oldlady

YES! YES!  THAT IS IT!  mine was a bright blue 3 speed ladies bike without that horizontal bar.  too bad the photo does not have a totally light background.   the 1956 or 7 original was $49.00 and it was a fortune for me.  i rode it all over the city and over the bridge and all the way to the riding stables at the far end of belle isle park.   spent my whole allowance, $2, on one hour of riding a pinto who would leave the trail and jump a big log.  heaven............
 
thank you, hulk.

Congratulations on going out with a splash (literally)! 

Well my local markets are keeping me busy (to busy really) and out of state shows or any show out of my county makes no sense anymore. Also I'm getting up in years and am getting tired of the driving as well.
In two weeks will be my last Anacortes art show. I have been doing this one since early 90s so its been a long haul. Its my best show by far but money is not everything.I love doing the show as its easy for me setup wise  and take down-double booth at main intersection in the middle of street and show. No hassles . Great customers really my favorites and to top it off I get to dive puget sound taking under water photos after the show for days.. I do need help to do this show as it averages for 3 days about 750 customers. My diver friend is also ready to give it up.
I'll miss the show but I will get back my  early summer  for more non ceramic working-like fishing and diving .
I have been in high production for some time now so as to do the show very well.
Looking forward to it but at the same time its the last time. Going to stop and visit a studio from another potter on this board in Portland on my 11 hour hour first drive day to Olympia Wa. Day two is only a 1/2 day drive and ferry ride.
I have done art shows for well  over 4 deacades now and they are coming to an end.

I find setters helpful to reduce the number of kiln shelves I need to use if I have a few platters to fire and not a lot of shallow pots to fill the area around them on a regular shelf. Stack of 3 or 4 setters on the bottom kiln shelf with tall pots next to them then continue loading the kiln as usual.

Setter is a name for types of kiln furniture which offer some protection against slumping/distortion.
https://www.earthwaterfire.com/products/setters/
Ceramic Setters are special items of kiln furniture which, in the ceramic tableware industry, are shaped (generally on their upper surface) to conform with the undersurface of plates and dishes and which serve to support ware and maintain its shape in the kiln during


 
Setters are especially important when firing bone china.
https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/pottery-making-illustrated/pottery-making-illustrated-article/Tempting-Transparency#
In cases where the bisque firing is much higher than the glaze firing, as is normally when working with the case with bone china (between 2246–2300°F (1230–1260°C)), it’s essential that the clay ware receives the maximum support during the firing process, particularly as most of the movement occurs when the kiln reaches its highest temperature. Due to the high distortion factor encountered with bone china, if the shape is to be controlled, any open form requires a setter of some kind.
If the form is circular at the top, it can be placed upside-down on a refractory clay ring, or setter, with an alumina wash to prevent sticking in the firing.
If the form is irregular at the top edge an individual setter needs to be made. In simple terms, this is an item that resembles a lid and is cast separately (the preferred making method for bone china). Its function is to contain the top edge, or rim, of a form during firing (figure 10) and is discarded afterward. If the piece has been successfully fired with no distortion, the ware can be glazed and fired at a lower temperature of 1832–1976°F (1000–1080°C), if necessary.

 

Liz, just want to know something about your slow drying.   if i have understood the situation with regard to handles and additions, the purpose of covering the final piece is to allow the water content in each part to equalize so the  whole cup can dry without cracking.
if that is true, why do you slow down the entire process by keeping finished work under cover for weeks?  surely a day or even two days is enough to equalize the moisture content.  what is the point of covering so long?

Liz, just want to know something about your slow drying.   if i have understood the situation with regard to handles and additions, the purpose of covering the final piece is to allow the water content in each part to equalize so the  whole cup can dry without cracking.
if that is true, why do you slow down the entire process by keeping finished work under cover for weeks?  surely a day or even two days is enough to equalize the moisture content.  what is the point of covering so long?

Thanks, @oldlady! 
Noted - I'll check myself and be more careful with my word choices in the future.  Just because I'm new to pottery doesn't make things that have been around for 50 years "old".  
And I have to agree with you on the Brent vs Pacifica!  We've got Brents, Pacificas, Thomas Stuarts, and a couple kick wheels at the studio where I take classes, and my choice is the Pacifica  in the corner for the exact reason you chose yours!  It's quiet!  I love hearing stories like yours of these wheels that take lickings and just keep ticking!  I'm impressed.  
And, I love my Brent wheel for so many reasons.  That it was free, the generosity it represents, that it's all original and still smooth and working so well, and that it's mine and I can use it whenever I want!  I feel extremely lucky and fortunate to have it! 
I appreciate your opinion!  And thanks for the warm welcome!  
Rolf

thanks, i see how the hole in the side of the table and the diameter of the pipe you are using makes a difference, too.   could not imagine how a single nail would hold it firmly enough for you to work on it.  good idea.  
you have experienced the use of a sock and see how easy it is to remove an item from the sock covered form.  a single nylon stocking or piece of panty hose allows quick removal of an interior bowl when making slab dishware.

I read this post the other day and thought I should just let my thoughts germinate for a few days. Like Callie says it's not really unbeleafable, root of the issue is having a seed land on your slip and left alone for a thyme and given a leaf of faith it will sprout. I better stop now before I'm blamed for disturbing the peas. 

kswan, there is a trick to stirring things without making a mess.  it is true that if you use a 10 inch long paint stirring stick with plastic blades and remove it from a 6 inch container while it is still spinning, you can spread wet stuff all over the room.  the secret is to stir only while the container is sitting inside a tall paper bag, bucket or box to catch the overspray.  pushing a just damp sponge down the central stick while it is running slowly sends excess material down into the blade area.  a quick spin sends it flying into the original container, bag, bucket  or box.  

the discussion on kiln wash is neverending.   it ended for me when this recipe was given by one of the most experienced potters here.  i applied it then, years ago, and have not had any flaking or other problems.  it just stays there, quietly doing its job.   i do not seem to spill glaze on shelves so i do not have to clean them often.   years ago.  i mostly use it on new shelves.
one of the ingredients is calcined EPK.   to calcine the EPK, just fire a bowl full, i think to just bisque temperature.  once mixed with water, the wash stays wet if in a tight container.  if it dries out, just add some water to a consistency that allows application by small roller.  you can buy the two ingredients at any supply store if there are any in your area of the USA
 
recipe for kiln wash
50% alumina hydrate
25%  Edgar Plastic Kaolin   EPK
25% calcined Edgar Plastic Kaolin  EPK
 
 
 

i decided years ago to become the top part of a jigger and jolly "machine".  i like making bowls and a friend made me a stack of 6 sizes of walnut discs after watching me use a half inch thick plastic disc to make a bowl.  an expert in using a lathe, he used a block of walnut and thinned the edges of each of the 6 sizes of rib to be perfect for the purpose.
the technique is to open and shape a flowerpot  with a thick bottom.  when it becomes about 3 or so inches high, i insert one of the smaller discs, usually the 5 inch one, absolutely straight down in the center of the spinning pot.   the disc forces the clay into a perfectly round interior, pushing down the walls and thickening the wall area close  to the wheelhead.   i push it down until i am sure it is just thick enough in the center to become the floor of the foot ring. 
pulling up the walls is then fairly easy, the clay has been made more plastic than it was when i started and travels up the outside of the bowl neatly.  any throwing rings are on the outside and can be removed with a thin stainless rib.  a final downward push corrects any tiny wobble and the pot is not only finished but almost dry.  the only trimming is the foot ring itself and that is fun for me.  that smooth outside allows me to almost immediately apply colored slip to be carved into my favorite designs.
why waste time on throwing and permanently bending my old fingers when the fun is in the decorating?

looks like a good idea.  was stymied for a minute before i noticed the first photo was in the last position just the way album photos are backward.   so the white mug is grooved and you place the handle parallel to the grooves.  would like to see a short video on your technique.  i hate doing handles.
read some good stuff this am about "souring" the clay for handles before attaching them.    hamer & hamer's big book.

looks like a good idea.  was stymied for a minute before i noticed the first photo was in the last position just the way album photos are backward.   so the white mug is grooved and you place the handle parallel to the grooves.  would like to see a short video on your technique.  i hate doing handles.
read some good stuff this am about "souring" the clay for handles before attaching them.    hamer & hamer's big book.

just saw this for the first time.  kristinanoel,  i have been using silica sand under my stuff for many years.  i use whole shelves and pour some, maybe a cup, not a mug full in the center.  this is not inside the kiln yet.   i then use a tool with teeth, like a tile setter would to spread the sand evenly across the kiln washed shelf.  i do not go as far as the edge of the shelf, maybe 3 inches inside the edge.  i have also used medium sized grog the same way.  the results are just a little different.
silica sand will eventually stick and stay where it is put.  but, because it is so lightweight, it tends to float in the air during the first firing and might land on something i have on a different shelf.  not good.  so i switched to medium grog.  maybe larger grog is better, i happened to have the medium at hand.  it does not move in the first or any firings afterward.  i am careful to stay at least 3 inches from the edge of the full sized shelf so that when i put the shelf into the kiln, grog does not roll off the edge onto whatever is below.  it tilts as it goes past the thermocouples but i control the tilt to keep the grog from rolling off.
since i make many large, flat pieces, i fire the grog laden shelves often without changing the grog,  sometimes it moves as i put things in and take them out of the kiln.  i refresh the area with a dry foam sponge sweeping in from the edges and run the toothed tool across the center again.    never inside or on the edge of the kiln, that is asking for stuff to be swept into the element grooves.
hope this helps.

notice the very uneven application that leaves the rims without whatever the white stuff is and very close to bare clay in some areas.   
they are being fired to cone 10 or so?  is it a flashing slip, not a glaze?  is there a different definition in her language that she is using the word glaze but means something we would have a different word for?
is she somehow using reduction in that kiln?   notice the elements, how did they get that way?

kswan, there is a trick to stirring things without making a mess.  it is true that if you use a 10 inch long paint stirring stick with plastic blades and remove it from a 6 inch container while it is still spinning, you can spread wet stuff all over the room.  the secret is to stir only while the container is sitting inside a tall paper bag, bucket or box to catch the overspray.  pushing a just damp sponge down the central stick while it is running slowly sends excess material down into the blade area.  a quick spin sends it flying into the original container, bag, bucket  or box.  

kswan, there is a trick to stirring things without making a mess.  it is true that if you use a 10 inch long paint stirring stick with plastic blades and remove it from a 6 inch container while it is still spinning, you can spread wet stuff all over the room.  the secret is to stir only while the container is sitting inside a tall paper bag, bucket or box to catch the overspray.  pushing a just damp sponge down the central stick while it is running slowly sends excess material down into the blade area.  a quick spin sends it flying into the original container, bag, bucket  or box.  

was wondering what you were doing.  kind of quiet for some time, now i see why.   congrats on building all this just from your idea of how you want to live and work.  very nice studio space, too.   you will discover that being happy is a good thing.  corp america can do without you.  keep those kilns hot!

love my Ohaus triple beam.   tried a digital but could not see the numbers under the container holding ingredientd.    watched Mea's video on mixing glazes and realized i could do that much faster with my Ohaus.    btw, if you need to add or subtract a tiny amount, the kemper tool with a flat arrowhead at one end and a curved point at the other is great for just lifting a tiny amount with the curve.

since you appear to have spent a lot of time doing it one way, would it be worth a trip to the manufacturer or to pay for one of their experts to fly to you and get a hands on lesson?

love my Ohaus triple beam.   tried a digital but could not see the numbers under the container holding ingredientd.    watched Mea's video on mixing glazes and realized i could do that much faster with my Ohaus.    btw, if you need to add or subtract a tiny amount, the kemper tool with a flat arrowhead at one end and a curved point at the other is great for just lifting a tiny amount with the curve.

tiny question.  kristinanoel, you mentioned masonite bats.  are you talking about 1/4 inch thick Duron  bats or actual masonite  about 1/8 inch thick and with the bumpy back?    the bats sold in the supplier's stores that i visit use Duron, a double sided smooth surface that is 1/4 inch thick. 
i never wire anything off my Duron bats, the pieces pop off when they are dry enough, usually overnight.  i throw as dry as possible, never leaving dampness inside any pot.  they pop off because i have trimmed the outside of the foot ring while the pot is still on the wheel.  no raggedy edges sticking down all around the pot.  

Speaking of Books there is one being made now that is all about the place I learned the most in Ceramics. I wrote a piece for that books which is in the editing stages now.
It was called the Laundry 
In the 50's-60s it was a commercial Laundry. In the late 60s it was bought by the Humboldt State University and turned into a pot shop. It has floor drains (wood covered cement troughs that drain out). They added a kiln room off the back. The builing is one huge barrel arch roof. A really great pottery setup for teaching.
Back then my mentor Reese Bullen  (who started the Art Dept there) hired a new instructor to help him teach ceramics from Alfreds as a recent gradute Lou Marak -it was 1969. I came a few years later to that program.
They hired another Alfred grad the year I came as well  (1972). It was the heyday of ceramics for this school. It was after the war and it was ahuge open learningtyransition time in ceramics-from Volkus to Arneson clay was expanding. Thes e recenty Alfreds guys where on fire from leaning from the greats who taught and wrote at Alfreds. Rhodes and the like passed what they knew down to my teachers who passed that to us. It was a solid 5 years in immersion in all things clay and kilns for me.Many a teacher and potter came out the other side of that Laundry .
In my time I learned slip casting, low fire ,high fire , kiln firing, hand building ,slab work,clay and glaze formulation just to name a few. I Worked in work study program for years as kiln and glaze room tec.( Back then tec was not used) loading and firing kilns of all types.Salt to low fire electrics-with redution cone 10 gas as the standard .
The program slowly after many deacdes switched as did many programs to  around the country  in schools to sculture and making art-mostly low fire. This slowy in my view turned the ceramics program into a lesser one than the one I was in at that time. I have heard lots of feedback on this from students over the past 30 years
Now the University recently became Cal Poly Humboldt and humanities is at the botton of the pile now. They now have funding to build in massive science expansion 3 new parking structures and you gues it the Laundry will be scraped to put in a parking lot as Joni Mitchell once said in a song. The last 10 yeared ceramics professor retires this year (JUNE) and no one is fighting this stupid mistake. For me the university long ago lost the community support as they do not care about that.
Two of the old ceramic teachers is compiling this book on 50 years of the Laundry-its history and students. I am just one of those and one of the few that choose the production pottery route over teaching and also stayed local and am still producing . In my. time we once had over 20 full timers in this small area making funtional wares now its me. Last man standing full time. The laundry is a special place for me in my brain  as well as the people who shared what they knew way back in the early 70s with me. When folks  are buying and using my pottery they really are using pottery that came from my years at the Laundry and those who taught there at that time.
Ps this book is being complied and underwritten by a gallery In Davis Ca called the John Natsoulas Gallery. John is footing the bill
He has a press at gallery and has had a 30 year ceramic realationship with HSU ceramics and did a book on the UC Davis ceramics lab already
its a great thing he is doing for our local clay history-if you are ever in Davis Ca stop by that gallery its worth the trip-just look for the 15 foot  high ceramic cat you walk to enter the gallery. You cannot miss it.
https://www.natsoulas.com