doubt it. Who knows...I may be able to get that wheel for a reasonable price. If that happens, I may be able to give some private lessons to some individuals who have expressed interest...

I would say an electric drill. I use it on clay for drilling holes and mixing...for drilling holes in plastic, wood and various metals, for rotating coarse wire wheels to create texture in clay and wood...for driving screws, too!

You might take a look in the CAN store for Additions to Clay Bodies for info along the lines you are searching...

Welcome to the Forum, Rinny. YES, you can get a resale certificate and buy your materials tax-free, charging your customers sales tax on the product unless they also have a resale cert. You will then have to pay the gov't the sales tax on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis depending on your level of taxable sales...

Thanks for all your suggestions! I was just thinking, too, that I could put a layer of sand topped with a layer of cardboard in the mold to give the form a wider, flat bottom. That would give me an area to install a foot without having to worry about any kind of release material...

The texture is on the inside of the glass--outside of the clay. With that in mind, how do I remove the oil to install the foot? Scrape the clay where the foot would be installed?

Is this the kind of look she might be looking for? If so, it is 3 coats of PC-31: Oatmeal over 3 coats of PC-33: Iron Lustre fired to ^6...The Oatmeal gives a nice Hare's fur look. You can see less of the Iron Lustre base if you broaden the band of Oatmeal.

Thanks for the input, Madeline...I have an order for just one bowl and the original thought was to use the glass as a slump mold to pick up the texture. The only reason for making additional versions would be to test the various release methods...

And the winner is...oil spray, with the most votes...but, I think I will try each of the methods. The biggest problem that I see with the oil or soap is what to do with the trimming scraps-toss or recycle and how to go about putting a foot on the molded piece after? Would it be best in this case to flatten the bottom and go without a foot? Another option would be to throw the bowl and not worry about the texture. Here's a photo of the light fitter that I plan on using...about 15" diameter.

Hi All...I am looking to use a textured glass light fitter as a slump mold for a bowl. What should I do to get an effective release from the glass?

In looking at the video that @Bill Kielb suggested, I found the results too "lumpy" or "bulky" for lack of a better term. Just about all of my experience has been with Amaco's Potters Choice glazes. I have been layering for years with great success and some beautiful results that I can reproduce pretty effectively and call them my "signature" glazes. The nice thing that I have found is that, while certain combos run more than others, I don't get the heavy bulk or build-up. One thing that I HAVE found is that Duncan's "Shino Cream" does an excellent job of running as shown below. Here, the base glaze was PC-20-Blue Rutile (3 coats-red color). The second gray layer was 2 coats of PC-41: Vert Lustre. The white was 2 coats of Duncan's Shino Cream. The bowl was fired to ^6. Too wide a band of the SC will run like a racehorse, so you have to experiment with its application. You can see other outcomes of layering and runs in my profile album...This particular bowl was an homage to @Mark C. and his outstanding ^10 glaze fx... I'll be doing more tests in the near future with Amaco Honey Flux, but I have found that PC-31 Oatmeal does a pretty good job too...

If you look in my gallery, you will see pix of a splash pan I made for my CI Wheel from the bottom of a plastic trash barrel, The blue insert is for using a Giffen Grip...Maybe this idea will work for you because I seriously doubt that you will be able to find a stock pan...

With fall upon us and shorter days, I'm putting my farm to bed for the season and will be able to spend more time in the studio. Part of my agenda will be to spend some time working with the LQ. I'll also check into the Mod Podge sealer to see how it works, too!

It is NOT a "glaze" in the traditional sense, and it WILL burn off if you fire it! A few years ago I tried working with liquid glaze on a couple of bisqued pots to see if it would make my Raku pieces able to hold water and got some disappointing results. After sealing the pots as per directions, letting them dry, then water testing them, I found that they DID absorb water and leak. When I contacted the manufacturer, they asked me if I had thoroughly washed the inside of the pot to remove ALL dust that may have been in the pot. I had not done that before the sealing process, so, I am assuming that's why my pots leaked. I have not gone back to do additional testing, but plan on doing so in the not-too-distant future. The stuff is VERY expensive and, unless you have some spare cash to throw away, I'd hold off on doing so until you get more input. If there are others out there that have used it successfully, feel free to chime in...

I got my CI wheel from a friend who was cleaning out his barn on a newly purchased property. He said he would lend it to me for free for as long as I wanted it. That was more than 10 years ago and he has never asked for it back. I also got my first very old Cress kiln from an old ceramist who had 2 and didn't need the old one. I just had to haul it off. It was a ^6 kiln that needed elements and wouldn't fire above ^2 after awhile, so I sold it as a low fire kiln after I bought a lightly used ^10 Cress. I put an Orton digital controller on it and have been firing it to ^6 for 8 years.

Having been in various businesses over the past 50+ years, I have had to deal with other businesses and suppliers. As time went on I learned to deal with the best people and suppliers that I could find and work with so there was very little that I had to tolerate in the way of less than stellar service. When I did come across someone that didn't meet my standards, they were dismissed or shunned. Fortunately, that didn't happen too often. When it comes to my local ceramics supplier, they are outstanding in the way they service my needs. If there is a supply problem, they let me know up front and we try to come up with the best solution for both of us, and when it comes to creativity, they are open to hearing my input about various glazing experiences as well as providing some insight to theirs...

Why not try something like this. Not knowing how big you plan on making this sculpture, you can fabricate it from a 3/8" slab. It would be similar to a slump mold and you could use 3/8" plywood as the basic frame...

Hi Meegan...Welcome to the Forum. What you might consider is raising the pool slightly above the surface of the slab, kinda like a wading pool, with maybe a 1/4" coil as the pool's sides.

I've gone 2 ways in the past for wood-burning fireplaces which put out a lot more heat than a kiln. The first is a brick wall which was done for fire protection as well as aesthetics. The second was for functionality. Here, I used 3/8" hardibacker cement board installed with 1" metal tube spacers. The best thing for you to do would be to contact your local building dept. and find out what they require for the installation...