Pres

@Gonepotty, could you include a little more information on your kiln. Are you doing a manual ramp with a kiln setter, or are you using a programmable controller. Balanced packing on all shelves will help with evening out the temperatures, so yes having a tighter pack in the bottom will effect the firing. best, Pres

Hi folks, we covered this a few years ago, but I was mixing glazes yesterday with my plastic bucket sieve, and a brush to run the glaze through the sieve into a spare bucket, and then back into the rinsed out original bucket. I have often wondered about buying a Talisman sieve, but in the long run the cost scares me away, and I really get along fine with my bucket sieve. I will pick up a digital scale as the cost of them has come down. QotW: Talisman, Bucket or other type of sieve for glaze mixing? bestg, Pres

Welcome to the forum! You may do searches using the search tools in each strand area, or you may do a search in the main screen to search all areas for a specific question/subject. Hope you get all the help you need to grow into producing for yourself and your grandchildren. best, Pres

Couldn't help myself the other day. . . .I was at NCECA, and noticed a book cover I didn't recognize. . . looked closer and decided I needed a new book! It is another glaze book with Low, Mid, and High-Fire recipes. However, it sets itself apart by showing combinations of the glazes in 2 and 3 dipped coatings with rich photos of test pots showing the layers.Amazing Glaze Recipes and Combinations, Gabriel Kline. best, Pres

I also "back fill" the joins at the bottom of handles also. Makes for a more comfortable handle and nicer looking bottom to the handle with the "visual return" to the pot form. best, Pres

I'm sure we have had this discussion a few years back, but good to return to it for those newbies out there. Over the years I have used all three, and found that I prefer the Magic Water. When teaching HS in the early years, I had used slip as that is what I learned to work with. If you you were diligent about your scoring, and your paddling/compressing the seams along with regular gap filling and smoothing you would have a good seam with no problems. However, being lax in any way could leave a seam that would split, or leave and ugly hole to be noticed even after glaze firing. Students took a long time to discover diligence. Vinegar was the addition that I started adding to my slip containers, as the mild acid did help to work the seams better. However, I came to believe that it was too easy for students to cover up a bad seam with slip of any sort than to get the seam right. Along came Magic Water, and when I started using it myself, I knew that I had to start using it in the classroom. It did not change everything, but worked wonders with making seams and at the same time it was hard to hide a bad seam. QotW: Slip, Slip with vinegar, Magic Water: What is your choice, and why? best, Pres

You may find the book "Mud to Music" of help in your search. best, Pres

A few questions here: Are all of the pots in the firing blistered as the one the picture shows all of? Is the pink glaze one that you have been using before? Is the blistering limited to the top third of the pot? Do you use a manual hold of any sort toward the end of your firing? Presently my best estimation is gassing, as the pots do not seem to have allowed glaze gasses to escape. wiring the setter up, but cutting back on the power a bit to hold the temp may allow for the glaze to smooth up. I also wonder about the number of coats of glaze as the bottom of the piece looks normal for a gunmetal. Others may have other ideas that may help you out, but this is . . IMHO best, Pres

Hi folks, we have asked this question before, but it has been a while. Some of you may remember that I store my clay outside under my kayaks under a tarp. I have a platform that sits 4" off the ground and is 14'X2'. This allows me to stack a double row of 50# clay boxes 3 rows high that will hold almost 2000#. Obviously though, with PA weather often getting into the single digits this means the clay will freeze in the Winter to thaw in the Spring. I have tendency of wedging everything, and use the recycle clay in with the fresh clay. QotW: Where and how do you store your clay? best, Pres

A few years ago and older gentleman (bowling buddy) asked me to make him one to fit on his base as he had left the old bowl out in the winter. I have a plaster form that fits on the wheel that is a low dome about 20" across. I used a SC 630 at the time, and it did take me a few days to figure out how to make it right. I ended up throwing the bottom on the dome using a 2 inch thick slab that I pulled out to about 1/2 " with a foot ring pulled that was wide enough to fit over the base with allowance for shrinkage. I then made walls on a separate bat that were thrown cylinder raised 2 " and same thickness as the base. I attached the two pieces when leather hard and waited until bone dry before bisque firing. The first one I fired on the foot ring. . . .It cracked. The second I fired upside down no problem, and then fired the glaze on the base with glaze sponge cleared foot ring. He is still using this today as I have talked to him often, and he is very happy with the result. best, Pres

@HulkI just attach a fishing float to the chamois, and it gives me a handle when my fingers are slippery. best, Pres

I was recently at NCECA, and notices some interesting throwing buckets at one booth selling wheels. They were paint trim buckets, hanging over the splash pan edge by their handles! Some wheels had two, some only one. I could never use that size of a bucket while throwing as I use water in the beginning to center the hump, and gradually taper off till almost dry. I see a lot of beginners with small bucket with about 3-4 inches of water in the bottom. They often have to reach in deep to even get to the water. I like a one gallon bucket that is full, so that I can get to the water easily/quickly. I usually throw with water, not slurry. In the early days I had been told to try hand cream in the water to protect chapping, and to make the water lubricate the hands against the clay. Tried it, and discarded it within a week or so. My idea about pulling is that the smaller the area of drag on the clay the easier to pull and keep from corkscrewing. When throwing larger, I pull with the rt hand pointer supported by the thumb and the second finger, on the inside the first supports the second against the third. I have tried the edge of the thumb on the left, but no more as it doesn't bend in the first joint. QotW: Large or Small, creamed , slurry or water to lube your throwing? best, Pres

The kiln looks to be in pretty good shape for used. There are a few bricks that are chipped, and that is problematic, but fixable. You will notice that one of the elements has been pinned due to the broken book in the one area. I would also ask the seller if it has a setter/controller to aid in firing it. I am sure others will horn in on this, and I would pay attention to their comments as spending that amount for a student is dedication to the craft. . . .good luck. best, Pres

If no one in the family would want them @Mark C., I would look for a museum, organization, or other that would want them in their collection/s. Otherwise gift them to some young potters you have met. best, Pres

I know that a lot of us are getting older. . . . slightly! However these disappearances to our living circles bring about times of uncertainty and concern that everything will not be alright when it comes to us. Worrisome is it not? Then again, I come to wonder after @Mark C.'s post will there still be a need or interest in pottery in the future? It does me well however to see NCECA this year, with all of the vendors, and I did a bunch of galleries today within walking distance and saw a lot of nice pots/sculptures/Objects. best, Pres