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Neoprene disc stuck to the wheelhead with a little water for the vast majority of my pots, no clay wads. For bowls and platters wider than the wheelhead I use a large batt that I glued high density upholstery foam to and put that on a damp Xiem BatMate knockoff. Never felt the need for a Giffin Grip.

I have a seperate trimming station its a small Brent Model A wheel with a few Griffen Grips. One is set up for regular sliders the other is set up for arms. Back when I was really producing tons of wares I could just snap one off and use the right one without time switching parts. Now I'm doing less and its not critical . I also have the griffen huge platter trimmer hanging on the wall but I have not used it in a few years so it may have to go up for sale. Not making mondo huge platters anymore. These are all time savers if you are in the business of pottery production

Morgan Post placement still needed to be about the same.Its not about warping but the thermo load.When loading the bottom the stilts need to be lined up as the thermo load is great with all that weight at bottom, as you get to the top of the kiln it is not as critical. Its always best to line them up when you can. Even advancers cannot take huge offsets due to weight at high temps. They can break from that stress of uneven thermo loading.You have been lucky so far would be my guess. In terms of more wares from this shelves you now know they pay for themselves pretty fast with extra space. And your back is better from less weight loading. Its amazing really as they are all upside other than the cost which is recouped the more you fire.

Produced by means that Marge Para was paid to mold, cast, and fire the bisques for the person who commissioned the sculpture from Becky Turner, which was Melissa Meader who's hosting the Show. Every year she selects an artist to do a relief sculpture for her show, then usually Marge molds and produces the bisques. Marge glazes most of them in 'original finish' runs of set colors like teal, green, blue, purple, etc. Those are given away as the primary awards along with rosettes to the various champions that are awarded. Then a small number are sent to guest artists like myself to be custom glazed in realistic colors. These last pieces are then auctioned off to raise funds to benefit the show. It costs many thousands of dollars to host a show, pay for the rental space, food, set up and taking it down, insurance, etc. She also flies in her judges from all over the country so there are a lot of costs involved. There are many such shows I take part in. Some like Melissas are for ceramics only, others are for equine sculpture in general and may have various categories for ceramics, resins, plastics, metal casts, etc. I sometimes get flown out by show hosts to judge at such events, or like Breyerfest in Lexington, KY, there are /several/ major shows scheduled back to back each day one after another. One for ceramics only, one for resins, one is the National Championships. Each one of these events commission sculptors to produce original designs for their awards. So, because producing equine ceramics comprises so many skill sets, it's not at all unusual that we often do collaborations of a great many people. One might sculpt a piece, then pays for someone else to mold and produce it. Then the bisques are sent out to various ceramists who custom glaze them in many various colors, techniques and finishes. It's quite rare for someone to do what I do, to sculpt, mold, cast, and glaze pieces start to finish because it involves so many skill sets that can take quite literally a life time to master each one. Those who do all of the steps usually build and employ entire teams of people to work together to do so. Therefor I have /mostly/ done finish work on other sculptor's pieces over the past five decades but these days I'm focusing more on sculpting, molding and casting my own sculptures to finish and share out with other finishing artists. I've been doing my own sculptures since about 1984 but now I'm focusing on it more as my full time effort. If you felt up to sculpting pieces like this you can reach out to ANY kind of show - such as shows for cats, dogs, poultry, dolls, ceramics shows, whatever and see if they wanted to commission you to do the awards for the show. Usually plaques, medallions, or actual trophy pieces. Some do these awards in bronze but bronze is super pricy. So doing them in ceramics is a lower cost option - and it doesn't look bad on your resume to have shows you have produced awards for! Or if you aren't into sculpting, but you felt up to molding and producing the bisques and maybe glazing, you can team up with a sculptor to offer that service!

I guess all of you by now know that I use a Griffin Grip (GG) when trimming. Over the years I had used all sorts of trimming strategies usually on the wheel head, clay chocks, tapping in place, and rubber pads with a lid on top to hold the pot down. There were I am sure variations on these, but too long ago to remember. Back in the 70's though I started seeing references to a new tool the Griffin Grip. A few years later I had a little extra money in my Ceramics budget at the HS and bought one. After using it for a year at school, I bought one for home. Over the years It has saved me all sorts of trouble when trimming odd shaped pots like pitchers and others that required a thrown wet chuck, or a bisque fired one. Then I realized that with plumbing parts I could trim awkward pieces with more stability and have chucks that could be kept permanently to use, especially when making chalices or flagons(pitchers). QotW: What sort of "trimming platform" do you use?

Thanks for the info on the breaker I will check with husband make sure he knows this before I try to run kiln again. My newer kiln has never done this (so far) I am so glad I found this forum. And folks are willing to share their knowledge and time to submit it

... and presumably the "house" wiring needs to be rated for the new breaker size. Which might be an issue for some retro-fitters.

I invested in advanced shelves a few years ago and can’t imagine going back. I ended up getting a mix of a few fulls and halves. I tend to like this as things that are all the same height I use full shelves and then can use half’s when things get weird. That said, if I could do it all over again it’s probably best to just get them all cut in half because why not? Guess it also depends on what you are firing. With the advancers I don’t even think about post placement much. I get them close vertically but beyond that unless I’m mistaken they can’t warp. It’s pretty remarkable how much more work I’ve been able to fire over the 100s of firings so they certainly have paid for themselves and the some. Pretty much ever firing I do I end up with space for one row of spoon rests/plates, whatever, that I never would have been able to fit until I switched to them.

Yup, I think that is what is happening to me too. So far it’s all been nice I will say but, big but. I had contact with him last week again on messenger and he “found my order” was having medical issues etc but feeling much better now and will get my tools out on Monday (this was a week or so ago). I am not holding my breath. I too feel for him and whatever he is going through but at the same time this is beyond that now. On top of ALL that on his Facebook he just posted recently about reopening his Etsy shop vs alternatives advice like Shopify etc. I have no idea what to think anymore but let’s just say I would be jaw dropped if the tools or a refund are ever coming my way. If he can’t fulfill orders or is not in the right physical shape to do so why would he even consider opening up new orders or avenues?

I need some technical help. I use Valentine’s casting slips. My moulds are very complicated (38 pieces) and their shapes somewhat restricts the shrinking of the cast. My casts are thin for lighting translucency. My moulds are at two scales, one takes 1.5l the larger 12l. The larger mould in particular has highlighted some problems: Glacier porcelain slip works well and I can leave the cast in the mould for 12 hours before demoulding. You can tell that there is some plasticity in the cast that allows a bit of flexibility in the body on demoulding without it cracking. Bone China and Parian however are much more tricky to succeed with and often result in multiple cracks that I repair with mixed success. After just 4 hours the cast will crack all on its own before I’ve even attempted demoulding. And demoulding causes so many cracks as the cast it brittle. What can I add to the Bone China and Parian slips to make them behave more like my Glacier Porcelain slip? Tony on a Digital fire post mentions adding 0.5% bentonite. I need to test but has anyone got any suggestions or input before I start messing with these pre made slips. many thanks. Anna

Ya probably already know this but worth mentioning I think. Breakers fail because they are old but also because they overheat. Here in the US the breakers you buy should not exceed 80% of the rating stamped on the breaker. For kilns which are considered continuous loads by code, per code they require a breaker at least 125% of the kiln full load and not more than 150%. For a kiln that draws 40 amps, minimum breaker size is 50 amps (40X 1.25), maximum breaker size is 60 amps (40X1.5). I mention because electricians often get this wrong. The rule is there to prevent the breaker from overheating and failing prematurely. Often this is not common knowledge so I think worth passing along since you just experienced a worn out breaker on this kiln.

Thanks for all the comments I will refire to come 04. We fixed the breaker which was old. Thanks again for your help,

Curious--does "produced by" mean making from mold and firings, or what does that element of the 3-person collaborative entail?

Thank you all for the insight. And thank you @Min, I was very curious as to the nature of that test.

Amen to that!

In a nutshell to pass the ASTM for "Microwave Safe for Reheating" there is mention of "no metallic surfaces" but no threshold limit for porosity or absorption of the claybody. Ware must show no degradation after the test nor exceed specific temperatures after a set amount of time at full power. I would hazard a guess that those discoloured areas on the plate have let moisture into the body which resulted in the plate getting hot when your son removed it from the microwave. Agree with you, that is one well fitting glaze to stand up for catering use then your home use for 20 years.

I guess I really need to be sculpting some large relief pieces myself to glaze at some point. My galleries would eat these up if they were larger, but they also take a lot of time...

Post some pictures of the element connections and the inside of the control box so we can see the relays.

Hi everyone - this is one of the VERY few threads on the internet about Superfire kilns. Seeing that this thread is years old, I do hope someone stumbles upon it again to help a gal out! I purchased a 240V 50A Superfire kiln (D295) off of Facebook and used it well enough for about a year before the elements needed replacing. I contacted Euclids and they sent me elements for it. The connectors they sent were fairly large - turns out there was some unwanted metal contact. When I turned it on there was some drama and the kiln shut off. I just got crimp connectors to save some space in the box, and naturally I forgot to label the relays… I have an ohmmeter to measure resistance of the elements but I’m unsure what they’re supposed to be reading since I can’t find any manuals online. are there any electricians on here that may be able to help me with the math??

If that is indeed the same kiln, then at 7.5 cubic feet and 45 amps, it may very well get to cone 9, maybe 10. If it's in good condition and the price is right, it could be a good purchase.

FYI - Quite often once fire folks will do a single firing at bisque speeds. In effect a bisque first to burnout everything then continue on to glaze temp, usually for tested clay and glaze products that work well this way without excessive glaze defects. If their clay is known clean or tested with a glaze known to work without issue then not so much at the reduced speed but the tested speed. I would not ignore the time at temperature unless verified ok through prior testing.

Good question. ASTM article (formerly $48) https://www.astm.org/c1607-12r20.html Mr. Hansen's article Microwave Safe (digitalfire.com) A Forum thread on the subject: Microwave safe. - Clay and Glaze Chemistry - Ceramic Arts Daily Community The ASTM article may include a standard/industry definition, idk. This is where I am with it: "...not melt or otherwise lose form, not leach bad stuff, not get too hot to touch after one minute in the waver [microwave oven] ...anything that gets more than pleasantly warm (empty, clean) is not microwave safe...!" I still have microwave test clean dry wares on my "to do" list. I have an inexpensive infrared thermometer now...

Some ideas on the causes & avoidance of problems in: Microwave safe https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/forum/23-clay-and-glaze-chemistry/ PS Pedantically in the USA: ... although I expect that -- like many stress tests -- this only implies safe at the point of test rather than lifelong safety. [Unless you re-test after representative "wear and tear" such as crazing and chips.]

Microwave safe. What does that mean? I’ve been puzzling over this a while, a few years, at least. Lately an event, which I’ll get to, pushed me into posting the question here. My understanding was that vitrified clay wouldn’t get particularly hot in the microwave, but there was some question when it came to high iron clay bodies. Experience in my kitchen over twenty years bears this out, the semi-vitreous pots could be counted on to get hot, the really porous earthenware could get dangerously hot while the food remained cold. High iron clays don’t seem to behave differently, but I remain open to the possibility they can. The other experience I’ve noted is that any dish fresh from the dishwasher, even cooled to room temperature, will get hot in the microwave. My assumption is adsorption (water that intimately sticks to the surface), not just absorption, plays a role. The event that gets me seriously wondering centers on a diner plate. My dad was in the catering business and when he retired I snagged a few restaurant dishes. They’ve been in service for over twenty years in my home, unbelievably perfect ceramic engineering. Plain white, no chips, cutlery marks, or cracks, despite regular use and abuse (They’re diner plates, I don’t treat them like handmade pottery!). They don’t get hot in the microwave. My son burned his finger pulling one out of the microwave the other day. That didn’t make sense. Tonight he tells me he observed the plate closely and saw a craze and discoloration, and that it looked like a glaze crack, not a clay crack. I’m proud as a dad, he nailed it, though I doubted until I saw for myself. That discoloration is at about 11:00 in the photo, poorly visible I’m afraid. There is another blotch around 2:15. So finally, after all these years, one failed. Time for destructive testing. I threw that plate in the microwave, one minute. At 50 seconds, I added another minute. At one minute and fifteen seconds it shattered cleanly into three pieces. What did I learn? These plates, tough as hell, never got hot in the microwave for twenty years, never chipped, are in fact made of porous clay. I put a drop of water on the newly bared ceramic and it soaked right in. This rocks my world a bit. I honestly didn’t imagine it was possible to fit a glaze that well to non vitreous ware or that non vitrified ceramic could be so tough. The ASTM has a standard and a test for “microwave safe,” I’m not shelling out sixty bucks to read it. I’m not sure my pots would even pass the prerequisites to perform the test. I figured “vitrified”, as in 0.5%, was a prerequisite. What does microwave safe mean?

It’s below the lowest temperature I would consider bisque fired. It’ll be fragile. More absorbent, glaze will go on thicker than you're maybe accustomed to. Some people glaze greenware, it works. This seems beside the point. I don’t even know that you’re planning to glaze your work. Put a piece underwater overnight to see if it’s ceramic yet, shouldn’t be able to scratch it with your fingernail. It doesn’t matter if you fire 6 hours, 10 hours, or 50 hours, the clay has to get hot enough to change. If your kiln fails at bisque, how are you going to do a glaze firing? I agree with @Bill Kielb, troubleshoot everything from the breaker to the kiln. Fix that before making any other plans. Get some cones if you don’t have any, don’t rely on the pyrometer alone. There are no ceramics without a kiln (or a very very hot fire). You are ok, by the way. Things will work out.