John Hertzfeld

D. R. Maybe cutting down the 25# block into smaller sections would produce less waste, even just cutting in half or quarters length wise could change the amount of waste. When I slab, I use a mallet to reduce the block of clay on all sides so there is minimal trim, and immediately re-wedge into some fresh clay, I avoid "reclaiming" at all costs as I have limited space - reclaim to me is letting clay go bone dry, slaking, drying, and wedging again.

Where are you located primus? There are potters here with connections around the globe. And in pottery where you are often determines what is available.

It wasn't that I was reading it, I agree with that statement. I had to reluctantly turn off my forum follows as my phone was blowing up last night while I was at work. I'm just saddened by the situation.

Last night was crazy town in Spamalot. An additional qualifier would be nice. Easy as why they want talk about clay. If the response is: The fact I can see it on a Saturday morning and I have a use it for a while ago but it is a good idea of the day I will never get to the gym and I don't have a good day for the rest is the best thing ever I go back and I don't think that I have a great way for a few weeks of a sudden it was the best thing ever! Then they don't get in. If they want to spend two seconds to devise a two sentence statement- they get in.

Ok here's my first quote

Ok as a jump from my insurance question. Who is running as a Sole Proprietorship and why? Same for LLC. Are there tax benefits to sole over LLC? I know that it is simple to establish an SP, really just registration of name (in Ohio), how hard is an LLC to establish. What are the associated costs?

I am in NW Ohio, and I am not selling my work yet. I am looking into my local farmers market, they require liability insurance "$1,000,000 is generally acceptable". If you are active in selling through shows/fairs/markets what level of coverage do you have? If you are in Ohio, who do you use?

Location would be an important factor. Are you in USA, UK, somewhere else? Perhaps a nearby university or do a quick google search for guilds or potters groups in your area

After calcination you could use a frit crusher like we use in the glass studio. It keeps the bits from flying and always breakers the larger bits first http://www.abrimagery.com/store/images/products/1534.jpg

Glad it worked out, be sure to score deeper next time and they should stay together in the bisq.

I believe the other fix it ideas are intended for harder to glaze fuse items like handles and such, here you have stability, Gravity, and glaze working with you. A handle would be hard to affix this way, even if it was horizontal like a pot lid strap handle, just too wobbly

The glue will burn out well before the glaze melts - possibly displacing the glaze a little as it boils away, if you glaze each part and set together, in your intended arrangement, the glaze will melt and fuse the two pieces as the glazes become part of each other. If you've ever seen a piece fused with a shelf you know that this should be ok for daily use.

I think the sculpture idea is nice. I really liked the plates you decorated. Which makes me think about modernization of old Greek funerary vessels. They had large open space to tell mythology and or story of the fallen. They were very large, and were not urns per say, but could be reduced to an appropriate size. The wide open surfaces were designed for narrative images. You could tell the story of his life with you on the surface.

In addition to the quality advice given above; your personal style cannot be found as one might be directed to Albuquerque, nor is it a static quality that remains constant. One fun way to look at it is in the understanding of cones. A cone is a measure of heat work, not temperature. Personal style is working experience, not just choices in aesthetics. Just as the longer you expose a pot to heat (even on a soak) the cone level will increase, the more pots you make (even in the same form) your personal style will increase. sometimes the repetition can be intensely focused as suggested in John's previous post, sometimes it progresses in an almost unconscious fashion over time and you may not notice until it's pointed out to you. Either way you cannot finish a pot without heat and you cannot develop your personal style without repetition. Make a thousand of anything and you will develop your own specific vocabulary on that item

Sand it and forget it. Any alterations could possibly cause additional unexpected issues down the line. Felt tab if you think you need to, otherwise the consumer is responsible for their own specific scratch safety solutions. They've been buying pottery for several millennia, they can handle it.