Roberta12

I put ug on the bottom of a number of my pieces and I haven't had problems with sticking. But....I use cookies under them, cookies that are kilnwashed. And I use the alumina and was combo on the bottoms of porcelain to prevent plucking. The alumina sands off after firing. Roberta

I was talking to a maker friend about this a few minutes ago and we thought about the other vendors who want to trade items. I have to say I have found that rather rude at times simply because of their approach.

Before participating in Craft shows, I spent 23 years working with small children. I had no idea at the time how that experience would help me in working with and selling to the general public. I have to say that I have not had many negative experiences at shows. I have had people ask exactly what Callie's customer asked, "price for set" "cash price" "tax included?" etc. I use a similar line for the tax question, "the state of Colorado requires that I charge sales tax, in fact they are at this venue checking licenses" I smile and I am friendly as I tell them this is the price. I do like your information about wholesale prices (I will remember that for the future) and if people want me to make a custom 3 tiered dog bowl with the dog's picture painted on it, I am clear that I cannot take custom orders at this time but after the holiday season I would welcome the opportunity to have a chat and that custom pieces include down payment and a design fee. There was one person at a show who was incredibly persistent about wanting a discount on a small $20 plate. After a few minutes I realized she thought I would bargain like a vendor at a flea market. I held my ground, and then she flung a $20 at me, and that was when I explained that The State wanted their share. She did cough up the tax, and was smiling when she left. I believe it was a game for her. Takes all kinds. And yes, I agree with having your responses ready. At a November show if I am asked about making a set of 8 mugs with the ranch's brand on it by Christmas, I am able to nicely explain that I would not have time to do that. Perhaps for another occasion at a later date? I have the tax question handled, and set price. I think it also helps that I make most of my own glazes and understand my firing practices. I have had a lot of questions concerning that. I had a person ask about glazes and ingredients while looking for something without colorants in it (some sort of autoimmune problem I think) we were able to have a discussion. But....I know that I do not participate in as many public shows as the rest of you, so I probably haven't had as many experiences as all of you.

@oldlady my clue for relays is usually a complete fail. Or the particular set of elements won't heat up. I do the paper test to see if the elements are getting "juice" and go from there. Changing a relay is the simplest of maintenance jobs in my opinion. On my kiln if I push the #8 on the control panel while it is going I get a little dot that says whether the relay is on and off or not on or staying on. Last night, #1 was staying on. 2 and 3 were clicking on and off. And the fact that the ramp temp was low makes me wonder what all is going on. We changed TC and elements in January. Except for the top 2 elements. They had been changed in early 2020 because of a glaze spot that had burned it out. When it came time to change the other elements my service tech said since the top elements were fine, not to change them. (cost saving measure) but I am going to look at them carefully when the kiln is opened. So glad it's not a push for a show or something right now. Roberta

@oldlady Alice, It was 15 degrees cooler on #1 tc but it did finally come to temp and was completed by the time I went back out to the shop. Instead of 8.5 or 8 hours 45 minutes, it was 10 hours. My gut tells me it is probably that #1 relay. I checked back on my notes and the last time I changed that relay was March of 2019. I am also going to check the top set of elements. Thanks for weighing in! Roberta

Hi all, I started a slow glaze load cone 6 this morning at 10. e23t L&L. My calculations would have had it completed at 7 -7:30. I just spent a bit of time in the shop rather surprised that it's not finished yet. Watching the temp, and I noticed that the #1 relay is staying on and #2 and #3 are clicking on and off like usual. I have been watching the temp on the #2 tc and I checked the ramp speed. It goes between 56 and 80. According to the book it should be around 120. It seems to be struggling to get to 2200. It will get to 2201 2202 2203 then drop back down. First question, does that sound like a relay issue? Second question, if it continues to struggle, will I be ok to shut it off? The glazes I have in there are pretty stable. I think they would be ok. Thoughts? Roberta

I have the e23T. It is now 10 years old. I had very limited experience with Skutt before purchasing mine. So I cannot give much in the way of comparison, but....I have stated this numerous times, L &L has great customer service. I live in a galaxy far far away, so my husband and I do all the repairs and maintenance on the kiln. L&L assigned me a service tech right away and he has been a life saver over the years. He helps me with problems both over the phone and via email. So, for that alone, I am an L&L fan. Roberta

@ThruTraffic check your local budget/thrift/secondhand store. I find things there for molds. Also, do not count out wood. For small things I have used wooden eggs (found at Easter) I have a wooden bowl that I used to make a mold out of clay, then bisqued it. I have used Pam and WD40 in the past. Cornstarch is my friend currently to keep things from sticking. Roberta

Tell me where she lives, I will take care of this for you!!! Your mugs are da Bomb! r.

it does a bit. The temp in the basement (where my studio is) is fairly stable. I don't get a lot of swing in temp down there. We have no humidity here in any season so that isn't the issue. In the winter I do have an wall mounted convection heater in the studio that can speed up drying a bit. I glaze and fire in another building. The accomodation I have to make for that is warming up the space for glazing in the winter or having fans running in the summer. The weather doesn't interfere, but I do have to shift how I do things at times. Roberta

what @Min said. I have to be honest, after trying and trying to sort out a blistering issue with a glaze, I finally gave up on that glaze. I could not depend on it and I was just frustrated with always having to deal with it. Never knowing if my pots would be great or problematic. So I walked away from that glaze. I still have it in a bucket and I am tempted to just try it again. But then if I get one bowl/mug/plate that turns out, it will encourage me to use it more often and then I start the whole dang cycle again!! r.

Speaking from experience (more than one time) leaving the platter on the mold, whether plaster or bisque, can be a problem. The piece can crack. Roberta

I did exactly what Mark described a few months ago. With Porcelain. No slumping.

I think you have a nice glaze with just a couple of ingredients, Albany Slip and one of the Ferro Frits 3195 I believe. So, that would be a simple and perhaps affordable glaze to mix? Are you firing to cone 5/6?

Run. Run like the wind from this order, non order. imho