Hulk

the word "dust" is misleading.   ordinary household dust is bad enough but pottery making involves many chemicals, well, minerals, that are toxic to the lungs.  when in the powder state, silica is the main culprit and handling it carefully while wearing a respirator provides the safest way to use it in a home studio. 
keep a damp sponge near any handbuilding area and use it all the time.  no work surface should be covered in dry clay.   and tossing tons of water at the piece  while working at the wheel is just silly.  only your hands need enough  water to control the clay.  cleanup is so simple if you do not make a mess in the first place. 
sloppy working conditions are not necessary in any studio.  keep it as clean as you would like your lungs to be when you die.

Interesting idea.  Was just looking at a CAN Weekly article about using a slump/hump mold using a 5 gal. bucket...  Didn't give it a thought, that a larger container could be used for a larger form...    Now I just have to find a round trash can - around here, they're all big square 'wheelie-bins'.

did a  big birdbath in the 70s without glaze.  molded the shape on a piece of fabric stretched over a large, 22 or so inches diameter trash can and held in place with several rubber bungee cords.   rolled out a slab 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick and draped it into the fabric while keeping an eye on the bungee cords and avoiding their slipping down the can.  
came out great, plain 112 plus 112 with lots of red iron oxide to make fake wood supports running through the bowl so smaller birds could use them while drinking.  adjusting the cords allowed the bowl to be shallow enough, 2 to 3  inches, for birds to bathe safely.  glaze is too slippery so i did not use it.  threw a separate  large diameter, flared base about 9 inches tall so the ratio of support was enough to prevent tipping over.
sadly, i was not home when the first frost was predicted.  calling my son to ask him to take it inside did not work.  teenager.

In my opinion, gas is not much harder than electric. A nice thing about electric is that with today's digital controllers, you can start a firing and let the controller handle everything. With most gas kilns, you have to monitor the kiln yourself and do all the adjustments manually for the entire firing. 
If you must have cone 10 or reduction, you need gas...end of discussion. But, cone 6 oxidation in a digitally controlled electric kiln is more convenient. 
You can get different results in reduction than in oxidation, but they are not necessarily better one way or another. The difference is primarily aesthetics.

Thanks so much for your help everyone, I really appreciate it!
After thinking long and hard about what you have said and after reading through all my glaze books I think I just need to go gas, I can’t help myself.
My plan is to read through Olsen’s kiln book, decide on a design, order the firebrick and other necessary materials, and build the kiln while I get the rest of the studio ready (and it looks like I might have to learn how to weld too…). If there are any extra funds left over after is all is said and done I will probably get an electric too for bisque firing. But I see that even the smaller prebuilt gas kilns are around $20k now, wow, hope I can build my own for less than that….
Now I just have to decide on the size lol!

(After thinking long and hard about what you have said and after reading through all my glaze books I think I just need to go gas, I can’t help myself.)
Welcome to my world

An interesting thought if you have never done any sort of pottery maybe take a course or two if possible, to see what you may like. Learning to build a gas kiln and operate it reasonably proficient - maybe a year or two. Learning and becoming  proficient in all aspects of pottery - maybe a lifetime.

As I mentioned in your other thread, cone 10 in a gas kiln is not the same as cone 10 in an electric kiln. It's about atmosphere, not temperature. There is no difference between cone 6 electric and cone 10 gas in terms of durability or quality of work. There are a small handful of glaze types that require a reduction atmosphere for them to work, and therefore need a gas kiln, but other than that you can do just as much in an electric kiln. Cone 6 has the benefit of more stability with colors, and a lot more options with commercially available glazes.  If you really like shino and tenmoku glazes, you need cone 10 reduction. They will not work in an electric kiln. If you don't have experience in firing a gas kiln, it's going to be a long hard learning curve, and a lot more expensive to get started. If you want faster success and a simpler process, go electric. 

The photos are a bit low res.  I can't tell the model number on the controller.  If it is an IPCO Studio 3000, you can find a manual here: https://kiln.expert/images/manuals-pdf/IPCOStudio3000Manual.pdf
It looks like the controller was not original but was added on replacing a kiln sitter. The blue part of the box make me think it could be a Paragon kiln.  Similar to the current Paragon TNF233 10 Sided kiln.
Is there anything on the the data plate at all?
 

It’s a wheel, at 2.2 amps you are free to use most any three wire extension cord. So 3 wire 16/3, maybe 15 ft is rated well beyond your wheel. I would change the receptacle it is plugged into to a gfi receptacle  with appropriate cover from weather. You can buy a cord with the gfi built in, but they are fairly pricey.  I would not use this outdoors unless protected by a GFI though. A GFI can only protect you if the cord has all three prongs and the wheel has a three prong plug.

@Hulkhas a good solution for your situation. He uses blue tape, used for masking woodwork when painting, to tape off where he wants the glaze to end and peels it off while the glaze is still slightly damp. You could do that, brush your glaze on the lower portion, remove the tape and proceed glazing the rest of the pot.
@Babs carpet covered bat works well, too, allowing you to slop on glaze at will while the pot sits on the dampened carpet, then turning the dry pot slowly by hand on the carpet to rub off accumulated glaze at the base. I would moisten and trim off any chunks of glaze with a fettling knife or trimming tool before turning on the carpet.
Waxing the bottom before glazing could help to keep any glaze from seeping under the base and sticking.

hot wax on the bottom when finishing the work will keep the glaze from staying on the bottom while you glaze it.  easy to do then, no handling with dry glaze being knocked or rubbed off.
have you considered spraying the glaze so you can reach the whole thing without touching the glaze at all?
sprayed glaze dries so quickly i hardly have time to put the spray gun on its hook before the piece can be handled safely.

Are you brushing, spraying or dipping your glazes?
Are you waxing the bottom?
Damp piece of short pile carpet is effective to rotate the pot on, or used as a batt.

I’m just aiming to apply the glaze in a way that covers the piece evenly… it’s a large piece (it’s sculptural and there’s no openings, I’m just glazing the outside) … I just want to apply the glaze and not mess the application up when I go to wipe it so that’s why I was thinking of applying a couple layers on the bottom half then wiping it then putting it on rest of piece

I have made several vase forms that have 8-10 inch bases, and some bowls that have 12-14 inch bases. Presently I use a bat covered with a felt type rug with rubber backing. Using the wheel running slowly, with some dampness on the rug I can clean the surface of a foot ringed of flat form quite easily. The larger the bat the bigger the form can be covered. Two people holding the form should be able to make it work pretty easily using the weight of the form against the covered bat with the hands of the two individuals holding it steady. I use the same technique to clean the bottoms of chalices and patens for communion sets.
 
 
best,
Pres

Are you putting  wax resist on the area you want to be bare?

A second person to hold or wipe might help, if possible. 

That is a perfectly good used wheelhead.  You could clean it up a bit with some steel wool.

Thank you!

Hi tman!
Can you elaborate on what you are aiming for?
I'm not clear on the bottom - are you leaving it bare?
Are the glazes you are using fluid - do they sag and run? Are you aiming for a thinner glaze application at the bottom to "catch" running glaze?
Almost all my work is functional and rests on a bare clay foot ring.
I use masking tape for a clean sharp line. Pulling the tape while the glaze layer is still moist minimizes dust...
Dipping upside down, the glaze is thickest at the rim, thinnest near the foot.
Wiping away glaze - seems easier when the glaze is still moist, especially if the point is to wipe some, but not all of the glaze layer away.
When the glaze if fully dry, wetting it, then waiting a few moments for the moisture to penetrate is almost same...

Added: most often, I'll buy 3M "Contractor Grade" (#2020) masking tape; it's buff colored.
For small wares, bargain tape can work for straight lines - small wares are light!
I've used the blue tape when we have some left over from somewhat else.
I'm putting the tape on and taking it off the same day; at most, the next day.
For curvy lines, quality tape is more important; it cuts cleaner, has better stick, and curves better.

Hi Kalyssa, welcome to the Forum!
A few of my bats clunk;  the fit on the pins isn't tight. The clunking goes away once the clay is closer to being centered - that's been my experience; once the force on the clay is constant and even, the bats don't move.
You might need a few more bats? Compare/contrast your problem bat against one that fits snugly to confirm?

Hi tman!
Can you elaborate on what you are aiming for?
I'm not clear on the bottom - are you leaving it bare?
Are the glazes you are using fluid - do they sag and run? Are you aiming for a thinner glaze application at the bottom to "catch" running glaze?
Almost all my work is functional and rests on a bare clay foot ring.
I use masking tape for a clean sharp line. Pulling the tape while the glaze layer is still moist minimizes dust...
Dipping upside down, the glaze is thickest at the rim, thinnest near the foot.
Wiping away glaze - seems easier when the glaze is still moist, especially if the point is to wipe some, but not all of the glaze layer away.
When the glaze if fully dry, wetting it, then waiting a few moments for the moisture to penetrate is almost same...

Added: most often, I'll buy 3M "Contractor Grade" (#2020) masking tape; it's buff colored.
For small wares, bargain tape can work for straight lines - small wares are light!
I've used the blue tape when we have some left over from somewhat else.
I'm putting the tape on and taking it off the same day; at most, the next day.
For curvy lines, quality tape is more important; it cuts cleaner, has better stick, and curves better.

I figured out what was causing this, but wanted to allow for a lot of firings to make sure. It turns out that inside the digital controller that I added, the 'wire-end' of the compression terminal on one of the internal wires was a bit too close to the controller's metal housing. I disassembled the controller (which was bought in one preassembled piece), and found signs of arcing. I put a good bend into the terminal, put everything back together, and have had no problems now over many, many firings.

You are all very sweet, thank you.  Nice to have a community where we try to help each other out, share info, and encourage one other.  Many I time I've asked for help around here and gotten great input.  So I'm glad if I can give a little something back.

I was recently asked about a pouring box for mold making. Here are two versions I use in the studio.  The image with the bulbous object is my main pouring box. The pieces are 3/4" plywood cut into 5"x15" boards. I then screwed 1"x1" strips onto the ends which provide a lip for the small "C" clamps. Very quick and easy to assemble a box in any dimension.
The second image shows another box variation that I use often for flat castings. The sides of the box are 2"x2" pieces of pine. (In his case I also used some 1"x2" strips.) The 2x2 pieces are labeled as "turning blanks" and come in a variety of wood types.  (Woodworkers use them to make stairway balusters.) Because they are square and stocky they don't need much bracing other than a little clay at their base. 
The mold on the left I free formed and did not use the box to limit the plaster. (I shaped it by hand.) The mold on the right I filled the box with plaster and then ran a straight edge along the tops of the wood pieces which resulted in a mold that was evenly thick.