Roberta12

No no no no no no no no no no. In addition to all the issues for potential damage to my kilns and kiln furniture, there are the problems of storing the work before and after it's fired, and conflicts over the results of the firing. It's too easy for people to blame the kiln owner for something not coming out like they expected- "it didn't look like that when I had it fired at another studio"- or to blame the firing for the glaze running and damaging a shelf/kiln- "it never ran like that at the other studio". Chances are if they don't have a kiln they don't understand the variation that exists from kiln to kiln. Too much potential for arguments and unhappy people and unpaid invoices. My opinion is that if you want to work in clay then you need to either invest in being part of a community studio or invest in your own equipment. Both are costly, but most hobbies are.
That said, I do have two people for whom I fire. One is a very good sculptor I have known for years who makes unglazed figurative forms, so no firing trouble there. The other is a former student whom I totally trust, and who understands that she has to work around my schedule. She brings stuff in on the day I can load the kiln, and picks it up on the day it comes out.

I would have to say no,  I have seen to many disasters where a low fire piece was stuck in a high fire.  The person swore it was high fire clay,  I have fired a few pots made with my clay  by friends and neighbors,  but I am usually unhappy with glaze applications and do some clean up before I fire them.   Denice

No.  I have fired for friends but they are interrogated and vetted fully.  I have to know exactly what clay and glaze they are using.  No exceptions.  Everyone will get in a pinch at times and I am glad to help, but the maintenance and upkeep on a kiln is expensive.  And as mentioned if something doesn't turn out or if someone doesn't know the difference between low fire and mid fire, disaster could ensue.  
Roberta

No for glaze fires but I would consider bisque firing if I knew the person and they were okay with my ^05 bisque firing schedule for white claybodies. Probably not a huge demand for bisque only so it's probably a moot point.

No
I have fired a few items for people over my 47 years. I stopped doing it about 20 yaers ago. No much risk. The last person said clay was high fire but it was cone 6 and bloated badly and made a mess.Never again.
That said I also have fired the local elementry school kids work twice using my clay and my glaze (onece was unglazed planters)

My answer is “no” as well, for the exact reasons that you explained so clearly. 
I’ve had a few people approach me about firing their work at my house. In every case, the person was trying to avoid the expense of using a community studio. Community studios need to charge what they charge for a reason. A person who doesn’t see those reasons is generally going to be difficult to work with. In one case, a neighbor got angry with me when I said no. Very entitled person. Imagine how she would have complained if a firing didn’t turn out the way she was expecting!

I feel like any diagram or 2D representation of my career path should involve crayons, lol!
To say it was indirect for a good long time is an understatement.I did start off being pretty focused, and got a whole BFA in ceramics, but when I graduated, I had what I know now to be the crash that every gifted kid with case of undiagnosed ADHD seems to wind up with. So I worked a bunch of wildly unrelated retail or reception jobs for the next 14 years, and made pots on the side while Life Happened and Was Not-pretty (TM).
After having a couple of kids and coming to the conclusions that 1)I make a terrible employee but an awesome boss, 2) since I can predictably earn a couple hundred bucks every time I resupplied the one gallery I was in, maybe I just needed to consistently get my work in front of people to earn some adult money. 
Once I had relaxed and begun to see opportunities and possibilities again, my work did some pretty rapid growth and development. I built a TON of new forms, I went from cone 10 reduction to cone 6 ox, and went from using a white porcelaneous stoneware to a red stoneware with white slip deco. I challenged myself to keep the qualities of the cone 10 work that I really enjoyed while incorporating some of the easy turnover and colourful elements that cone 6 offers.  
I don’t think I know of an artist that has had direct, linear path. We all seem to incorporate bits of our lives and our loves and our experiences into the work we make.

I started out very focused, learned the basics quite well--got a good comprehensive ceramics education (and a BFA in crafts). Then I  became engaged with experimental techniques/more sculptural work, while still in VCU art school. (I was going to out-Voulkus Voulkus, don'tcha know).  It became a moot point when I took a detour into a 25 Y career in the addiction treatment field. I thought it would be short lived, because voc rehab was willing to bankroll my Master's if I committed to working in public service for a few years. I turned out to be very good at specialized program design & getting federal grant funding, so ceramics went into the attic to gather dust. After I retired (State Planner in Behavioral Health for NH DHHS) I constructed my little studio in my trailer (bedroom & back porch). However, I have lost so much ability (physical/cognitive) that I can't get back to where I once was. So, my present place is some  "other direction".  At the moment, I'm  just looking to satisfy myself and make enough (local smalls of the home decor variety)  to break even, which I am finally doing. Probably the most consistent thread from then to now is I am continuing my Hidden Mask series, which I started back in '81. 

Hate to point it out in case it creates a rush, but Ferro has closed some US manufacturing plants and is in the process of moving them to Mexico. There are interruptions in the availability of 3134 and 3124.

@Mark C., you are such an Old Timer! 
 
best, as always,
Pres

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

The summer means more time growing, tending, and selling vegetables and more time doing yardwork on my 3 acres...less time in the studio...

Something to consider -I have installed two Mr Cool mini splits in our house in last two years (one last week)
Besides being the most effecent heat and cool heat pumps made they also have a dehumidifier function which could dry out your basement. The smallest unit is about $1,200 (they make 5 models of the DIY models)so for about $1400 total (wiring /breaker and pad) it could cool and heat and dehumidify your basement.
Of course I did all my own work and so can anyone if you are handy-check them out on You Tube-Available at all bog box stores etc. I got mine from supplyhouse.com ,no big box around here. Free shipping-they seem to be all fair priced the same everywhere.
Its a cheap option and they use very little electricity-could cure your issue and add cool or heat as well.
By the way these mini splits are all over the world especially in Asia but are just now hitting the US market. I have a solar electric system so power is alraedy paid for and these only use small amouts of electricity .They heat down to near zero degrees and cool when its hotter than a kiln-so climate location really does not matter.

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

Well this heat we're enduring on the wet coast certainly interferes with getting anything done.I can barely get the necessities of the day done.  Lin

@oldlady Hats. .. .you know my picture. . . years ago I demonstrated at a street festival for the arts-3 day affair. Throwing pottery in the 90F. days without a hat, and no tent overhead. I ended up with large blisters all over my head, even though I used sunscreen in the morning. Never again do I go without a hat.
 
best,
Pres

In the summer (now) I have a constant battle with humidity. Sometimes I throw pots one day, and they are not ready to trim for two days. Pots that have been drying for a week still feel damp, and it's impossible to tell if they are really damp or not. I use fans to keep the air moving in the studio, and when I run bisque firings, I roll my drying cart over next to the kiln for the warmth and the airflow from the vent.
In the winter I have the opposite problem. Thrown pots can have bone dry rims by the next morning, and pots with attachments need to be slowed down so they don't pull apart. I use sheets of fabric and plastic to control the drying.
There are a few glorious weeks in the spring and fall when I don't need to think about these things. 

Great product,  it has inspired me to try a  idea that has been rattling around in my head.   I have a electric rotating disc from a window display when I owned  a store.  It will spin at the pace you set it at for years.   I have  a old banding wheel that doesn't spin anymore,  I am going to try taping them together and see how it works.   If it works I will anchor them together permanently.   I love putting together old junky items and making them use able again.  The older I get the less I want to buy and the madder I get about companies making junk products that have to go directly in the landfill.   Old hippie venting!    Denice

If you're looking for something that can spin for a long time, get a Shimpo. But if you just need something that rotates smoothly, THESE work really well, for 1/3 the cost of a Shimpo. I've got both in my studio, and I have no complaints with either.

I can relate to that,  due to age and body issues & doing less production (which for me was not much in the first place/small hobby biz). However, gotta say that to obtain it as you have described sounds like a royal PITA--would it be worth it?  As far as the QotW, I have everything I need or want, other than someone to do my reclaim/wedging for me!

hopefully my first kiln.  want to get a l&l efl2026

Hi folks, no new question in the pool so I will pose another. Based on my buying my first new kiln in over 30 years, anything over 4k is a big expense, especially for a retired teacher and hobby potter. So I will ask of you:
QotW: What is your first and second most expensive equipment expense? 
This is a pretty easy question for me, as #1 is the new kiln, the L&L e28m-3 , and #2 is my 30 year old Brent CXC potters wheel. Really in the end, considering the years of use. . . these have been really cheap, even though the original sticker shock is daunting!
 
best,
Pres

In my experience, very few people are affected by the molds in clay. I've spent 8 years in University studios, 3 years in a clay supplier business, and 17 years teaching classes in my own studio, and I've only run into two people that had to drop classes due to mold sensitivity. I've got students with immune deficiency conditions (I don't know the specific conditions) and it doesn't affect them. Mold is unavoidable in the clay itself, short of mixing your own clay every time you go to work with it, which would be very poor clay to work with. And doesn't seem to be the type of mold that causes strong reactions and health issues like you'd get in moldy drywall. If it was we'd all be experiencing health issues every time we opened a bag. I think that testing a bag of clay for specific molds would be useless because the clay body materials are sourced form different places and you would/could get different spores from every batch of raw materials.
The studio itself is a different story. There's no reason it should be any more moldy than any other environment due to the clay itself. If your local studio is musty, I'd first determine if the issue is the clay, or something else like a damp basement, etc. Just using clay in a space shouldn't contribute to the mustiness if the space is dry in the first place, because the mold needs moisture to proliferate. If the smell is from slop buckets or standing water in the sink, those issue can be easily dealt with. However I've got open slop buckets in my studio, and we do not have any oder or mustiness problems from them. If we did, then lids would solve the problem there. 
Personally, I'm allergic to molds in the environment, and my allergies are always a mess in the Spring when it's rainy and in the Fall from leaf molds. The studio environment never sets them off, though.

Load determines stacking.  I know what I can and can't stack, and I know what needs to be in the load.  
r.

Load determines stacking.  I know what I can and can't stack, and I know what needs to be in the load.  
r.