JohnnyK

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

I am a brusher...that's how I first learned to glaze, and I've been doing so ever since. I don't produce enough to warrant the expense of the dipping glazes, nor do I have the space to store all the buckets. Granted, the brushing process is tedious and time consuming, but I couldn't get the Glaze FX that I produce by dipping. I primarily use Amaco's Potters Choice and Celadon glazes, and for the colors I use the most, I buy gallons, but I am starting to venture into mixing my own glazes. While buying glazes by the pint is relatively expensive, it gives me the opportunity to experiment with colors and layering to determine if buying gallons is feasible. Amaco has an excellent collection of layering outcomes with virtually all of their glazes and I use the works of other potters to help with layering endeavors. If I see something I like, I try to reproduce it initially with glazes I have in stock. If I find it particularly intriguing, and I don't have stock, I'll buy what I need to experiment., usually with positive outcomes...

99% Dipping, with some squirt bottle use on pots of a certain size. I don’t have the facilities or equipment to spray, and dipping gets a quick, easy application. I make enough stuff that brushing would be very impractical.
 

I am a brusher...that's how I first learned to glaze, and I've been doing so ever since. I don't produce enough to warrant the expense of the dipping glazes, nor do I have the space to store all the buckets. Granted, the brushing process is tedious and time consuming, but I couldn't get the Glaze FX that I produce by dipping. I primarily use Amaco's Potters Choice and Celadon glazes, and for the colors I use the most, I buy gallons, but I am starting to venture into mixing my own glazes. While buying glazes by the pint is relatively expensive, it gives me the opportunity to experiment with colors and layering to determine if buying gallons is feasible. Amaco has an excellent collection of layering outcomes with virtually all of their glazes and I use the works of other potters to help with layering endeavors. If I see something I like, I try to reproduce it initially with glazes I have in stock. If I find it particularly intriguing, and I don't have stock, I'll buy what I need to experiment., usually with positive outcomes...

some general ideas
If you fire with cones then you will minimize the chance things are severely over or under fired. So first question do you use cones and have you placed them in more than one location to get a sense of how evenly the kiln fires. What cone did this fire to?  The other thing that comes to mind is application thickness and the color of the clay body and it’s similarity to the glaze application examples. Did you apply similar to the manufactures recommendations? And not to forget to mention …….. reduction. Good reduction is an  acquired skill which usually takes some time to master. Reduction usually affects a handful of metals so glazes are usually formulated specifically for the reduction effects and then the firing is done verifying visually whether med / strong, early / late reduction was used for a desired result. So a reduction firing can muddy things up a bit but usually only affects specific characteristics of a glaze. In the beginning It’s rare just to fire to a schedule and succeed as intended at all these things simultaneously. Finally, test tiles - always use test tiles to confirm and dial in your desired look  / firing.
Many of these things require testing, isolating the result, and ………. experience. Seems like you are in the experience stage which unfortunately takes time. Tell us more about how you fire to cone, what is your schedule, maybe post a picture or two of the item(s) fired. How are you reducing and when do you reduce, why, etc…. Do you have successfully fired test tiles?  Folks here can help troubleshoot and hopefully decrease that experience timeline or at least decrease the bad experience timeline.

I have also found that a small coffee grinder works pretty well.

I have 2 of those that I picked up at a thrift store for $5 apiece. I also use a small coffee grinder for turning hardened glazed into powder, also around $5...

I have 2 of those that I picked up at a thrift store for $5 apiece. I also use a small coffee grinder for turning hardened glazed into powder, also around $5...

I have 2 of those that I picked up at a thrift store for $5 apiece. I also use a small coffee grinder for turning hardened glazed into powder, also around $5...

Make sure the Kiln Sitter timer is not at zero.

Well...try as I might, there was no way to remove the wheel head without doing major damage to the assembly. Since the wheel head is some sort of plastic (almost like Bakelite), I took a sander to the high spots and attached a Corian bat to it. Now the wheel head runs true.

Well...try as I might, there was no way to remove the wheel head without doing major damage to the assembly. Since the wheel head is some sort of plastic (almost like Bakelite), I took a sander to the high spots and attached a Corian bat to it. Now the wheel head runs true.

Well...try as I might, there was no way to remove the wheel head without doing major damage to the assembly. Since the wheel head is some sort of plastic (almost like Bakelite), I took a sander to the high spots and attached a Corian bat to it. Now the wheel head runs true.

Instead of using a porcelain I would use some of the raku body made into a slip then sieved to get the grog out of it. (60 mesh sieve should be fine enough) Get the slip on the outside of the pot as soon as possible to avoid issues with the slip shelling off or cracking.
edit: I looked up white raku clays in Australia and a quick search brought up this one, might be worth a try if the one you are using isn't white.

I went from firing three manual kilns to,  a LL with Genisis controller,  a Paragon Caldera test kiln with a Genisis controller and a small Duncan manual kiln.   I decided to go with the controllers because of my age and my MS,  I was afraid I would forget that I was firing.   The last couple of months I have had trouble with my memory and concentration,  I managed to get through a manual firing and a controller firing.  It really scared me how fuzzy my brain was,  it was a MS relaspe.  They can last several months or never clear up,  my brain is clear now .   I am so happy that I have automated  my home and studio.    Denice

Check to see if your new digital timer has the capability to develop User Programs. My after-market Orton does, and I've set up a couple of John Britt's programs as well as a couple of my own. You should be able to do so with yours and incorporate all the steps that you used in your manual firings...

Check to see if your new digital timer has the capability to develop User Programs. My after-market Orton does, and I've set up a couple of John Britt's programs as well as a couple of my own. You should be able to do so with yours and incorporate all the steps that you used in your manual firings...

Welcome to the forum, Art...This can be accomplished by using a basecoat of an off-white glaze and speckling it with toothbrush splatter of a brown glaze. It will take a little practice with the toothbrush, but is easily done. Practice the toothbrush action on a piece of plain paper until you get the technique down before working on an actual pot...

Welcome to the forum, Art...This can be accomplished by using a basecoat of an off-white glaze and speckling it with toothbrush splatter of a brown glaze. It will take a little practice with the toothbrush, but is easily done. Practice the toothbrush action on a piece of plain paper until you get the technique down before working on an actual pot...

In reply to your inquiry, I learned pottery when in final years of undergrad school, was hooked. My tools come from decades of buying, adapting or making tools that fit my needs. Over the years my needs have changed as arthritis and other things have changed the types of things I do. Because I can't pull handles anymore. . . I jury rigged an electric putty gun to extrude handles. I made ribs and trimming chucks to specifically throw chalice bowls and stems. I was always a teacher in a HS, not a full time potter but addicted just the same. I don't intend to quit, and at the same time love getting dirty in the clay. All that @JohnnyKhas said goes for me. I have been doing this for over 50 years. . . it has been hard work learning, and it is a skill, I doubt is there is much that could be done now that hasn't been done to make it easier or better.
 
 
best,
Pres
 

Instead of using a lubricant we put the clay to be extruded into a thin plastic bag open at the die end.  Clean up is just the die and the last few centimeters of the extruder tube.

I run one of these over the bottoms / feet. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Monster-100-Grit-Diamond-Hand-Polishing-Pads-Block-Type-DHP0100/303097130 I've got one a flat lap diamond disk that I stick to the wheelhead with a batmate too but don't need to use it very often with the smooth clay that I use.

I contacted Speedball and they gave instructions to remove the head and said they could modify the head from a different wheel to fit...It just depends on the cost whether I'll go that route.

Hi Naomi and welcome to the forum!
There are quite a few variables that will come into play here. We don't know what is in the clear gloss glaze nor how fluid it is. Does the manganese wash just contain manganese or are there other materials in it? Which oxides would be applied under/over it? Just like with glaze testing it would be best to do some test tiles and see what interactions occur. 

I used Amaco Potter's Choice Indigo Float a few years back and found it very easy to use. It really works well with texture too.