Mark C.

When I was a student I used a metal lunchbox-still have it.easy to clean and when open it was easy to access

So I am testing some new liner glazes today to look for one to replace my go to I have used for 40+ years. I opened my glaze book and found one TRJ emailed back in the day from this site, also wishing me a Merry Christmas . For those that do not recall him he was another professional full timer like me from Canada. After a few years of back and forth emails we were going to meet at an upcoming NCECA but alas he got sick and passed away. His posts live on here just like mine will when I'm gone. He shared info freely as many do on this site. I mixed up his liner cone 10 reduction glaze today and will test it in coming week. It was good today thinking about a man I never met and what may have been. Now I may be using his liner glaze on a zillon pots if I like it. Thanks TOM akaTRJ On that note I did meet another Potter last week at a Crafts Fair in Saint Louis and we did a mug exchange . I was there twofold to visit with my wifes sister who moved 1 hour south of STL last year. Also we drove south 3 hours to see the eclipse which was fabulous with clear skies our second one in the past 7 years. It was a joy to meet another potter from this site and share stories and ideas.I had my coffee in his copper red mug this morning.Its a small planet really.

I feel that whatever works for you with slip use that . If it works use it. I will add that in my clay body and calc class back in collage we tested all types of attachments (long before magic water ) and what was leaned that scoring and slip make for stronger bonds. It's a night and day difference so score and slip . If you are not that you are making weaker bonds.

I use the slip from my hands throwing medium and larger forms. I keep in in tall plastic open container with a piece of light plastic over it. If it gets thick we add a splash of vinegar. Sometimes no vinegar for months. Thgis slip is always teh same body we are working with and water is not added. I also collect from splash pan if needed quickly, gthge thicker stuff .Never bothered about magic-I learned ceramnics before those concepts where born and never needed them so never thought about doing them later. Now I will add we handle thousands of mugs every year in porcelain and getting the handles on same day is the norm with the clay all the same moisture content. Handles, on then cover with loose light plastic sheets that night uncover and let dry. If any small cracks appear I use a thin wood stick to rub them out while loading them in bisque kiln. (pro tip I leaned from another potter in the 80s) then they never show up again. Also if you do this while loading that saves handling them another time which is all about time saving which is what am all about with clay.

More chimney (taller for sure to suck better). That dampermaybe low as you said 5 bricks up from floor, How tall is that in inches? Low. if it was waist high the flame/heat expands out of the chamber and then gets reduced down and then expands again after the damper The damper that close has little expansion space which will slow draft down a s well. A taller stack may help this flaw. I cannot tell how much flame expansion space you have? The double expansion is spelled out well in a few books like Nils Lou space age kilns.If I recall-its be awhile so I hope i have that right. I biult the double expansion stack in my salt kiln and its works great with less taller chimneys .I have 7-8 feet brick and 8 feet of heavy stainless pipe Read up on making cone pack making. Cones should face slightly away from each other so than do not fall on each other for better reading-good temp records count

I buy my clay in about 3 -6 ton lots minimum and order it made extra soft for bad wrists. I have a shed near the road witha canvas front facing north in the shade of my potshop. That shed stays cool year round. I then bring into shop about 750#s at a time and store under wedging tables on redwood floor boards.(2x12s are my floor in old shop-new addition is painted plywood floors ) Clay warms slightly in shop in winter with heat -summer heat is off and its cooler in shop I order from Laguna clay and have it trucked the 13 hours north and supply a few other potters as well that Have been with me for many decades on clay buys-although many are now gone.I have been with Laguna since they bought out westwood clay in the med 80s before I was with westwood in the 70s also used to used Robert Brent Clays when they where in Healsburg and Quyle clay from the Sierra. They now are out of the clay business. Also usewd some Emory clays from Sacramento area -all those where stonewares-switched in mid 80s to all porcealin .From Laguna just before they bought up Westwood.I drove down to LA in 185 to meet the Laguna owner and try there porcelains .He sold Laguna about 5 years ago to the new owner. I also store some clay just outside shop door for slab roller use-I moved my two peter puggers last summer onto new kiln cement slab and have yet to. decide about where slab clay will live-it never ends. Ok off to see the eclipse via some airplanes

The photos do not work for me

Never in my 50 years in business has it helped with the business sales wise. Donations same deal only give to my causes.

Just heard this -The owner of Kemper Tools has sold the business. New owner has to move the factory as the property has sold as well. Not sure if this will stay as a domestic business and what will be made in terms of the tool line. They made so many I would not be surprized that that line is trimmed down . Pricing may change as well.. It's funny as I noticed Bailey has a sale going on Kemper now which is odd. My guess is there will be a time period that these tools will not be in production as well. The good news is Kemper will be around in some sense in the future.

I see those for $700-$900 as Neil said they are not the best slab rollers. I dislike the cables always stretching-really poor design.-post it on the ceramic facebook sites for best exposure

I recently sold some Brent parts in the classified here. It was a complete motor controller foot pedal setup. It just needed the wheel frame and wheelhead and large pulley .(This sold with days o posting.) I also listed it on a few of the ceramic sales sites on facebook for national coverage. Long story short is a fellow full timer had been lugging a Early Brent frame around for decades with everything on it but what I was selling. I shipped it to him in the SF Bay Area and within days it looked like this and is again a fuctional wheel. This is the same very early 1969-1972 flat top formica Brent wheel that I to own-Mine looks justslike this one except the formica is a bit more worn from use. Its got a 14 inch wheelhead These wheels do not have the flange that holds the splash pan down. ( I put an new wheelhead with flange on mine two or three decades ago) but this one is still orginal. These wheels are built with thicker metal parts (the deck) and ground flat with grinders to the formican situation s flat and are a bit heavier than the modern ones from the mid 70s on except for the CXCs which for some early years was also made with theis extra steel (my 1982 CXC is really heavy. Just seeing this wheel takes me back as a kid to 1970 when I went to a converted 3 bedroom house in Santa Monica to buy my wheel from Robert Brent.. The garage was full of guys weilding stands and grinding them flat outside.. Robert Brent had a small bedroom as an office and did my paperwork-in one converted bedroom was a room full of motors and the other rooms had the electronics and an assembly bedroom. No one lived in this house as it was all manufacturing.. From there they moved North to Healdsburg Ca. in Sonmoa County. Since I moved north myself to Humboldt county in 71 I used to stop all the time at that facility to buy clay as they expanded to clay making as I drove north and south many times every year.. They fixed my wheel for free or low coast as well. I have some great stories as well about that place but they are or another time. When Brent sold out to Amaco some of the folks moved with them and I knew them for decades until they retired. Those folks sent me a replacement motor or example to test out for free (still using it) as they where trying it out and needed it tested . They did not use it on any production wheels it turns out. Its now a new day and all the old timers are gone.I miss those folks and how they ran a great business and took care of customers like me.

I use a plastic bowl for water . Its a wide open form -I keep a cut shammy on the lip and few sponges in it. I get fresh warm water every throwing day from electric tea kettle-my guess is 1/2 +gallon of water-less water the better in terms of throwing

Well it's looking like the second quarter in terms of Pottery sales has been slow-same as the first quarter. This is showing in my retail/wholesale outlets . The economy in our small backwater community is always lagging behind the national scene . Its been a bust and boom economy localy for all my time living here. This area was once king to Redwood timberr sales (when I moved here over 53 years ago). Then that went bust and Weed growing took over until thats gone bust in past years. Now its in between the next thing. The toursit industry has been steady thru it all and thats a season flow for te shops and galleries . Now that I no longer travel with pots out of the area so I'm now subject once again to this cycle except to one very large wholesale gallery far away from here wich I'm working on a huge twice a year order right now. In terms of my slowing down work wise this actually has worked well for me..I need to stock up for the summer trade season soon aas well. Not sure about te rest of the country but here pottery sales are slower than past years at this time locally.

When I have lumpy materials I just weigh them dry and put them in my shop blender with a bit of water and dump into the wet glaze batch -just put it on magarita mix for a few minutes . Makes anything smoth in minutes but wait theres more- it liquifies and is as smooth as silk in mere minutes and you to can pick one up for just one low payment at any thrift store

As Bill Noted drilling is last resort ,Try many options before that one and if it comes to that a cobalt bit made for tough metals is key