JohnnyK

How mechanically inclined are you, Lucia? You could get a length of 1/2" black pipe at a big box or hardware store, have it cut to the length you need and threaded on the fresh cut end. Then you could thread elbows on each end, get additional pipe cut to height and threaded to fit the elbows at one end and flanges at the bottom end to mount to some sort of base or the floor itself. Then you could use shower curtain rings to hang your curtain or lights. You could paint it all to match your decor...

I took care of the kiln sitter problem a few years ago when I got a digital controller for my Cress kiln...I just removed the entire kiln-sitter mechanism, rewired the kiln as necessary, and installed a blank faceplate to cover the hole.

I have 2 pieces of Mark Cortright's work that I got from him when I met him at a UC Davis art fair. One is a mug that I traded one of my bowls for and the other, a French butter dish that I bought, both of which have fantastic glaze work! Old Lady traded one of her beautiful serving platters for some carving tools I made for her. The bad news here is that nothing is getting served on the piece...the good news is that it is sitting in our display cabinet for many to see!

What are you using the tables for?

Welcome to the Forum, Julia! I would guess that it is a thick layer of clear glaze since the crazing of the green shows through...

It's rare that I get to make a complex piece, but if I did, depending on what it is and its function, I would probably make multiple versions. I'm currently working with my extruder making lotion dispensers in both square and octagonal configs, so, I am making 4 squares and 5 octagonals since that's what I can get out of each slug in the extruder. Tops and bottoms are cut from slabs. In addition to the lotion dispensers, I can make salt and pepper shakers using the same dies by cutting the pieces shorter. I also plan on slab-building tissue boxes and glazing them the same as the dispensers with the idea of selling them as sets.

Hi vika...would you show us a photo of the object you are trying to make a mold of?

Before doing the paperclay patch as @neilestricksuggested, you might take a scratch tool like a dental pick and in one of the least obvious cracks do some scraping to see how deep the crack goes. If you can scratch to the bottom of the crack, you should be good to go with the paperclay. Otherwise, the cracks will probably reappear or the tentacles may pop off at the higher glazing temperature. When applying the paperclay, make sure the cracks are thoroughly wetted. If not, the patch won't stick...

What's different here is that you have 2 posts for QOTW and 2 posts for Paragon Kiln and one for Kiln wash. In the previous edition there would be one post for QOTW with the author's name and an indication of how many responses, but there would also be 4 other different questions with the author's name and number of responses. I've seen pages where there would be 4 responses to the same question instead of a varied spread. I'd rather have a choice of topics, some of which I may be interested in and some not so much. Change is not always good IMHO...

I would have told myself to get involved sooner rather than waiting until I almost retired...

I have used Rustoleum Painter's Touch 2X Ultracover matte Clear on a Raku fountain. The fountain was exposed to winter weather with rain and low temps in the upper 20s as well as summer heat to 115 degrees in direct sun. The finish lasted more than 2 years in these conditions without yellowing. It was a working fountain, spouting water on a regular basis. I have also used it on various other types of yard art with great success.

Becoming self employed is always a BIG step in your life and when you persist and become successful, there's no turning back. It was a scary thing back in '78 when my wife left a cushy, but boring office job to start a housecleaning business with a girlfriend. They started the business with 500 printed flyers which they delivered to all the local realtors on a daily basis for a week. The beginning of the following week they got a call from a successful realtor who decided to give them a try. That was the last and only time they advertised. Everything since then has been word of mouth. I got involved with them a few years later as a handyman doing any repairs they needed in the houses that they were working in. That ultimately led to my becoming a General Contractor which lasted until I retired 5 years ago. My wife is still working and making $50 an hour cleaning houses, painting, decorating and organizing for a few select clients. Once we got established, we never looked back and could never imagine working for a salary. So, Joseph, your whole world is there for the taking as long as you want to put in the effort! GOOD LUCK, grow well and be successful in all your endeavors!

Stainless steel

Instead of just a bolt, you might consider a threaded rod to run through the entire leg and embed it in the leg before firing to further strengthen the leg...

Looks can be deceiving... While I was taking my Ceramics1 class at Sierra College, about 3 weeks into the course, a young student (weren't they all young?) who was looking to add the course had mistaken me for the professor, who happened to be out of the classroom at the time. It may have been my age and the Vandyke I was sporting at the time

We provide info to our CPA and he generates the tax return which we review and approve before submitting to the IRS and the state...

The only regret that I have is not spending more time with my hands in the mud. Something I plan on changing soon...

I would call it "creative outlet"...I spent years working with Photoshop to let my creative juices flow in photography and got to be very good at what I was doing and then came CLAY! I've since put my photography on the back burner as I pursue what I can do with clay, but even that is put on hold as I deal with the ramifications of the storms we are having here in California. While the rainfall is phenomenal and welcome, so much continuous rain is saturating the ground. My big fear now is that, with multiple oak trees in the 70-foot height range, the 60mph wind gusts may topple some of these giants, meaning a little more yardwork...Anyway, when things settle down a little, I'll be able to get back in the studio and let the creativity flow...

Thanks for the input, Neil...I'm guessing that you're talking about ^10 clay which I do have in stock. I'd just be firing them to ^6 to stiffen them up. The ones I made are setup for 4 wires, I just didn't want to overload them on this first go around. The first failure was due to their being just bisque fired before I ran the jewelry glaze firing...

After my first failed attempt at building my own stands for firing jewelry, I've succeeded in fabricating new stands which held up to ^6 firing! The first time around, I made the stands with ^5 B-Mix and bisque fired them to ^04. They seemed solid enough, but when I fired the assembled stands, the weight of the jewelry caused the stands to sag, which, in turn, caused most of the jewelry pieces to run together and touch its neighbor. The melting glaze joined the pieces permanently. In the cases where the pieces were not co-joined, they were stuck to the stainless steel wire I used to string them because I drilled the mounting holes just big enough for the wire to fit AND I didn't clean the holes of glaze, thus fusing the pieces to the wire. This time around, I added a strut to the B-Mix w/grog ^5 stands and fired them to ^6. I drilled the jewelry holes bigger and cleaned the holes of glaze. The stands held up to the firing and I had only 2 pieces stick to the wire but was able to break them loose without breaking the pieces. The photos show the first failed attempt, the second successful attempt, the layout of the stands, the assembled stands, and a selection of copper-toned pieces that I thought came out looking pretty darned good! (The penny is to show proportion.) In a number of the pieces, I was going for a raw, organic look with the rough edges which I think will look great as part of a necklace.

How about you take 100g of the wet glaze and dry it out? You could spread the glaze on a cookie sheet and air dry it first and then maybe put it in an oven at about 150 degrees for a while to dry it out further. Then measure the weight of the dry materials. Then you can easily calculate the weight of the additive... As I see it, you could have done this in less time than you're spending trying to make the above calculations and the results would be definitive...I think...