[Skutt model 181 kiln?]

Mark I think she means if she orders a new Skutt cone 10 for mid fire electric at cone 6. If I'm right then 2.5 brick is fine.

[Skutt model 181 kiln?]

On 5/17/2019 at 12:44 PM, spiffypix said:

Thanks, Liam.  I’m planning on changing out the elements...would I have any issue firing to ^6 if I change them out?  Doens’t seem like too huge of a job and seems pretty affordable..

ya know I would test and see where you can go with it. The rule of thumb is to buy a cone 8 or 10 kiln to do cone 6 glaze load to avoid wearing out elements too fast. I've never really be able to get a definitive answer but I've heard numbers like 25% faster wear out, so instead of a 100 or so bisque and glaze firings you would get say 75 IF you replaced sooner. Also only new elements will supposedly hit top rated temp so out of the gate you will only be able to get true cone 6 for a fixed number of firings and then it will slowly drop. Even at 50 combined firings you are paying ($125 replacement) $2.50 a bisque/glaze firing in element cost instead of a dollar and a quarter if you were firing lower.

You got the kiln for almost nothing and whatever electrical wiring needed will be there for the next kiln and its a 43 year old kiln so if you can get 3-4 years out of it firing mid range it seems worth the trade off of a few years potential life. I mean I am assuming you are not trying to have a 43 year old kiln last forever.

Mid fire is by default called cone 6 but actually you can get there by firing lower and using heat work to get to 6. Most say about half an hour is a cones worth of heat. We fire to cone 5 and then soak for 20 minutes using an electronic controller and get a 50% bend on the 6 cone. So if you use cone packs with a 5/6/7 cones and put 6 cone in sitter to start and then keep really good logs so you can see element decline with the cone reduction and you know how long to fire and turn off if it never actually trips the cone in the sitter, I bet you can hit in striking distance of cone 6 firings and just replace your elements more often. Essentially you are getting a timed soak in a manual kiln by just letting it naturally stall below cone 6 and knowing how long to let it do that. 

You could also buy a digital pyrometer for $50-$75 and actually watch the stall and then time it to get to 6. I hate looking through peep holes but you go just keep it running until the 6 bends and replace the elements when that starts getting too long.

I wouldn't go low fire just because you have an old cone 6 kiln without a fight. Unless you want to make low fire work that is :-). 

[Important Ceramic Artists Who Should Be Known]

Not sure where to post but thought some here might be interested. Did not know him personally but have watched some of his videos. Seems to have made a serious impact in pottery and that is an accomplishment that few of us will achieve. 

https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2019/01/warren-mackenzie-a-profoundly-influential-minnesota-potter/

[Qotw: Do you close down for Winter, or how do you heat your studio]

ya know I was worried because 1 1/2 walls are not insulated, they are sheet-rocked (I know hard to believe a builder went to the trouble of sheet rocking and not insulating)  and the room is 600' with 12' ceilings but man it worked like a champ in July/Aug/Sep when the heat topped 105 almost daily. I did get a 24k BTU and the AC bill was about $80 a month during those hot months. I was trying to use a couple of standalone 10K BTU and that was costing more and virtually doing nothing so the studio was virtually unusable in May/Jun and most of July, even at night.

[Qotw: Do you close down for Winter, or how do you heat your studio]

Added a split A/C heat pump over the summer and it is perfect. Cost about 3 grand when all said and done. Got the DIY model (more expensive) and paid a relative a few hundred to help me and had to pay an electrician a few hundred to hook up but is just like central and works great in hot or cold.

In Texas the cold part is most important. I just say that its going to be 77 tomorrow and 79 on Friday  and high was 40 a week ago for several days so the weather can be all over the place around here this time of year.

[QotW: How do you feel about culture theft?]

Ya know I really think it boils down to what your're doing, not the pot. If my representation is displayed and/or sold as a pot made by an artist native to the the culture that inspired the pot then I am engaging in a deceptive way and I think could be rightfully accused of cultural theft. If I made an inspired pot and sell it as a pot made by me, honestly represented, then it's just fine. I honestly feel that what the statue above in regards to Indian Arts and craft is not regarding interpreting the style and rendering something similar, it is trying to hijack the back story that goes with a cultural piece and sell it as authentically made by an artist of that culture, that's dishonest. People by art often with as much the intent to support the artist as opposed to just wanting that pot and if your trying to fool someone who wants to by a piece of Native American pottery made by a native american then your guilty.   

I do think possibly a notation close to the work acknowledging the work as 'inspired by' might be in good form it you have a bunch of pots in a show that were inspired by a particular culture. Just so there is no misunderstanding.

[QotW: How long did learning to throw take.]

took 6 months of getting up at 4:30 and throwing a couple of hours before work every day and mostly cutting everything in half before I would say I could throw a decent pot. Couple of years ago tried my hand at doing full time shows for a living and the sudden influx of non-stop daily throwing that had to happen to have twice a month show racks full certainly made a HUGE difference, not just in throwing but every aspect of making.

My take away from the experience is not how long did it take but how many concentrated hours did it take. I think for most, throwing regularly around a full time job and life for 10 or even 20 years will not even remotely compare to someone who throws hours and hours every day for even a few years. 

[QotW:What is the value of formal education in developing Ceramic skills?]

amen to that. I can't imagine ever truly retiring, maybe slowing down a bit but not retiring.

[QotW:What is the value of formal education in developing Ceramic skills?]

that's the rub. There are plenty of people that have things they didn't particularly do much to be able to have it but a degree? Everyone I know that has a degree worked their a$$es off to get it and many have forever student loan payments to pay for at least some of it.  Just don't see how it has anything to do with elitism. Now most people are proud of the accomplishment and all have some college war stories but that's cronyism not elitism  

[QotW:What is the value of formal education in developing Ceramic skills?]

On 10/9/2018 at 10:16 AM, Denice said:

I was rejected at a show because I didn't have a bachelors degree.    It was a local show,  I had gotten my work put on slides just like the instructions in the application.   When I was paying the fee and they were looking over my application.   I was told I shouldn't bother applying I didn't have a degree so I wouldn't be taken very seriously.  I took my $25 and went home.   I attended the show later and found very few local artist included in the show.    Denice

Well that's awful. Sounds like some jerks were running that show.

186 hours here. Yeah that's a bit high for an eventual BS. At UT Austin in the 80's I had a good time with the freedom to take anything that I thought sounded interesting. One upper-division class 'Poverty and Politics in the Soviet Union ' stands out as amusing, made an A. Failed a couple of classes though (art history being one) because my world ended when a romance ended and I couldn't be troubled to go to classes for the better part of a term. Hey if you can go to college, go, it's worth the effort and it  will change you in profound ways. If you can't then just jump in and as GEP says put together your own program.  I've said it before, $500 will buy all the used equipment you need to get started in your own studio or join a local studio.

Nature will take its course and pottery will consume you or it won't. With the Internet, local CC and community classes, workshops and forums like this ALL of the information it readily available to go as far as you want. Me, I think hours put in is the biggest deciding factor. Successes and failures add up and solving problems makes you better. Don't pay attention to years, but hours in a condensed time frame. The potter that puts in a 1000 hours in a year is probably advancing faster than one who is putting in the same 1000 hours over three years. A full timer is probably doing 2500-3000 hours a year so they really get in sync with their process and so much becomes effortless and failures drop to a low manageable percentage.      

[QotW: Either generally or specifically, what do you think, feel, and/or do when confronted with moderate to serious/severe limitations of some aspect of health that alters how you work in clay?]

On 9/16/2018 at 10:02 PM, LeeU said:

The Guild has a wood kiln located over an hour away from me, but so far they have been unwilling to accomodate my (physically invisible) disabilites and I can't physically participate in the required pre-during-post firing work...several 8 hr. shifts over a 2 week period.  I have suggested (requested) that they consider having  a policy like the  community education program that gets me into the anagama firings. I am allowed to pay (a premium!) for the shelf space and then am not required to work shifts.  So far the board has not added my request for discussion (& hopfully resolution) to any of the meeting agendas. I'm not interested in getting into the legalisms of a public non-profit not making a reasonable accomodation (i.e. in this case, pay to play) for someone with a disability, but I'm about ready to withdraw from the organization. I'll again bring up the issue of having a policy on disability accomodations at the next meeting, but that's probably the end of it for me. I don't care for the feeling of being discriminated against, in effect, even when I know that is the furthest thing from people's conscious minds when they just don't "get it" if they don't see a wheelchair! 

ya know you might suggest that they could revise the policy to allow a 'buddy' system of 2, 3 or even a small group working together during one eight hour shift and frame it as  being to broaden participation. I assume the whole point of having the wood kiln and the firing is to promote and enrich the pottery experience. There are many, many health situations that are not immediately visible that would make it impossible to 'work' an entire 8 hour strenuous shift. COPD, back issues etc etc.

The other question that comes to mind is if the Guild is truly about mission when it come to this kiln or if some members see this wood kiln as some sort of personal domain or perc and thus inclusiveness is not really part of the agenda to begin with. 

[QotW: Either generally or specifically, what do you think, feel, and/or do when confronted with moderate to serious/severe limitations of some aspect of health that alters how you work in clay?]

Just thought I would add a plug for considering a centering tool to help if needed. I had a screw  put in my shoulder when I was 18 to fix a constantly recurring shoulder dislocations stemming from an injury. A big shot sports doctor did it and I remember him telling me it was a success and I didn't need to worry about it for 30-35 years. Seemed like forever. Now 38 years later not so much. I for the most part don't worry about it and have few issues over the years but excessive centering was causing that shoulder to suddenly have soreness/pain and that gave me pause. I tried to change how I center so I didn't flex my shoulder but it just didn't seem to help.  Added a  https://www.strongarmpotterytools.com/ for big batches of throwing and it went away so love this sucker. I still always center and open several of any batch to make sure I maintain the ability to center. I don't have arthritis but it might also be helpful for that.  

[QotW: Do you back fill handles at the attachment point?]

man I wish I knew what you guys were talking about, sigh. 

Off to do some surfing.

[QotW: What are the rituals you follow when the creative juices dry up, or the joys of making pottery becomes tedious because of deadline demands?]

When i was trying to make a living making pots, my studio time was so monopolized with getting ready for the next show, calculating how to push loads through to boxes with the functional items that sold (read a lot of mugs, bowls, cups spoon rest etc.) that pottery started feeling more routine. To counter this I was starting to try and make some time each day to work on a few art pieces. For me that was some vases and such but I had other more elaborate pieces in mind. True my vases didn't sell at the same rate as mugs but they were exciting to work on and they did round out my booth when I bought fresh flowers on the way to the show and they added something to my day.

[Just How Old Is Too Old For A Kiln?]

Per a few of my recent post I am assembling a new studio and used kiln shopping.

 

Ran across what appears to be a fine kiln for $375 (Olympic 2327) with new elements 4 firings ago and supposedly works great.  No visible cracks and really not that much wear on the bricks. The price with the new elements is of course fine but the age gives me pause. I emailed the serial number and got a very prompt and helpful response from Olympic and a link to a pdf manual for it. It was manufactured in 1979 in Redmond Washington and parts are still available. Hell they were a bigger company than Microsoft at the time. 

 

I realize a kiln with a kiln-sitter is pretty basic and if seldom used and/or kept up over the years will have a long life time but what is the functional limit?

 

Brick, wires and such still age even if duty is light and not all parts are going to be replaced and many really can't be easily replaced or updated. Since I am buying a bunch of stuff at once I like the ideal of saving money on one of these relics and a wall mounted stand alone controller to plug one of these old kiln-sitter kilns would give me the ability to use my glaze firing schedules and half of the investment would be somewhat protected in that piece of new equipment.

 

BUT having a kiln fail or screw up a load can be very costly so I don't want to be stupid to save a few bucks.

 

What is the age limit some of you would place on a secondhand kiln? Once I get moved and things settle down I do plan to buy a new larger 9-10 cf kiln and figured this stop gap one would then become my bisque kiln but I may well need to use it for my main kiln for a year or even two or three. 

[Skutt Model A Wheel Used]

not sure I follow, do you mean the belts are no longer available or are you concerned about their performance? If its the latter, in what way?

[Skutt Model A Wheel Used]

Well any older equipment is going to likely need some work here and there but if it truly is lightly used and it passes both the test above then I'd say go for it and start throwing some clay. Buying used equipment is always risky but a good wheel for a couple hundred bucks seems like a no brainer. Around here good used wheels seem to be in the 5-600 range. Good luck!

[Skutt Model A Wheel Used]

how much are they asking for it?