oldlady

lots of questions about this particular kiln. the word automatic has a totally different meaning today. back then it meant "this kiln has an automatic shut off device called a kiln sitter, like a baby sitter. you do not have to watch the heat color any more to know when to turn it off, it turns off by itself automatically." just follow any kiln manual, they are basically the same.

in case anyone wants to try bab's suggestion about carpet, be sure to use something from the thin but strong commercial stuff. you do not even need wax if you do foot rings on the wet carpet, just slide the whole piece across the carpet, the excess glaze will wash off instantly. keep it pretty clean, especially if the glaze is a dark one.

gosh, i just read all these posts and mine again. realized that what i said did not include this line "i do find flaws, maybe one in two or three firings" those are the ones i was talking about. the original post sounded like they happen every day. not so.

contact similar businesses in other cities to ask what you need to know. other cities so you do not irritate the competition where you live. those businesses had the same questions you do so they should be helpful. first ask if you can make an appointment to speak to them by phone at their convenience. plan your questions in advance and have a space to write an answer so you can refer to the replies later.

i have sold things with very minimum flaws, reducing the price if it is one of several standard shapes and sizes. there is always a label next to the flaw with an arrow pointing out a less than half inch crack that does not go through or a small blister that did not heal if it is not in a critical area. if it is a $22 butter dish and has anything i can see, it gets a flaw notice and a price of $19. they always go. anything worse meets mr hammer or goes into my kitchen.

congrats on getting a kiln,angela. you will need a stand for the kiln. is there a sheet of thin metal on the bottom? there may not be. ask neil what size stand you need and where to get something that fits.

to catch the spinning glaze Pres and i get when using a drill to mix glaze, i use a paper bag with my smaller size test bottles. usually a one quart plastic jar that comes with hot soup from the chinese restaurant. i approached the owner and he allowed me to buy a bunch of them for 50 cents each. they have tight lids and last for many years. the very thin ones are not much good. there is no restaurant supply store for 30 miles or i would buy a sleeve of them with lids. very inexpensive.

amazing!

we differ in the fact that jack made his pots very wet and i do not at all.

callie, they are woven, not leather.

we have some kiln experts here but they would like to see photos of the kiln and thermocouples and anything else that might be printed on the label. i have never heard of that brand name and wonder if anyone else has. the more info you give, the better the answer.

our guild holiday show was last weekend, the saturday and sunday after thanksgiving. we set our stuff up early on saturday instead of friday as in the past. started at 7, all of a sudden there were strangers all over the place. i asked another potter where they came from and she said it is 10:15. doors opened to the public at 10. i left through a crowd. got down the road a little way and realized my wallet was under the table so i returned. crowd at the front door, i went to the side and a customer let me in after a dozen of them pointed to the front door. the crowd was thick and i had to squeeze through . my purse was 10 feet away and i must have answered 10 questions before i reached it. our customers mostly know what they see and what they want. if not, they know that if they ask they will get a full discussion if they like. and yet, there was some young girl who looked at my display while her mother asked a question. the daughter's eyes opened at some point and she said "you made all this by yourself?" i want to think she just realized she could do stuff on her own and her mother would let her.

you might look for a totally different job, starting today. and report the business to whatever health organization controls such places. you do not want the next person to be affected by this ridiculously wrong ignorance. the employers need to be stopped.

so glad it will work! my problem with that small space for lifting is that when i empty the kiln, i need the gloves that came with my kiln. i think they are kevlar? anyway, they make my fingers so fat that only the tips can reach under the shelf and lift it to the edge of the kiln. rest a second or so, grab the shelf properly and pivot it into the stack of shelves. yes, lee, i really would like advancers or some other brand of the same thing. at 82 i am not sure i will be working for many years to come and their cost would not be an investment, just a price. kswan, glad to know you cut the shelves you have easily. one of these days when the 6 months of ignored housework is done, i will find the grinder and whatever disc cuts shelves. power tools are wonderfully fast and i have only drilled into the palm of my hand once, years ago and cannot even find the scar now.

just to be clear, if someone is going to print from newspaper PAPER, use a clean, never touched pad of paper not some printed stories already inked onto the paper by the newspaper presses. that paper is called newsprint BUT it has not been inked.

thank you peter! sorry to hear the pics are gone. i still have the originals but i guess that over time, things just get trashed. found a youtube of kim and just sat here, hungry and cold, to watch 40 minutes in which she showed how she builds her striking pieces. she mentioned several other videos in the series so i am going to search for them. it is finally time for breakfast and turning up the thermostat thank you for finding more info, ii watched the other pieces you listed, still hungry, going to eat now. thank you again, 11:40 am, breakfast or lunch?

what kind of decal are you looking for? if it is a single use, you can use underglaze to paint a picture and do it on newsprint. once the thing is dry, you just put it in place and wet the back. Kim Kirchman who teaches at st petersburg college in florida does beautiful work that way. if you look at one of my albums, the one with the red trumpet vines, i describe how she demonstrated the technique. click on my avatar and look for albums. i just checked and found that the photos are gone, no numbering and i have no idea how to fix this, it takes a computer expert.

well gang, i just finished firing the last load (actually it was also the first load since may, i think) and i found myself using 9 shelves, thick, full rounds. it helps that i put a permanent bottom shelf in at 2 inches above the kiln bottom. added a thick piece of lumber to the floor in front of the kiln. found the hardest part was controlling the lid going both up and down. it leans slightly against a metal "handicap bath bar" attached to the wall. finding space for my fingers is very difficult since the shelves were purchased for a 2 1/2 wall thickness. this kiln has 3 inch walls so i want to find a way to slice a 3-4 inch off opposite sides of each shelf for finger space. one shelf is damaged a little on one side and i use it for deep down there. anybody know how i can remove just a few inches without breaking the shelf? somewhere, i have one of those 4 inch circular grinders, will that do it? it would be great if i could take a bird's mouth bite out of 3 of them to fit around the thermocouples.

italy has such a great history of majollica ware you should be able to find something locally. do you plan to work alone or are you interested in share the work in a group studio?

caroline, please contact the supplier of the kit. ask what kind of expert is necessary to set it up correctly. i had a friend who dies in a propane accident with just an outdoor grill. "contractor" could be anybody with a license.

yes, neil, a true mess and a half. the first pottery workshop i attended was with charled counts, whose work i had admired for a very long time. he dipped the cylinders, bowls, jugs, everything in slip "buckets" that were 32 gallon trash cans by rubbermaid. kept them outside, i think, rubbermaid made the Brute then.

could this be a vein of Albany slip clay that made all those dark brown teapots and electrical thingies on electric wires we drive under?

i also use bakery buckets from the supermarket. have had no problems and they are many years old. been here for 20 years and some of them came then. i did once buy a bucket from sherwin williams paint store when they were having a $1 sale. got the last one. it is good because the bottom does not have a seam, the wall curves down and there is no corner where it is joined to a bottom. drywall buckets are 5 gallon most bakery buckets seem to be 2 1/2 gallons these days. i still have lots of them but the water here is so hard that some have crusted up beyond saving. well, i could fill them with vinegar. but $$$$$$$ why?

the only time i fired a gas kiln was when a friend broke her arm and i did it all while she was not in the studio. i staggered the shelves so the flame path made a repeat S pattern moving sideways as well as up and down. she said the results were better than she had experienced and she was going to load that way afterward. is the previous owner close enough to give you a lesson in exchange for lunch or such?

yep, the early version looked like that. pinky, where is lithgow? cannot imagine where you are if you do not say so.