oldlady

yes, and that is all i am saying.

one other thing to check is the pins themselves. i had a problem years ago because the hole in the wheelhead was just a little bigger than the shaft of the bat pin. i used a new bat to find the correct spacing and just unscrewed the bat pin enough to slide it over to the correct place. tightened it up HARD and have never had another problem with it.

i have hot and cold water in west va with a normal size laundry tub. it had a gleco trap but when the plumber moved the sink he did not connect it. so i use a bucket inside to catch most of the clay residue. this is connected to a septic tank so i know someday i will have to have it drained. being there only 7 months a year and using minimum water, i have had no problems. i also had it raised to a comfortable level so i do not hurt my back leaning over it. in florida, the sink is a deep one that drains to a barrel outside. i still use a bucket for the first rinse. that water is only cold but i have an electric tea kettle right next to the sink. it is also higher than normal. just a note for those of you considering a sink but have little room, the average size laundry tub is a lot bigger than the small one i have in my tiny trailer home in florida. it came from a mobile home supply company and is only 18 inches wide. it is also set higher than the standard legs that come with these sinks. your sink, make it comfortable for your height.

mark, please mail me a bucket of your energy. i have run out and need some.

thanks, min. sometimes reading the first answer is more confusing than the original question. my suggestion is that if you want to answer a question, read it at least twice so the intent of the person can be determined. none of us is perfect but if the reader looks at EVERYTHING, the time, the language, the vocabulary, the answer will probably be more appropriate. someone who asks a question at what would be your 3 in the morning might not live in your part of the world or speak your language.

nice ring, mine are a little sloppy but similar. i think you said what clay you use, neil, but i cannot remember. is it cone 6 or a high fire porcelain? it is beautifully white.

hulk, may i suggest a simple replacement for the cutting wire?? i have always hated the ones with wooden toggle handles because they are too long and i have never gotten one out of its package without crimping it. years ago i got some leader wires from walmart's fishing gear section. i think at that time there were 6 of various sizes for about $1. they have ends that fit on a key ring. one without keys, of course. the round rings are sold lots of places, walmart wants too much for the ones in the automotive section. hardware stores are better value. i can use the longer ones but find i really like the 9 inch size and the 12 inch one is perfect for slicing slabs from a new bag of clay. AND THEY DO NOT TANGLE UP!

both big "tools" in my studio are actually work stations. the slab roller is mounted on a heavy solid cord wooden door on top of a table built for the purpose. i hang many tools off the front of it in a line. i have marked the location of those tools with a sharpie dot so i can reach down without looking and get the tool i want. i return it immediately to the same place so i am free to use the slab roller as an assembly table. the wheel is surrounded by a table and has tools hanging from nails on left and right. these also are returned to their proper location after use so i can get that tool again without searching through a pile of discarded, dirty tools all over the table top. the rest of my studio might have piles of assorted things all over but those work areas are kept very clean. those piles contain very important items i might use. (in other words, my hoard.) two small boxes screwed to the slab roller are for the tiny crumbs that would otherwise stick to the bottom of the fabulously beautiful, extremely expensive things i make. (HAH!) those crumbs are otherwise a darn nuisance. i have an album that shows all this.

liam, i use a bowl much like yours but with a handle much like callie's. it is my second favorite bowl and is chosen often. maybe a handle would help bowl sales?

rolling bakers' racks with drywall shelves. self explanatory. too bad there aren't very many old refrigerators with wire racks in them. i have about 18 and have not seen any more of them for years. they are wonderfully useful for carrying pots after hot waxing and glazing to the kiln. cannot use when the work is fired because the metal marks the foot. or foots?

no, for your own integrity. if you have gone to all the trouble to learn everything you have learned, bought all those materials, spent all that time perfecting your skills, you deserve much more than the paltry $5 you are asking for your work.

up in smoke, the ocarina maker who had to show everyone how it worked.

liam, do not know what your goal is but if you want a recipe for a simple Luster glaze, try this. 20 g each of frit 3134, dolomite, spodumene, ball clay and silica. the one i have is written for green so add copper carb 6 and zircopax 10. really good looking green but it flattens out texture. makes lots of colors also.

Ooooooohhhhhh........................................... feel your pain.........

did not know you could do that, min! they look good and the bumpy salt effect is still there.

callie, i use the plastic grocery store bags with the handles cut off. put a pot into the bottom of the bag, fold the sides over the top and if necessary, cover that bag with one over the top. just found a double bagged bowl from last fall. it was perfect to trim. (student never came back before i left for the winter.)

off topic but i WANT that sofa!

if i am still around in 5 years, i will be 83. i have a small pension and social security. the control of neither is entirely in my hands so the future is very hard to see clearly. i would like to put a small apartment upstairs over my studio to turn into an Airbnb. i can hope to do that but need cash to build it. maybe i can get on wheel of fortune and luck out. that's the only way i see to get the $50, 000 to do it. so, if i am still around, i hope i can still enjoy the sunshine every time i see it and the beauty of the natural world as well as making useful things in clay.

shawnhar, did you do the colored ones in the lower photo? if so, how?