shawnhar

Twice a week when I am trying to catch up and restock, otherwise twice a month(ish), stupid life stuff gets in the way of my pottery all the time!

You absolutely need the insulator to keep the live electric from touching anything metal. The only way I have been able to fix something like that (temporary fix) is to torch the end of the element and unwind it while red hot to restore enough of a pigtail. Careful unwinding and torch work keeping the areas being worked red hot can get you a single or double strand pigtail without shattering your element to pieces. This is usually a temporary fix, not forever, as the resistance of this element will be slightly lower. I always tell folks to plan on new elements in the near future - most have not and just fired until next replacement.

Twice a week when I am trying to catch up and restock, otherwise twice a month(ish), stupid life stuff gets in the way of my pottery all the time!

Thank everyone, this is a great group!  Just unloaded the kiln with the 5 minute hold, and all looks good.  I was a little worried it might get a bit hot, but seems fine.  I watched the temp right at the end, and it went from 2167F to 2171F, 
I am firing electric to cone 5, but honestly, the witness things would indicate more of a 5.5 or 6.  My first firing with this kiln was a cone 6, and i really felt that it was too hot (colors washed out, etc), so switched to cone 5 with much better results.  I do not see any pitting in this batch.  Tried some different things with stains and clear glaze on white that look good (photo).  Adding a photo of the 4 "horny toads" also known as Texas Horned Lizards.  3 different glazes--slate blue, sage, and  jade.  The jade (most green), is a glaze from my college days, and it has barium carbonate in the mix, so i only use it on non food items.
Giving a good deal of thought to the hold on bisque firing.  I have a black clay that i love, but it is SO messy (turns my hands orange), and tends to blister, but MAYBE if more of the iron or whatever was burned out in the bisque......  I have also experimented with using it as a slip over red clay, and I like some of the results, and will do more with that.
All that said.  I have an L and L kiln with the auto vent system--how do it l Iower the temp for a bisque hold?  I am still learning the menu and I thought I could only HOLD at the final firing temp?

I am not a hold person as to me it simply adds heatwork. In a practical sense there are folks who fire one cone lower but add a hold to get to the next cone heatwork without the peak temperature. In that case firing to cone five with a fifteen to twenty minute hold often gets one to cone six. (Usually verified with cones)
Why do that? Some glazes do not like higher peak temperatures. Some underglazes change color significantly with peak temperature. It is a pretty functional way to fire a cone to two cones max higher without hitting the actual peak temperature. 
Firing higher or for longer has never healed pinholes for me, often made them worse. Drop some temperature and hold however has helped on s some of my pinhole situations.
whatever works for you and your desired glaze results is likely the best answer. Whatever is done, I strongly suggest  always nice to have cones in place so you genuinely know how much heatwork was done. As to suggested time, 15-20 minutes generally gets you to the next cone.

I am now a hold the gas kiln at cone 10 for 15 minutes to lessen pitting in rutile reduction glazes -its a life saver right now-I turn the kiln down and adjust damper to keep reduction the same so it does not keep climbing tem wise and the reduction is a constant. Really has helps but it a poain in the butt but worth it right now for me.

Your initial assumption about the majority of people who wind up with silicosis being in much more industrial settings than yours is correct. There’s a lot more documentation of silicosis with miners, or sandblasters. I won’t say it doesn’t happen to studio potters, because I try not to make absolute statements like that. But I have yet to hear of a case of someone I know with it, either online or in person. I think a few 3 Kg batches of glaze and some sweeping aren’t going to do you in next few years. 
That’s not to say you shouldn’t employ good studio hygiene going forward, though. If you’ve got other medical things going on, like allergies, asthma, pneumonia that gave you lung scarring, long covid, etc,  the addition of silica and other dust isn’t going to make your day better. It’ll add irritation on top of those things, if nothing else.  If you’ve got concerns, you should definitely bring them up to your doctor. +1 for Mark’s lung diffusion test. I’m having my GP do similar with me. 
 

My first day of throwing the professor came in and explained what the class would cover.  At the end of his speech he said that if anyone had taken the class to make a set of dishes they might as well leave now.  He told us that it would take years of throwing before we could make a set.   After he finished three women stood up and left the room.  his way of pulling out the weeds.  I made a set of dishes about 15 years ago just to see if I could.   We are still using them but the glaze is getting a little hazy.    Denice

Demanding customers require high prices. Someone wants custom anything from me, I tell them they won't like the price and are not allowed to complain.
-You get what you get and deal with it, and pay up front, and wait 6-8 weeks, filters out the people I don't want to make stuff for anyway.
 - Private lessons are great for me, but if you won't trim your nails I will ghost you, will not deal with that.

Sellling 10k worth of pots is very doable. And if you’re running a business, purchasing equipment is an expense. 

I can lose a day working in my studio,  even recycling clay and cleaning  time fly's by.   My husbands loves to work on cars but hates lawn work.  We hire a man to help us with outdoor work,  last summer the front end on his car broke.  My husband  agrees to fix his car instead of paying him for his work that day.    The hired man comments later  that he has never seen someone so happy to be working on a car.  My husband spent his life writing technical books on amusement rides, plane, trains and construction  equipment.   But is happiest when he is working with his hands.  Denice

Let your stuff dry out completely, then submerge in water for an hour- buckets, whatever. The clay chunks will break down and easily come off. Then load into the washer.

Don’t be afraid to buy clay. You just have to remember it’s a product with ingredients that aren’t 100% uniform over time, and mixed by humans who have off days. It would be odder to not ever experience some kind of weirdness from time to time. If you find something, tell the manufacturer and the retail place you bought it from. They can’t fix a problem they don’t know about, and it’s a reasonable expectation for them to do something to make it right for you.

I've been finding bits of sponge in my porcelain, and I thought that was annoying. Now I'm afraid to buy clay ... 

Dangit.... now I want to make one of these!

Dangit.... now I want to make one of these!

Long time since I used mine, but I think it's not a tool for applying a solid, even coat of glaze. 
More for adding speckles/texture  -  one glaze over another.

1. Consistent wall thickness, carve when leather hard, keep moist or covered until carving is done
2. Very narrow cutting blade , best ones are less than 1/8”, needle tool to fish out trimming scraps
3. Plan holes so that there is enough structure to hold itself up when high heat softens the clay at the peak of firing, geometric designs are most reliable 
4. Dry slowly, covered loosely 
5. Gently smooth rough edges with a green scrubber when clay is no longer damp
6. Some experimenting will be necessary to determine glaze thickness and application 
7. Clean excess glaze from holes with a needle tool
Here’s a video from a Korean master: 
 
 

Making a "nice" egg shape might be a little tricky.

If you don't have throwing skills you might try something like this...
You might find refining the shape of the two cups on a "found" egg-shaped object before you join them gives more realistic results. Although I doubt that a chocolate Easter-egg would be strong enough. Maybe an Easter-egg shaped gift box?
If you do have throwing skills there are several egg-throwing videos on YouTube, such as ...

https://youtu.be/uXO8wlCVxLA
https://youtu.be/iymjWjUVskI
https://youtu.be/D8OyAgu-cjI

I got turned on to this site by ceramicist John Baymore, a former member known to many.  He invited me to particpate in some firings of the large anagama kiln built by him & his students (New Hampshire Institute of Art). I knew about ICAN/CAD but hadn't checked out the Forum site. I had my BFA in ceramics but had taken a 30 year career detour and was trying to get back into it in my retirement years. He suggested the Forum as a reliable resource and supportive community, which of course it has proven to be. And I will add, even tho I am less active, I still feel "part of" and this group process helps sustain me even as I cut back/slow down on activity. 

I originally stumbled across this forum while doing a Google search. I noticed fairly early on that when I did a Google search this forum came up quite frequently; often with multiple threads on the topic. I use the search function here less frequently now given it only searches threads that have been active for the past two years.
Don't know if this is an issue for others here? 

I’ve been humming and hawing over this question, was going to pass on making a comment out of respect to those amongst us who live a single life and might be having a difficult time reading these tales of love and understanding. 
I am one of the fortunate people who has a sympathetic and understanding life partner. The respect and considerate nature we have for each other and what we do with our chosen paths isn’t something that is limited to how we spend our days make a living. We started off with student debts and stretching out the pay checks to make ends meet then as time went by found ourselves with a mortgage and 4 daughters.  Just to make things more complicated I left my well paying job to make a go of selling pots.
Being supportive isn’t just restricted to a tolerance or a shallow understanding of the trials and tribulations of working at making a living with clay and all that it involves. Does it still require an understanding and at times boatloads of patience? Hell yes! Could I do this without an understanding partner? Yup, I’m sure I could but it would be more difficult. I have deep and profound respect for people who make a go of working a lifetime in clay, especially those who do it singlehandedly.

My partner has (and is) supportive of my activities, and vice versa.
She knew there'd be a gap to fill once retirement became a reality; maybe family, friends, reading, home projects, biking, hiking, fishing, swimming, and volunteering wouldn't be enough.
This topic surely got me thinking about all the interests and activities my partner has supported over the years...
Any road, specifically, she allows time and space for my exploration in ceramics, expresses a more than reasonable amount of interest, and leverages the supply of (potential) gifts for family and friends. She uses wares daily and resists my attempts to clear out "bad" ware to the point that I'm much more selective now when culling what cannot be given away (much less sold) to be maybe kept for our own use, drilled to become a succulent planter, or broken. If to be drilled or broken, it has to happen now!
Thanks for sharing, hope there's more responses afore this thread slips down into the archives...

My husband has always been supportive of my clay life.  I started my small business after I had retired and he retired a year later.  He takes the clay downstairs for me, helps haul greenware out of the house to the shop where I fire,  has worked some of the larger out of town shows with me (he is a good wrapper of pots).  I have made pots working around a shoulder repair, a hip replacement with a fractured femur, and a knee replacement.  So my husband has been a great help with loading and unloading the kiln.  I had an unexpected kiln repair one November and had the kiln torn apart replacing elements etc,  it was -30 degrees and 10:30 p.m with a show looming.    I was at the end of my last nerve, he came out to check on me and lend a hand.  I said, "don't you wish I had became a knitter and sold hats?"   He said, "no, that wouldn't have been nearly as interesting!"  
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My husband knew I was serious about clay when we met,  I was 17 he was 19.  When we married I was 21,  we bought our first house a couple of years  later and that is when I got my first kiln.  It was our first major purchase for the house,  other couples buy a refrigerator or a sofa we bought a kiln.  A year later I got a scholarship in art to Wichita State and quit working to go back to school.   He has always supported me but never liked my work,  he worked in engineering  department and my work wasn't precise and perfect enough for him.  I tried not to  let is bother me,  I had the best support otherwise.   He was always encouraging me to buy new kilns,  but I wasn't  ready to jump into the world of controllers.  Last fall  I finally jumped and bought a Paragon Caldera with a Genisis Controller,  easy to use so I ordered a LL kiln with a Genisis Controller this year.   Since my husband has retired he likes to go to the ceramic supplier with me,  he  moves my clay  and loves to unload the kiln.   Right now I am glazing a 3-D landscape mural,  some of the tiles warped or twisted,  he is at the tile saw cutting and checking them with me to see if they will work or need remade.   I only had to remake one tile among the 200 tiles of the mural.   I likewise support his passion of restoring cars,  my passion is less expensive than his but he can always sell a car if he needs the money.     Denice