Piedmont Pottery

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.

E-6000 adhesive is what we use when customers come into the gallery for repairs like that. Needs to cure in place for 24 hours. Excess can be removed with a razor blade.

Wollastonite is not hygroscopic.

At a minimum I would get a thermocouple and pyrometer so you can get an idea of the temperature as you’re firing. Cones on one or more shelves will tell you what really happened during the firing in terms of heat work.

If anything, I find my recycled clay may throw a bit better than new clay. While I suspect that there may not be enough epsom salts to affect the clay chemistry significantly, in theory, flocculating the clay should improve plasticity. I've seen no changes in glazing between new and reprocessed clay. I have not done any kind of systematic test to look at the impact of MgSO4 on clay properties, and I don't measure the amount I add per bucket. I just pour in a bit of saturated epsom salts solution to the bucket.

In addition to using smaller buckets, adding a bit of Epsom salts to flocculate the clay will make the fine particles settle much more quickly, allowing you to remove the clear water above the clay layer.

I make my stamps using a 3-D printer. It's a fairly simple process to design the printer file, and the cost of filament is only a couple of dollars. Of course, you do need to have access to a 3-D printer.

I picked up what looks like the same model kiln in similar condition about 15 years ago for $100. I think $250 is a bit on the high end, but that depends on your location. You will spend money on kiln repairs, but that is true of any kiln. The electronics are very simple, so easy to work on. I'd offer no more than $75-100 for it.

Kyanite is available in 200 mesh and would not detract from the smoothness of your clay.

E6000 remains a bit flexible when cured and adheres very well to ceramics. We've been using it for several years now without any failures.

That's interesting. When I bought mine, it was assembled on the stand and the whole assembly bolted to a pallet. The only door that the kiln would fit through was the door at the loading dock into our kiln room, which is about 4 feet above the ground on the outside. We used a forklift to get it onto the loading dock, and then a pallet jack to move it into position.

I have the L&L eFL2635. It's a great kiln. The 3-phase 240V version needs a 70 AMP breaker. And you will likely need a forklift to move it into place.

We once had a small test kiln get wet. The brick got wet enough to conduct electricity, so as soon as we turned the kiln on it would trip the breaker, as current was flowing from the elements to the steel casing. Completely drying the bricks solved the problem.

In my experience failure to increase temperature is usually due to a bad element or a bad relay. Did you have witness cones in the kiln? You can probably refire if the pieces are underfired, but first you need to determine and remedy the kiln issue.

I use a Winix Plasmawave air purifier in the studio. It combines charcoal and HEPA filters and does capture a good amount of particles. I like it because it's quiet,

We have been using E6000 to attach D rings to wall hangings. Use a liberal amount of adhesive and let it cure fully before hanging. In our experience, E6000 has proven more secure than epoxy.

It somewhat depends on what properties you want the glaze to have. A lot of raku glazes work in the 08 range, but if you're looking for a durable surface for functional ware it may be tough to get down to 08.

I use a Braava Jet robotic mop in the studio, made by the same company that makes Roomba. I do pre-mop the biggest blobs of clay with a regular mop and bucket, and then turn on the robot mop to finish cleaning while I work on other thins, For rags with clay, I keep a bucket under the sink in the studio filled with water and a bit of bleach, Dirty rags go in there to soak. After a day or two I carry the bucket outside, wring out the rags, and use the remaining clay water to water plants. I will repeat this with fresh water until the rags are mostly free of clay.

I am using Insight Live for developing and tweaking glazes and maintaining a database of all of my recipes. I can access it from home or from my studio. I haven't kept a paper notebook in years.

I frequently have to fire student pieces that are freshly made and way too thick, and to keep classes on schedule I have to fire them before they have a chance to dry. I soak at 180F for 10-16 hours before ramping up, depending on the thickness/wetness of the pieces. The cost of electricity to keep the kiln at 180F is relatively small, and I have never had any student pieces explode. It is probably overkill to soak that long, but it works, so I'm sticking with it.

The first thing to check is to make sure the outlet you are plugging into is live. Plug in a lamp or other device to see if the outlet is live. I've on occasion spent more time than I care to admit trying to troubleshoot equipment when the circuit breaker had tripped. Assuming you have power to the wheel, the next thing I would check is to make sure the cable from the pedal to the control box is plugged in tightly.

I have increased the amount of custom orders I take on since Covid, which has really hammered our usual gallery sales. I get a deposit of 50% up front on all custom work unless it's a repeat customer or something so generic that it will sell in the gallery. There does seem to be some truth that if one item in a kiln load has issues it will be the one custom piece in the load. For this reason I will often make 2 or 3 of the item if it's generic and then let the customer choose among them. Customers frequently buy more than one. the ones they don't take go into the gallery. For orders that look like they will be very time consuming or ones that I just don't want to do, I will estimate what I would charge if it was just something I would make for the gallery, and then triple that price for the quote. If the client accepts the quote, then I will make it for them.

I've used shelves from Bailey: https://www.baileypottery.com/store-dept-gas-electric-kilns/store-kiln-furniture-and-accessories/store-kiln-furniture-and-accessories-kiln-shelves/nitride-bonded-silicon-carbide.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw2f-VBhAsEiwAO4lNeCDMQHtm_ooKpUqdLy1sQeTHy4OvagoRK25cnlwCob9kL9_vLHS7PBoCZFMQAvD_BwE and Axner: https://www.axner.com/nitride-bonded-silicon-carbide-kiln-shelves.aspx

If I was starting over now I'd invest in nitride-bonded silicon carbide shelves, not necessarily Advancer brand, there are lower cost options from other suppliers. The lighter weight, durability, and ease of cleaning glaze drips are worth the investment in my opinion.