oldlady

someone planted a seed. (No reference to current events intended.)

your kiln manufacturer will sell you a container. if it is L&L, make sure it has a label stating what it is or write that yourself because that jar will be sitting around for a long time. if you seriously think critters are doing the damage, tape over each seam to prevent them getting into the slots. if the tape gets damaged, you will know what it is.

min made a great suggestion. i am aware of several glaze suppliers who will sell you their "secret" brushing medium if you call and tell them your problem. do NOT email. if you go back to the first post in 2020, follow johnnyk's suggestion about pulverizing the dry glaze with a coffe bean grinder. sounds reasonable but i am allergic to coffee and would not know a grinder if i saw one.

it looks like someone is scratching it out of the seams. the distance from the top of the kiln down to it's bottom is in inches. the crack looks like it could be measured in significantly less than one inch. probably not a worry unless you see it coming through the bottom. kilns do not have to be kept pristine, just reasonably clean.

if you have made the glazes yourself, pour water into the container to cover the glaze about half an inch or so. cover the container. wait until at least 24 hours later and open the container to see how it reacted. a cracked broken rough surface without water above the glaze will indicate you should be able to stir it, sieve it and use it. if not, add water or delete water. i have hard water and use distilled in all my glazes. poke a spoon, dowel, anything into the glaze and try to stir it. if too dry, add water. if the water level is the same as it was when you closed the container, and you cannot poke it into life, you might try a blender. if it is really too hard after all that, toss it. safely. if you have bought commercial glazes, wait for someone who uses them to reply.

mark is right, if you are carving spaces out of the walls for the light to shine through, you are creating a new product which happens to have a similar shape to a drinking glass. now way anyone other than a child would try to drink from a holey "glass".

not a bot, it sounds like you just cannot accept the enormous amount of research and knowledge in the kiln builders approach to providing economical, safe and practical kilns to the public. i really do not know any potters who would bother with all this fuss. the preset programs work for a large percentage of potters. figuring out how to set up a program for simple bisque and glaze firing when you really have no experience firing seems to me to be a lot of work for not much gain. buy a kiln, let your wife make pots not sit around waiting for you to find the perfect kiln that does what it does the way you want it to. happiness is making pots and firing them, let her. potters have been using kilns for many years without worrying about these tiny details.

absolutely get advancer shelves instead of the elements. they have never been within my budget but i sure wish they were.

if it is still in a box with a label, look for the cone number. sometimes they are printed differently than the usual sales pitch box. look for a rubber stamp ink with half inch high numbers. you might ask bill kielb since he lives there.

HAPPY POTS i had a venco without a vacuum and got a bailey with vacuum later. i believe that the bailey has a cap for your vaccum area that will fit. the one you show seems too big for that venco. contact jim bailey with your measurements to see it his will fit. you should be able to just buy that cap with it's own gasket attached. ask him about the meter attached to the top of yours. just call on a telephone and talk to him, do not send emails. they really do not work for this kind of info.

sorry i am not one of our mechanical geniuses. i have no idea what an APM element is without the name, not an acronym. and maybe not then, but i do know how glaze can get into an element slot. some inexperienced potters do not dry the items they want o glaze fire and they blow up, sending bits of glaze and partly fired clay all over the kiln. that is only one way and would likely only affect a few of us who single fire from greenware to glaze finish. yes, careful handling will help a lot. i have only done this once in 50 years.

thanks, min. it will be my next read.

lee, what i find interesting is the number of people who ask me something and i suggest they come and visit my studio to learn what all is involved. the funny thing is that i must have invited over a hundred people over the years and so far nobody has come except a customer who wanted "another one just like the first one". she and a friend came out and we had a great time. they each made something uniquely theirs and nothing like mine. both found some item in the studio that intrigued them. i wish i had made something as terrific as the friend made. we went out on the boat and they discovered why i usually go out close to sunset, the sun was really bad. good thing i have lots of very broad brimmed hats for visitors. who never come.

ABSOLUTELY agree with you neil. some folks just like to imagine problems that really do not matter. only experience shows them that they worry for nothing.

i got my pacifica 400 in 1972. it has always had a metal foot pedal. when it was damaged in an electrical storm that hit my power pole, the original owner sent me another one. it is metal, too. if it would help, i can take some photos of whatever part you need but i am NOT taking anything apart to do it.

try dropping the bag onto concrete to break it up to a much smaller size.

can you describe exactly what you do to reclaim your clay? you say you get dry clumps from your throwing water. my method of reclaiming any clay is to let it dry out in small, thin pieces at least overnight if it is dry where you work. i toss those dry pieces into a bucket to hold them until i am ready to pug. the day before, i add water to about an inch above the level of dry bits. there is no reason to hold wet clay for months, it is just not healthy as well as messy. and hard, wet clay is a pain. i pugged 8 buckets of reclaim last winter. did not use all of it so i am going to pug it again soon. i only use pugged clay to throw with, never a slab. the clay is fine but sometimes small bubbles of air are incorporated during the pugging process. rather not see them in a slab. yes, i have a de-airing pugmill, it is a Bailey and works wonderfully.

test hairspray after the RIO. let it dry completely and see what happens when you dip into your glaze. if not that, spray starch is the next test. you only want a temporary block while you dip.

handicapped here because i do not know what measurement system you use. usually recipies are given in grams. there is no Recipe for a wash, you just start with a small amount of colorant, red iron OXIDE is one choice. i use it in a wash and do not care exactly how much i use because it is only for this pot, right now. a wet artists brush, #6 is my choice, picks up some red iron oxide from a container and i add an amount of water judging by the color swirling around in a white cup. if it looks to pale, i add more RIO. if it is too dark, i add water. unless you plan to use exactly the same proportions many times, measuring is not necessary. you certainly can measure to repeat exactly, that is what is meant when you see the advice you will see here often "test, test, test".

spot on. denice! IFa beginner has found this forum, they have at least found a lot of information that is in the very first section. start with the glossary. learn the proper terms for what you want to ask about. learning to read starts with the alphabet, the glossary has that alphabet for you. get some old books, the 70s was a time publishers did a good job with what became textbooks. yes, things they made might not be what you want to make but the basics is what you need and that is covered. there are posts on here about " What is on your bookshelf?" if you can find that original question, you will have quite a good list to start with. see how things are DONE! ignore the final results that would be something you would never make.. remember you are learning a skill. do you think those fabulous figure skaters started out throwing or being thrown many feet in the air without seeing a description of how it is done? and do not ever mistake cone 06 for cone 6!!! now, go to the glossary and look up what a cone is.

min, would the recipe you gave me work on his clay? it has the quality he is searching for. i cannot determine the cone number he is firing to. there is the term earthenware temps but it is not clear to me if the clay is an earthenware or stoneware.

are these the aluminum ones with only 2 speeds and the wheel sits inside a rounded teardrop shape? photos will help the tech folks to give you the right advice.

bauhaus, what color is your clay? if it is white, why not try a slip made from your clay body and a colorant? some are oxides or carbonates. there are other blended colorants available. i think in the uk they might be called pigments, in US they are called stains. the reason i suggest silp instead of underglaze is the very high cost of underglazes at both potclays and scarva. i am math illiterate but if your supplier sells you a tiny amount of colored underglaze for almost twenty pounds, you might ask about buying colorants separately. that way, you can color slips, glazes and washes without having to buy a container of each product. there are excellent books available with plenty of photos and recipes for you to try. it has been several years but i remember the book with Bible in it's title has an error in it with a reversal of the titles for cone numbers. a major error in my estimation. you will have to be the teacher in learning how to design, fire and glaze your work.. you might look for what we call a Paint Your Own Pottery shop where for a small investment in a white earthenware figurine, (pick something you can put lots of different colors on) and try out the store's supply of underglazes. they will fire it for you and glaze it with a clear glaze to show the colors which will then be glossy and not flat as you have painted them. this experience will show you a lot about using colors even if it is only earthenware that is fired much cooler than your stoneware. ask questions while you work and the first of these will be "are you the person in charge of the kilns?" if yes, ask if it would be convenient to discuss firing right now or maybe make an appointment for a time to do so. start a notebook right there.

what is the source of your "kiln manual"? could you define your understanding of the word "overglaze"? it has a specific meaning and it appears you may have used something other than glaze. your chalky feel tells me that whatever you used for the 3 coats was not the correct glaze. there is a glossary here on the forum. after checking the definitions that you need to know, you might look at an answer to a kiln firing question in studio operations and making work, named accidentally started manual kiln on high not low. it is not too long to read and will help you out. there are experts in determining how to fix a problem but stating the manufacturer name of the kiln, the label on you clay and whatever is on the "overglaze" container will help.

add thickness when you reply, please. they look very thick to me and the weight of the sprig and enormous handle does not help.