Roberta12

Definitely not a good glaze for pieces that could be used for food, due to the crazing and poor durability. Raku glazes are generally formulated for a certain look, not for functionality. With low fire work you really want a glaze that fits really well if you're making functional work, or anything that is used around liquids, since the clay body doesn't vitrify.

Add up the total expenses from this sale, then divide by the number of potters. Then charge that as a flat fee. 
If you want to generate income for the studio more than just breaking even on expenses, add in a reasonable profit for your studio too. Then divide by the number of potters. 
I think flat fees are a little more fair than a percentage. With a percentage, you are penalizing people who sell better. 

I’m not an accountant, but I’m pretty sure my cpa would say that giving them 1099s is overkill. 
You DO need to remit sales tax for all the sales, but it doesn’t have to be out of your pocket. Just subtract out the sales tax from the funds you collected, then pay out the remainder to the individual potters. You should also subtract out the fees that you paid to Square. 
When I taught pottery classes, I did one sale per year with my advanced students. This is how I handled it, except we added sales tax on top of each purchase, so nobody had to eat that cost. I gave them what they sold minus the Square fees. 
Whether the individual potters report their income properly is up to them. 
This was your first time so don’t sweat the mistakes. Be proud of the great sales! 

Olsen’s kiln book, Rhodes’ kiln book, 21st century kilns, all valuable. You’ll find slight variations in principles of design from each source, that’s why I think you should check them all out. Unfortunately I’ve never been able to get my hands on a copy of Nils Lou’s book, but it’s been highly recommended over the years.
I’ve got one of those neighborhood kilns, a cross draft flat top, propane and wood soda fire. Cone 6. I would suggest that while it is possible to build a wood burning kiln where smoke is not an issue, such a thing is unlikely to happen without a great deal of planning and experience.
I’ve seen several wood kilns in action and built a few myself. To get the combination of reduction and temperature rise some black smoke is going to happen. I’ve never put a blower anywhere on the kiln, maybe that’s the trick.
I ended up going from mostly wood and a little propane to mostly propane and a little wood, because I didn’t like worrying that someone was going to call the fire department every time I did a firing.
Getting to temperature in a day with wood wasn’t ever a problem. So I strongly agree, firing with wood does not have to be a drawn out affair. Big firebox, a grate, big chimney, proper design of entrance and exit flues. Ash buildup can be increased by stirring around the ash pit often (it starts sticking to pots earlier than people imagine, around bisque temperatures), if you like. Soda and controlling the reduction gives me the flashing and textural variations I’m after though. 

All this talk about wood firings being a long drawn out affair isnt necessarily so. IF you like the effects of a true natural heavy buildup of ash then a lengthy firing is what youll need. If youre like me and you like the warm toasty clay body reduction without the muddiness of ashes on your glazes then some type of "fastfire" setup is required. My kiln is a fastfire type but with major modifications from Olsens original. The 2 fireboxes and chimney are all on the same side making it easy on the stokers and stokemaster to see whats happening in each fire box. I would call it a crossdraft / downdraft hybrid.  The interior stacking space on mine is 80 cubic ft.... huge compared to most gas and electric kilns. This being said our last firing from dark to cone10 took 4 hours 50 minutes. the hottest parts gets well over over cone12.  Smoke is only a small issue early in the firing when temps are low and fuel to burn is more than the temp can handle.. thus the smoke that exits the chimney.  the total wood burned is around 1/2 cord ..all of it pine softwood. (Softwoods have a very long flame compared to the much shorter hardwoods) something to think about when selecting a fuel.

I trim like Min but I have never tried Griffin Grip or neoprene,  the neoprene sounds interesting.  I think I will give it a try next time I go on a throwing jag.  Right now I hold my pots down with clay.  When I had my kick wheel I liked to kick backwards when I was trimming,  I always felt like I had more control.   Denice

What is the glaze recipe? I'm wondering about how balanced it is and also the cooling cycle and the possibility of devitrification.

scumming for me needs more explanation ? its not a word I use in relation to glazes. Bubbles ,pitting.crawling. overfired ,underfired,cracked. shivering,dunted,rough surface smooth surface . shinny surface matt surface??Dull.bright??
scumming is what happens on a bucket of funky water or a pond surface 
what is scumming?? and what are we looking for in the photos- as both are very close looking as as Babs said one looks to be cooler fired

I just had the same problem, but there were unglazed portions that had the same blistering/pimples, Pieces were bisqued to Δ04. I run a manual updraft gas kiln and did a fairly fast fire, ~5 hours to 1000°C which required ~1 hour @ 1200°C for Δ6 to mature. I figure I need to run a much slower ramp and then hold at a lower temperature for this clay.

@Fromphyl I had picture #2 experience the first time I fired bmix with speckles.  I fired to cone 6.  Which turns out was probably hotter.  Closer to 7.  But...I called Laguna and they said that clay is definitely a cone 5 clay.  I told him it looked like chicken pox or pimples.  And he said it was overfired.  My bumps/blisters were with 2 different glazes.  I now fire to cone 5 with that clay, and so far have only used clear glaze on it and no blisters.  I even did a refire and it was fine.  Were all the cups in the same place in the kiln?  I ask because I now know that my top shelf is a lot cooler than the rest of the kiln.  
Roberta

Yes, I was thinking about corrosion as well.  You have lovely windows right there and the fumes could cause discoloration and corrosion.  I remember a post a few years ago about someone whose kiln was in the garage and there was a corrosion problem.  But I also know how desperate we can get trying to set up our own studio workspace.  And yes, I carry all my pots from the basement up the stairs, out through the garage, across the driveway to the workshop.  We simply do what we have to, to make things work! 
Roberta 

Yes, I was thinking about corrosion as well.  You have lovely windows right there and the fumes could cause discoloration and corrosion.  I remember a post a few years ago about someone whose kiln was in the garage and there was a corrosion problem.  But I also know how desperate we can get trying to set up our own studio workspace.  And yes, I carry all my pots from the basement up the stairs, out through the garage, across the driveway to the workshop.  We simply do what we have to, to make things work! 
Roberta 

I pack my pots from my basement to my outdoor kiln. It’s not my favourite pastime, but I feel better about having my kiln outside than in my basement. It’s in a tin garden shed with no door, and the only things I keep in that shed are a folding table for loading, and a shelf for my kiln furniture and a lantern for loading in the dark. Going on 6 years, and so far, so good. My area is dry and cold, not humid at all. In the summer I wind up glazing outside, and that saves a LOT of work!
I find wind is an issue. Even in a sheltered area, leaves, dirt and debris collect under the kiln. You have to clean the area around the outlet pretty regularly if you don’t want to create fire hazards.
I would check into code about kiln sized outlets on external walls. I believe hot tubs that require a 240v service and a 40-60 amp breaker will have similar requirements. Or at least that’s what we went by.
If any of those windows are transoms that swing out, you’ll probably want to make sure the gasket seals aren’t letting any fumes back into the house. And keep an eye on them, because I can confirm what Neil says about the corrosion. I don’t have a vent fan, and the area around the peeps are getting a little rusty. 
If you have concerns about neighbours sight lines, a metal privacy screen could be a good option.

Murphy's Oil Soap is an effective way to seal plaster, temporarily. Depending upon how it is applied it will sometimes just flake off the plaster surface after the plaster has dried. (No need for washing, in other words.)
Murphy's, like all soaps, develops a lattice structure only after it is lathered up and then allowed to dry. (After the suds/bubbles have been wiped away.) The drying creates the lattice structure that seals the surface.
If one is making a mold of a fired ceramic object, Murphy's doesn't really seal the surface. It sits on top. If the plaster is poured while the Murphy's is still wet it may absorb into the freshly poured surface.  If that happens the plaster may become weakened and may erode sooner than normal.
If I'm making a mold of something, other than plaster, and I'm unsure if it's completely nonporous, I will spray acrylic paint on the object. (That way I know the surface is sealed.)
In mold making, like all things creative, there are "rules" that can make the process more effective. On the other hand, like all things creative, one can break the rules and still have successful outcomes.
 

Makes sense. We think of plastic as totally impermeable, but it isn’t entirely.
With the recent addition of a cat to my life, I’m thinking of building a damp box out of one of my shelves, so she’s not climbing through wet pots to get to her favourite studio perch. I have some vapour barrier that I was going to use, which will be a change from my entirely too old stash of dry cleaner plastic. The vapour barrier I have is only 3 mil I think, so it might be a closer comparison than a heavier 6 mil.

Could you send a picture?  You said hump mold but then said you couldn't get the cup out.  Does that mean you put the clay inside a mold or outside on the mold.  Usually my plaster molds dry clay very quickly.  But I live in a dry area.  Were  your plaster molds cured?  I usually wait a few days before using them.  Just throwing out some ideas. 
Roberta

A thread with a few references
An online book 21st Century Kilns, and a few articles
http://www.clayartarchives.com/

Could you send a picture?  You said hump mold but then said you couldn't get the cup out.  Does that mean you put the clay inside a mold or outside on the mold.  Usually my plaster molds dry clay very quickly.  But I live in a dry area.  Were  your plaster molds cured?  I usually wait a few days before using them.  Just throwing out some ideas. 
Roberta

Who knew???  Certainly not me!  I know that some plastic is thinner, heavier, but that is the extent of my knowledge!  Thanks for the research @Min

Recently I started using pieces of a painters plastic drop sheet to cover pots as I had misplaced the roll of a different brand of plastic sheeting I had been using for years. There is a marked difference in the drying rate between the two types of plastic. It got me wondering about why this was happening.
Turns out there are at least 3 types of plastic sheeting that are broadly available and they have measurable differences in water vapour permeability.  Low density polyethylene (LDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyvinylidene chloride (PVdC). I don't know what the original plastic sheeting I was using was made from or the brand, it's a large roll that I've been using for many years.  The painters plastic drop sheet I just started using is this one. My hunch is that it's the type of plastic that is making the noticeable difference. Going forward I'm going to experiment further, pots I want to dry slower will get the drop sheet plastic and for ones I want to dry quicker my original roll of plastic. I should add all the pots were covered in my usual manner. 

Thanks so much. I am going to do that. I just got into a my first juried show. I am an art therapist in private practice. Selling my work felt like  a second job but now I am going half time as I hit 66 to pursue sculping and playing with clay more. If I make some money at it, that would be nice too.  Start simple , thanks again.

As a 90’s kid who remembers hematite and rose quartz rings, there’s a reason they’re not making a comeback with all the other 90’s trends at the moment. They shatter easily with minimal impact and they’ll cut the heck out of you if it happens while you’re wearing it.  I don’t know if that’s the most auspicious wedding band symbol ever.

Notice re lead glaze firing, worth a checkbefore purchasing?
Where would you install it?
Ok for bisque if clean.

@Donna Fletcher I will dm you. I’m in Calgary, but I can maybe help you ask the right questions in the right places. If you’re looking for a basic form and not another design replicated, there are people who do such things. 

First 2 images (pot and test tile) really look they were in a firing that cooled slower than the pot in the 3rd image. Rate the kiln cools at can easily have that dramatic a difference in appearance. More matte and paler colour in a slow cooling kiln vs a kiln that cools quickly (like your test kiln would).
10 hours to do a ^5 glaze firing in a small kiln with no slow cool is a long time. Did you use a bisque fire setting going to ^6 by any chance? was your kiln new when you bought it? if not what do the elements look like?