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If I were in your position I would pay someone with experience to come into your facility for a real time consult. It would be money well spent, and deductible. You are at a distinct disadvantage since you are not a pro yourself.

When I did production it took a while to refine the process to the least amount of steps, the fewest touches of the clay to get the highest percentage of successful work. You lose every time someone has to touch the clay.

I thought about this, and would be willing to fly the right person in for a few days, but I haven't got a clue who to approach... And, nearly every suggestion we've received has already been implemented. And, those we didn't were discarded for good reason. Like slip casting... Originally we were going to cast, but gave it up because of our foot print, the number of molds we would need, and slip mixing and reclamation equipment issues. Now, throwing is an integral part of selling the pots.

I think it would be good to go after someone ... not only to consult on process but refine the throwing procedure. Fifteen an hour is not an unreasonable 'production speed' on a simple cylinder.

 

...just thinking as I walked that the throwers could be placing the logos on the cylinders thereby eliminating the whole score and place routine later.

 

I also think the target goal for 2015 should be about 15 per hour... That would allow a potter to fill a kiln in 4 or 5 hours.

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You can create the logos at the right stage then ... get out a ware board, cover it with plastic, put a thoroughly damp towel on it, lay on the logos and cover with plastic.

The damp towel will keep the back of the item damp so you can just lift if off and gently place it on the freshly thrown pot.

As long as the person applies it with gentle confidence ... does NOT stretch it, or mess with it too much they should be able to place it permanently with no problem. It's only when they start to mess around with replacement or tugs that you get problems.

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With skutt kilns the connectoions are all butt connectots with others they use mechanical connectors so you do nut loose wire on connections with element change outs. The element grove in L&L is easyier to change out. The bricks can be thicker-always a good deal.

With the S probes you will get longer life from the pyromromtersh on your zonal setup.

Skutt cuts corners on steel quailty with screws and handles whic all rust up fast.Another way to go is a bailey or a Giel kiln-they both make some sweeet high end kilns which really hold up.

Mark

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Well, so far I just learned why I decided not to post here and haven't for more than a year... I'm thinking this was a bad idea...

Because the Internet always wants to give answers to questions you didn't ask?

 

Yes Virginia, there is wisdom on the internet.... EXACTLY!

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Well, so far I just learned why I decided not to post here and haven't for more than a year... I'm thinking this was a bad idea...

Because the Internet always wants to give answers to questions you didn't ask?

 

Yes Virginia, there is wisdom on the internet.... EXACTLY!

 

 

Years ago, when Clayart was the only clay forum around, I posted a glaze recipe and asked "can anyone suggest how to tweak this recipe so it melts at a half-cone lower?" One of the responses I got was "why don't you adjust the recipe so it melts at a lower temperature?" Seriously. Clayart was/is so unstructured and disorganized that the original questions get lost quickly and nobody thinks it's important anyways.

 

I'm glad this forum is organized into threads, so when an OP remarks that the answers are not on point, everyone can easily refer to the original question.

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Guest JBaymore

Another aspect of this situation is HOW the people responding are thinking about the response.

 

If a question was posed in a PRIVATE situation (unlike a public posting forum) ...... then a person responding would tailor the comments to the specific individual, and the specific questions.

 

But in a public setting...... often what is being considered by the person replying is the fact that MANY people of varying experience and background levels will be reading the postings,......... and that the posting will be "out there" basically forever (This is the Internet we are talking about here).   And thinking about the impressions and ideas that will be gained by others reading the thread.  Sometimes there are a broad spectrum of potential considerations that go into the answer for a specific person... that might not apply to others situations or concerns..

 

So sometimes... in such public venues.....  questions are answered that were not asked... for a VERY GOOD reason.

 

best,

 

.......................john

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The internet allows anyone to be an expert and provide expert advice on any topic/question, whether they know anything about the topic or not. One need not be inclined to chime in on every posting/thread or repeat advice/comments already given. And, sometimes what we read in the original post is not the question we answer.

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yeah but everyone here is taking the time to try and help. Often the discussion branches based on the conversation so the reference may be back to another post. I also think it also matters how the responses are read as it is so easy to read things into responses that are just not there.  

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 I also think it also matters how the responses are read as it is so easy to read things into responses that are just not there.  

 

 

Which is exactly why it's not a good idea to answer questions which were not asked. Rather ask clarifying questions so as to not read things into the original question. 

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As a kiln repair tech, and former clay & glaze tech for one of the clay/glaze manufacturers in the midwest, I have learned that I spend more time asking questions than answering questions. When a customer calls with a technical problem, I have to ask a ton of questions in order to get to the root of the problem, and even then people often leave out important information. I once had a customer call to complain that his terra cotta body, which he had mixed himself, had little white specs in it. He was sure that the Redart we had sold him was contaminated, and he was NOT happy. I asked him for his recipe, which he gave me, and there was nothing odd about it- just Redart and ball clay if I remember right. We talked about his water supply, his mixing methods, his pug mill, etc, etc, etc. Finally, after all that, I asked him if he was putting barium carbonate in the clay body (to prevent scumming). Well, yes, of course, he said. Everyone does, right? I asked him if he was blunging it in water before adding it to the clay body. No, he said. That was the source of the white specs- the barium wasn't dispersing very well when added dry.

 

My point is, we often leave out important facts when describing our situation because we assume they are general knowledge, and we often assume certain facts to be general knowledge when answering questions. In a forum situation like this it's very difficult to get all the facts out there, and it's very difficult to answer questions without making assumptions. There are shortcomings on both sides of the conversation because this is a slow, tedious way to have a conversation. But it doesn't mean anyone is intentionally trying to be difficult, on either side.

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I agree 1,000 % with this statement-

(we often leave out important facts when describing our situation because we assume they are general knowledge, and we often assume certain facts to be general knowledge when answering questions. In a forum situation like this it's very difficult to get all the facts out there, and it's very difficult to answer questions without making assumptions. There are shortcomings on both sides of the conversation because this is a slow, tedious way to have a conversation. But it doesn't mean anyone is intentionally trying to be difficult, on either side.)

 

In most situations the facts you need for the right answer are missing and questions have to be asked before getting to that-thanks for boiling this down nas its so true.

Mark

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My dad wrote custom computer software back in the 1970s and 80s. He would consult, and write some code. Inevitably, the customer wanted changes. Dad was always very calm about this. His comment was that they didn't know what they actually needed until they had something to work with. Some part of the process, or some connection between parties would not have come up initially.

For this project, the desired goal is known, in terms of how much product needs to be produced. An incentive to do faster work, such as a per piece bonus over a minimum amount, might help. Take the crew and walk through each step- see where you handle each piece, how often the worker changes tasks, where rearranging equipment might make things move more smoothly. See if changing how the steps are divided might help- is one guy great at handles and another at attaching tiles?

If your crew knows the bottom line-their pay depends on the business working-they will work hard to get there. Making them a part of this process will keep them working with you, and you not having to train new potters.

Good luck!

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Ok, so you pinpointed your money drain - finishing and handles. Where can you save time (and therefore money) here?

Would extruded handles to save time? Would it help to have an apprentice on hand to set up handles to be pulled? Would it help to have an apprentice to move ware boards or prepare stations?

 

I realize that I answered your query with questions, but you know your process best. My questions are designed to (hopefully) get you thinking about solutions.

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