Denice

You get some impurities that come to the surface of the glaze with that low of bisque. White earthenware may not be that bad but red terracotta needs long C04 bisque it has lots of impurities. You have C4 clay none of there temperatures you are firing it to will work. The pots will be very fragile and leak, if you want to keep working in the low fire range you need to buy a bag of low fire earthenware clay. Denice

I used bags that the newspaper came in, I no longer take the paper so I just put the clay directly in it. My extruder is homemade so I think it has more areas for the clay to hide in. When I am finished with it I take it apart and let it soak for a day before I clean it. Denice

I never noticed the fumes migrating upstairs, I could barely smell them in the studio next door. I thought I should play it safe and leave the area, my house was built in 1929. We had to move I was having trouble climbing the 4 flights of stairs. I was diagnosed with MS after we moved, the only stairs we have now go to the basement to hide from tornado's. Denice

I am working on a sunset that is at the top of a mural. I have been testing and found that if I apply a yellow underglaze on the tile it is much easier to brush a another color of underglaze on top of it and keep a straight line. The Mayco Glaze I am using suggests Cone C06 for this application. Denice

I fired a big Skutt in a basement like that for 13 years, I had some ventilation but not enough, you have windows so you could probably run a vent hose out it. My ceiling was tongue and groove boards and my floor and walls were cement. You could always put up some cement board if the ceiling worries you. The Skutt was in the same area as the breaker box, I had a electrician put in the correct breaker, wire and outlet. It was a old house and some of it still had knob and tube wiring. Make sure you buy a kiln that comes in sections, much easier to move. On days the kiln was fuming more than my ventilation set up could handle I would stay out of the basement. I don't think there is a system that removes all of the fumes. My kilns are in a separate room with a Skutt dual vent system, a window and a ceiling exhaust. Sometimes I can still smell fumes, I can shut the door or leave the room. Denice

I don't vent either of my test kilns, I think they are too small. I have put a piece of shelving under the edge of the lid during a bisque firing. My old AIM kiln had a large peep hole that the fumes could get out. My new Paragon is sealed up, no peep holes. I remove the piece of shelf when the fumes are gone. a window is behind the test kiln. I have a small manual kiln that I can easily fill and do a bisque firing so I try to stick to glaze firings in the test kilns. Denice

I vacuum out a kiln when the bottom starts to gets speckled looking or a pot shatters in a bisque firing. I sieve my glazes before I use them if they have been sitting on a shelf for a long time. I tend to jump around on glazes so I probably sieve them every time I use them. Maybe you got a piece clay stuck on your sleeve and it fell off when you were loading. Denice

I bought a new Paragon Caldera XL last year. My old test AIM test kiln was in need of repair, I was wanting to jump into the world of computerized firing. It has a Genisis controller and very tightly built with three inch bricks. The three inch brick is very important, my AIM had two inch brick that cooled down way to fast. I would try to slow it down manually, it was very difficult to do. I never felt like my test were totally accurate, the glazes always looked different when they came out of a large firing. The Genisis controller is also easy to use, I believe the Caldera takes a 15amp outlet. You could fire two mugs in it. You may have to find a smaller test kiln with thick walls for a 120v outlet Firing a test glaze fast could produce different results than a big standard firing. The Genisis glaze program is hours slower than the program I fired manually. My L&L has the same controller so I just let it do it thing. Denice

I have been working with clay for 55 years and I still feel like I have a lot to learn. You have set up a studio but you still need to take some ceramic classes. Check out several different ones, find a teacher that will let you help load and unload and fire kilns. When I was getting my degree we had to make clay for the beginners, sometimes helped load kilns and definitely unload them. We are talking about big gas kilns that you could stand in. Once a week we had to give the main work area a good scrubbing, one day each semester was grinding and coating kiln shelves day. You finally get to the level where you make general glaze for the classes. A master student hands you a drill mixer, 5 gal bucket and formulas and tells you to start mixing. If you decide to get your masters degree you are suddenly a teacher. They were short a hand building teacher and tried to talk me into teaching a class even before I got my BA. You probably won't run into a program like they have at college, just make sure you find someone that is willing to share their knowledge and not just stick you behind a wheel. I would find a evening class to take now to meet other potters and share ideas. I haven't done it lately I end up helping to teach the class because they don't have enough teachers. Denice

I started out wanting to be a art teacher, I didn't get to attend college until I was older. I decided to concentrate on clay instead of teaching. I had my studio for 15 years when I went back to finish my degree. I taught some art classes in my son's school, sold some pots and did portraiture sculpture during that time period. When I graduated from college I closed my decorating business that I had for 20 years to concentrate on my work. I had my mother, father, niece and other relatives die that year, my husband and I decided that life is too short and I should be in the studio working. I started selling my work at galleries before I graduated, so I at least had money for supplies. I haven't sold any work since Covid, most of the galleries around here closed and didn't reopen. I don't care about selling work anymore, I will let my son deal with it when I am gone. Right now I am headed out to my studio, I have a mural to finish before I head into a new direction with my work. Yesterday I picked up a 25lb bag of clay off the floor and ran it thru the slab roller. I flipped it over after I laid sheet rock on it and cut the tiles. I am a 70 year old woman who has Multiple Sclerosis, working with clay makes you STRONG. At this stage of my life strength is more important than money. Denice

Does anyone out there have baseboard heaters. I have seen them in homes but not in workshops. Kansas has had some extremely cold winters lately, I bought a new electric radiator heater last year. I thought my studio was so cold because my old heater wasn't working well. It is colder now with the new heater, need to come up with a new idea. Denice

I have the windows with a view and my outlets are four feet off the floor, I could use more outlets also. I don't have a floor drain. wanted to put one in when I built the studio but we couldn't get the county inspectors to grasp the idea. They thought I would be polluting the near by creek. Doubling my space would be nice but I probably would fill it with stuff I should get rid of. My husband is on a bright lights rampage, he put new LED tube lights in my studio that are so bright you need sunglasses. Fortunately they are dimmable. Denice

I would devote more space to the kiln room. My new L&L takes up more space than my old big Skutt, my husband put it on some big casters and I roll it out to the middle of the room to fire it. I could load a kiln on the other side of the room before while the Skutt was firing, now I have to wait until the L&L is cool. Not a big deal, I am retired and have plenty of time. I would put a separate heating/aircondition unit, often it is too hot or cold to work. Getting rid of a work table that is barely used and installing more shelves, I have 3 work tables and a large slab roller table. Install a drawer unit in my sink area, the only lower cabinet I have doesn't even have shelves, I end up putting misc stuff in it. I could probably add another upper cabinet, we bought a couple of closeout cabinets for cheap when we put in the sink. Denice

You can turn it down to medium, if there is any damage from firing too hot and fast it has probably already happened. Good luck Denice

Over the years I have had two different clay's that I loved discontinued. I dislike a clay like B-Mix it feels like cream cheese. I like one with enough body that I can throw and handbuild with it, I switch back and forth with red speckled and white and dapple with a tan now and then. Denice

I have purchased two new kilns this year, I have fired manual kilns a Skutt and a Paragon for 50 years. I decided to jump into the world of computer controlled kilns, the first one was a Paragon Caldera XL test kiln with a Genisis controller on it. I found it easy to use, several months later I noticed that L&L was having a sale I also added a Genisis controller to it. My Skutt still had great firings but I needed a shorter kiln in my old age. I sold it to a new potter, my test kiln just needed new elements but I was wanting a more modern one. Both of the new kilns have heavy metal components and thick dense fire brick that is tightly fitted together. The L&L had a bigger diameter than my old Skutt so my husband put some nice roller wheels on it. I roll it out of the corner to the center of my kiln room and fire it there and roll it back when it is cool and unloaded. I have two kilns that use the same outlet and the test kiln has a separate 20 amp outlet. Good luck

I have also used a few volume glazes, but I was trained using weights. I don't think I would change methods after all of these years. Denice

I bought Corederlite shelves for my new L&L kiln, I was told then that they had fixed the warping problem. I don't have enough firings on them to know if they warp. I will tell you that I was disappointed that they were heavier than I expected. You shouldn't have too much trouble lifting the regular 15 inch shelves. You could buy a Corederlite shelf to use as your bottom shelf, that is always the hardest one for me to pick up of the 20 inch shelves. You can always work with half shelves, some kiln loading instructions recommend using only half shelves. I bought the lighter shelves because I am 70 years old and thinking of my future kiln loading and unloading. Denice

Shelves for my new kiln, I could use at least two more. I make a lot of tile you can't have enough shelves. The last two I bought were $50 each and $50 shipping and handling. $150 would cover the cost nicely. Denice

My local supplier had limited supplies during Covid, the one employee almost died from it. She was in the hospital for a month, they sent her home to put together estate plans. They said they could no longer help her. She laid in bed for 3 days and decided to get up and clean her house, she is back at work lifting those heavy boxes of clay. The store seems to be well stocked now I think it is because Virginia is back. Denice

I have been thinking about downsizing my book collection. I still have a lot of art history books and misc how to do books. We are getting ready for a donation trip to the Goodwill store. We had so much furniture to donate this week we hired a company with a box truck to pick it up and take to the Goodwill. Most of it was from our old house that had the five bedrooms. Some of the rooms were never used and most of the furniture looks like new. Like Mark we are clearing out to make our house easier to clean and manage in our senior years. Denice

Every workshop I have attended I have been impressed by something different in each artist. The artist I want to be is Marcia Selsor, I visited her studio when I was in the Yellowstone area. When I got there she was lounging in the back yard with a small kiln firing, She would pull a pot out and look it over and maybe sprinkle some of her magic dust on it for more flash. She had a order for 6 pots from a gallery she needed to fill. When the firing was over she took me through her huge studio to show me her new kiln in the back. We walked by a couple of her moon pots sitting on the wheel. She gently touches them to see if they are ready to be moved, We finally reach our destination of the new kiln building and huge kiln. The reason I want to be a potter like Marcia is that she is so serene and calming. When I am in my studio I am hype up and don't want anyone talking to me while I am trying to work. I usually just stop working if I am interrupted and have my concentration broken. Denice

Those rubber mats they cover the inside of the capsule would probably help, I get mine at Walmart. Maybe my husbands cousin has some in his garage, he retired about ten years ago. He was head of the Space Shuttle program and president of General Dynamics. Has to have some cool things tuck away. Denice

I just did a test firing with a Mayco underglaze and top coated it with a clear Duncan glaze. I was firing to Cone 5 but I don't know why it wouldn't work on a lower cone. The Duncan clear I use is a low fire glaze, I can fire it to Cone 5 without any problems. I tested a white and a blue and they came out perfect. Denice