oldlady

do as suggested above and try this. i was told by my washing machine mechanic that new washers do not use as much water as my nice, old kenmore. i have had no problems, mainly because i do not use much water to throw and i am alone (whoever makes the mess has to clean it). if you are really making a huge mess all over the studio, maybe having a smallish bucket and holey plunger would remove enough mud before the washer gets turned on. to make the plunger work, use a drill with a 3/4 or 1 inch bit and a piece of 2x4 behind it to control the tendency for the rubber to slide while being drilled. put about 4 or 5 holes about half way between the handle and rim. slosh enough water around one or two towels at a time and empty the dirty water where you normally would. not into a sink! pour it through a sieve so you save the fines to add to reclaim. smallish bucket and only one or two at a time reduce the weight and make the job more comfortable to handle so each potter can do it daily.

since a kiln is really only a brick box that contains heat, ask evenheat how you could convert it to fire to cone 8, higher than cone 6 to allow for long term use at cone 6. you will use it for years. one of our members, Neil Estrick, sells and repairs kilns and can explain how it can be done if evenheats MANAGER (not just whoever answers the phone) cannot take it back. do not talk to anyone without the authority to make a reasonable adjustment to a general rule. that is why Managers make the big bucks. send Neil a private message since he has not seen this yet.

baetheus, i think you have thought out the really good answer, change the clay. by the time you do anything extra on a piece you are losing time and money.

Marlene, the pyrometer you want to use is not a replacement. because so many brand new kiln owners read this forum, could you please re-title your question to say "using a pyrometer with a paragon A88B kiln"?

it appears you really want to save the clay. what size bag are you using? the amount of work it will take to "save" the clay is probably not worth the enormous effort you seem to be anticipating. just toss it and then you do not have to think about it another minute. clay is cheap, stress is expensive. btw, it is not necessary to use plaster in your studio. there are lots of ways to reclaim clay.

mistake. forgot the extruder part.

yes, using the right name helps a lot. an "electric kiln" could be another alternative. cities do not know much and your insurance company will want to be very conservative. do pronounce the "n" for them. if you are in rochester new york, there is a fabulous pottery there. talk to potters who live in your town.

kelsey, congratulations on getting your first kiln. it is the same kind i started with in 1972 or 3. it was a good learning experience and i remember the electrician who installed it did not know anything about kilns. we called in an expert and i was a glad to have him. my house was built in 1940 and did not have enough amps for anything modern. forget the stuff we use today! if the person you are using is not experienced in kiln work and does not even know that other kinds of "fat" cords are not correct for a kiln, ask your local supplier for some names . if you are lucky enough to have a local supplier. it really matters that someone knows how to do it correctly. you do not want to provide the first negative experience that makes him/her learn what not to do. north carolina is full of potters. look up someone and ask for a reference. just throw a rock in any direction and it will probably hit a potter.

just finished reading this from the OPs opening sentence. at 83, i may be the oldest potter in this group, old means i do not work in my studio every day. when i do, i enjoy every part of what i do. over the last year i have been knocked down with a strange physical problem that has not yet been solved. losing over 60 pounds without trying is a very scary thing. i have seen all kinds of specialists and had some treatments of a minor nature but nobody has said "you have XX and need to do ZZ to cure it". i have to guess that if i had the big C i would know by now, so i am looking at a total change, maybe turning the studio into a B and B like my neighbors did. when do we give up? this is the far other end of the continuum.

try an experiment. before closing the lid, put a piece of paper large enough to span the opening on top. white gift wrap on a roller works fine. close the lid the way you normally do. open the lid and look at the paper. if there are dark spots, the edge of the lid may need some stiff brushing and vacuuming before your next firing. check right where the metal band touches the firebrick. the stress put on the lid as it is opened and closed can cause tiny bits to fall into the kiln. some are very light and can be moved by air moving across the kiln shelves as they heat.

lainer, not a criticism but a suggestion. the vocabulary used in pottery is very broad. your definition of "bisque" may be just a little different from someone else's understanding. there are a number of terms available in a glossary here in the first section of the forum. my problem is in your description of a "bisque item already glazed." bisque is a noun, bisqued is a verb. bisque usually describes a piece that has been fired with no other substance on it. i am picturing a fired item with some sort of liquid glaze applied to the surface but not yet fired on. or one that has been fired again with a covering of glaze that remains on the piece so it is finished. there is also an "EDIT" function located in the 3 little boxes on the top right so you can correct the title. it is easy.

katie, are you using bottled glazes exclusively? i have found that a number of the potters in my guild use only bottled glaze and it behaves differently than anything made by a potter for individual use. there is a website for cone 6 users of bottled glaze but i do not know its name.

yes, c&c, definitely, used it for years. it is white and stays that way.

wish i had had this advice back in 1990 when i was building a house and studio. 3 or 4 fifty pound bags were wet and i left them on the ground where thay had fallen after delivery. 2 were frits 3124 and 34. when the bags were finally dry enough to lift they were no longer rigid but i did not look closely enough before they were tossed in a trash truck and driven off. what a loss that was.

reading this late. no update yet so i will add a suggestion. the total thickness of your backing and the numbers seems to be 1/2 inch. that is a very thick piece. why not use a thinner slab and very thin numbers so you will not be asking your kiln to do something difficult. i have an occasional piece that grows a hump in its middle but it happens only when i do not fire on a bed of sand or fine grog.

not having an education at a college or university, i just think logically about reclaim. i never wet anything until the day before i pug everything. learned i cannot wet a partially dried piece so i do not even try. using only one clay makes it simpler. when i used a red as well as a white, i marked one clay bag RED. since i work mostly with slabs, it is very easy to have an open clay bag sitting on the floor next to the slab roller. as pieces are cut from the large slabs i make, the trimmings drop into the bag. the pieces i make take some time, and i proceed with making flat things until i have filled the shelves in the studio. the glazing takes time as well and so the trimmings are totallydry before i am ready to pug. by this time there are 4 or 5 bags or buckets waiting for the pugmill. everything is transferred to buckets, outside the studio while wearing a respirator. the buckets are moved to the pugmill and distilled water is added to each bucket to an inch or so above the level of clay scraps. the dry clay scraps absorb the water overnight the next morning, my Bailey does the mixing and air removal and i do it twice just to be sure the blend is thourouglhly mixed. there are usually some damp pieces left from recent throwing so they go in as well. what results is a great throwing body that i enjoy using to make empty bowls for the annual winchester va dinner. you may not buy as much clay as i do so do not have bags of trimmings. you may not have a pugmill or access to one. but you do have access to some kind of container of scraps and some tabletop space for piling up the trimmings as they occur. they dry pretty well overnight and can be put in a bucket waiting for you to wet and wedge into pliable clay.

buying permanent shelving can be expensive if you shop for pottery equipment. if you can get used baking racks, the kind you see in supermarket baking areas, you can save a great deal of money. spend the savings on thick drywall shelves to fit those rolling racks. mine have lasted for over 25 years and yes, i am the only one using them but they are still perfect. at 18 by 26 inches, they hold a lot of work and the racks vary in height and spacing between suports. restaurant supply stores are great, the heavy plastic quart size soup holders make great glaze containers. use sharpies for labelling them and hair spray to remove any excess labels as you get into using them. a variety of wheels are inexpensive at harbor freight and make simple plywood into rolling supports for boxes of clay and other heavy items. cut the plywood to fit under tables or other stationary storage and buy wheels that let you get the most storage out of the way. size the plywood boards so you can lift them if necessary. four wheels on the corners and one in the center work well with heavy stuff. window or cabinet handles make it easy to pull them out when needed.

cannot say enough good things about AMOCA. there were so many of the pieces in the many books i have read over the years that i was stunned to turn the corner and see them. the couple who lent them for this exhibit were photographed with some of the collection not on display. unbelievable. books are great but to actually see a pot that is huge and perfect had an impact that measurements printed under a photo cannot. could have stayed all day. the contemporary crafts location was not close enough for a visit. there is a craft fair that is apparently year round in laguna beach. the "tents" are permanent buildings and have many different types of work. a glass blower sits inside a cage about 20x20 feet that keeps the public safe but able to see everything being done. potters are close to the entrance and numerous. great place for visiting. named Sawdust thanks for the suggestions.

dumb question. now that someone is marketing what they call "celadon" glazes and so many people are brushing bottled glazes, is the glaze you use one you make or something supplied as celadon? since it appears to be clear and without a hint of blue, i do not know where it gets its name.

you mention that the clay is submerged but do not say whether it is totally hard or almost liquid. which is it? someone may have tried to add water to solid but not dry clay. never had that work for me, the clay just sits there hard as a rock. to remove excess water from the soldner mixer, dip out as much as you can and start tossing dry towels into the water and removing the excess on the towels. then turn on the mixer.

it appears that the plates are completely flat, no foot ring. i fire that kind of work on sand or small grog. i make a small hill across the shelf and wiggle the plate down on it to level it off.

thank you roberta and wildflower! i knew for a long time there was something worthwhile in pomona but did not know what it was. thought it was a clay supplier, don't know why. good info, sent to my friend jan who lives nearby. we traveled all over britain back in 2002 visiting potteries and had a great time. thanks. (i drove, she shifted gears.) craft contemporary sounds like a good place to visit as well. i hope it works for jan. looking forward to a great time. thank you.

to simplify even more, use a mirror or clear flat glass to determine the amount of moisture still in the kiln. whatever degree of temperature you guess at, the glass tells moisture level accurately no matter how heavy or closely packed your kiln is each time. each firing is different so temp reading alone is not as accurate. hold a clean glass horizontally above the top opening. if the glass steams up, wait for awhile and try it again. my kiln is clear at about 1000 degrees F. do not know C. do wear a glove or use a potholder so you do not lead the heat to your fingers and burn them. my glass is from the dollar tree and is in a metal picture frame so it is big.

i will be visiting a friend in LA during those dates and hope to find some interesting clay activities like a craft fair or maybe visit a potter from the forum. please let me know whats happening.