oldlady

babs, i want one of those heated jackets!!   are they only sold in timbuktoo?   can you walk around or are they plugged in to the wall?
my studio has two huge radiators and the oil fired boiler in the back corner.  one radiator is next to the french doors and the other is a taller one in the opposite corner.  it has been too cold and i have not felt well enough to work out there except for a few small things.   yesterday the sun was out all day, i had forgotton what sunshine can do to perk me up.   the bay window makes it a pleasure to do small hand work like sifting through all the collected papers and business cards of potters i meet.  i think i filled an outside trash can with useless stuff.   i had no idea how many brushes i have until i sorted them out.   and i do not paint!
i turned up the thermostat in the studio to 68 and with the sunshine, it was a comfortable place to work.   cleaned most of the work table down to the tyvek surface and finished it today.   there are so many things in that space that i brought up when i sold the florida place.   things seem to multiply in the corners when i am not looking.  once the space is cleaned up, the floor washed and the bottles of test glazes are disposed of, i plan to make pots.  lots of pots.    hope the sun will shine again, i missed it for almost 2 weeks recently.
it is good to have 2 thermostats for 2 zones, the house can stay just a little warm while i work and the studio goes down to 64 when the sun goes down.

babs, i want one of those heated jackets!!   are they only sold in timbuktoo?   can you walk around or are they plugged in to the wall?
my studio has two huge radiators and the oil fired boiler in the back corner.  one radiator is next to the french doors and the other is a taller one in the opposite corner.  it has been too cold and i have not felt well enough to work out there except for a few small things.   yesterday the sun was out all day, i had forgotton what sunshine can do to perk me up.   the bay window makes it a pleasure to do small hand work like sifting through all the collected papers and business cards of potters i meet.  i think i filled an outside trash can with useless stuff.   i had no idea how many brushes i have until i sorted them out.   and i do not paint!
i turned up the thermostat in the studio to 68 and with the sunshine, it was a comfortable place to work.   cleaned most of the work table down to the tyvek surface and finished it today.   there are so many things in that space that i brought up when i sold the florida place.   things seem to multiply in the corners when i am not looking.  once the space is cleaned up, the floor washed and the bottles of test glazes are disposed of, i plan to make pots.  lots of pots.    hope the sun will shine again, i missed it for almost 2 weeks recently.
it is good to have 2 thermostats for 2 zones, the house can stay just a little warm while i work and the studio goes down to 64 when the sun goes down.

babs, i want one of those heated jackets!!   are they only sold in timbuktoo?   can you walk around or are they plugged in to the wall?
my studio has two huge radiators and the oil fired boiler in the back corner.  one radiator is next to the french doors and the other is a taller one in the opposite corner.  it has been too cold and i have not felt well enough to work out there except for a few small things.   yesterday the sun was out all day, i had forgotton what sunshine can do to perk me up.   the bay window makes it a pleasure to do small hand work like sifting through all the collected papers and business cards of potters i meet.  i think i filled an outside trash can with useless stuff.   i had no idea how many brushes i have until i sorted them out.   and i do not paint!
i turned up the thermostat in the studio to 68 and with the sunshine, it was a comfortable place to work.   cleaned most of the work table down to the tyvek surface and finished it today.   there are so many things in that space that i brought up when i sold the florida place.   things seem to multiply in the corners when i am not looking.  once the space is cleaned up, the floor washed and the bottles of test glazes are disposed of, i plan to make pots.  lots of pots.    hope the sun will shine again, i missed it for almost 2 weeks recently.
it is good to have 2 thermostats for 2 zones, the house can stay just a little warm while i work and the studio goes down to 64 when the sun goes down.

that photo looks just like the shelves that came with an older kiln given to me for my florida studio.   the huge chunks broke off very thick and there was nothing i could do to save the shelves.   i took one to a machine shop that could grind them but the owner said there was no way to do it.     both sides were the same and he showed me that the huge flakes were half of the shelf itself, not kiln wash.

@Jay Decker, Studio Potter magazine link to his article "Down the Spinal Canal" here.  If that link doesn't work for you then try this one  to see the article. Glicks article is towards the end of the issue. You can either do a paid option or a free one to read it. 
Welcome to the forum.

thanks, rae.   it never occurred to me that dookie would put a lot of  really wet pots in the oven and turn it on.   
dookie, i meant that you can FINISH drying pots so they are ready for the kiln sooner than just drying on your work top.   oven drying is NOT for just made work.

I already commented, but later the topic got me thnking about whether I did have a piece I regret having been sold. I remembered a sentimental favorite from when I was in art school. Gas-fired terra cotta, no glaze.  I made this for my parents--representing my maternal grandmother who would sit on her porch to  "snap beans" for dinner. It was sold when my last parent died and everything was being licquidated. I was in a bad place at the time and couldn't deal with wanting anything, or driving south for 5 hours to get anything, and so it is gone. But I found a photo!! 

locosan, very nice design with appropriate sizing of the scallops.   to prevent the cracks forming, do not cut the scallop low point with a knife alone.  when you get to that area, make a curve not a point and then use a dowel, pencil or something of the right diameter to press the lowest point straight down.   the rounded edge becomes thicker and stronger with that compression and is much less likely to break.
edit   the bottom sharp angle can be eliminated by cutting it into a round shape with a metal tube, something like a 3/8 inch copper water line for a refrigerator  ice maker or one of the round tube cutters with a handle sold for making holes in pots.  

is there a reason you want to make everything so thick?   i cannot imagine anyone wanting to use something so heavy.   a lot of beginner potters learned that they HAD to make wheel pieces 1/4 inch thick.   i guess that was ok as a complete beginner but that is nonsense after learning the skill of handling the shape on the wheel.   look at fine china in a store or your china cabinet.  quarter of an inch?   i don't think so.  even terra cotta is not usually so thick.   
many people use sand or fine grog  under flat pieces to allow the clay to shrink as it fires as bill says above.   if your shelves are perfectly flat that is probably all you need with a thinner plate.   if your shelves are not flat, level them off with a metal yardstick and fine grog.   flat pots do not stay flat on a warped shelf.   be careful not to go too close to the edge of a shelf,  some might fall onto a shelf below.   
your firing schedule seems very short to me, especially for some very heavy work.   are you aiming for a short firing period?  can you say why?    what is a "collar" ?   that is a new term for me. 

all of the above works for the folks who use those methods.  they may be exactly what you need,  dookie.   i just want to make a comment on the fear of using an oven with heat on greenware.
there seems to be an opinion that heat in an oven is detrimental.   heat is only changing the state of the clay from wet, or moist, or damp or whatever stage it is in to drier.  and warmer for awhile.   that does not mean it cannot be returned to damp, moist or even wetter than moist.    i have been using the oven in some cases for years with no bad effects.  
potters should know their clay.   its qualities and its limits.   some clay likes to be thrown but will fight being made into a slab and bent to a shape.   others are the opposite.  it is your job to seek its limits.    the very easiest thing to learn is how does it react to water.   it will not hurt the potter to simply dry out a piece of clay and test it.  a piece about the size of a business card allows a lot of tests.   totally dry it.    use a cup of water and dip the short end in deep enough for half an inch of wet to show on the clay.  pull it out fairly fast.   look at the surface to see if it still shines or not.   remember that.    now, scrape the wet area with a sharp tool to see how deeply wet that part is.   probably not very deep.   remember that.   try the opposite end of the clay and dip it longer.   remember that.   scrape it and see how much more the wet has grown.   remember that.  dip the alternate end in long enough to make it separate from the original shape.   remember that as too much.  anything before destruction can be reversed with heat or time.   just try it!
by now, you might have realized that it does take a LOT of water entering a totally dry piece of clay to destroy the original piece.    so many folks think just getting something wet will kill their piece and they might be surprised to learn that was just fear and they need not believe it anymore.    i know a potter who thinks if she is interrupted while working, she has to start again from the beginning.  to her, there is just a short window to have the "flow" of making a piece work.    nonsense?
 

fawn, there is something you can do to make your slab roller more useful.   look at my album showing a northstar, (i think) in the series on the florida studio.  there are 2 shots showing the extension on the slab roller to provide table space, something very important in a small studio.   to see it, go to my avatar and see a choice for Profile. click that and go to albums.   look for a title re florida studio and see the 2 pics showing the extended tabletop on one side of the machine.   there is another showing it in use in the album   2017 long lovebirds........   
if you notice the sharpie lines on the knurled roller, that was for a particular size slab width for cracker trays, one of my best sellers.   i am fortunate to have a 24 inch bailey here in wv though the one in the photos in florida is now gone.  i was also 24 inch.   it is about as large as i would want to handle,   30 inches seems a little big for me.

locosan, very nice design with appropriate sizing of the scallops.   to prevent the cracks forming, do not cut the scallop low point with a knife alone.  when you get to that area, make a curve not a point and then use a dowel, pencil or something of the right diameter to press the lowest point straight down.   the rounded edge becomes thicker and stronger with that compression and is much less likely to break.
edit   the bottom sharp angle can be eliminated by cutting it into a round shape with a metal tube, something like a 3/8 inch copper water line for a refrigerator  ice maker or one of the round tube cutters with a handle sold for making holes in pots.  

i thought the huge, black platter with a pink swirl would be my most visible piece at a show back in the 90s.   visibility counts in a 2 day show where there are many crafts available for the buyers. 
when i set it up on the top shelf, i turned around to get another pot and saw a man about 50 feet away look at it and begin to walk fast toward me.   he bought it before i had a chance for a photo.  fortunately, he set the tone for that event and i sold most of my work.

i thought the huge, black platter with a pink swirl would be my most visible piece at a show back in the 90s.   visibility counts in a 2 day show where there are many crafts available for the buyers. 
when i set it up on the top shelf, i turned around to get another pot and saw a man about 50 feet away look at it and begin to walk fast toward me.   he bought it before i had a chance for a photo.  fortunately, he set the tone for that event and i sold most of my work.

i thought the huge, black platter with a pink swirl would be my most visible piece at a show back in the 90s.   visibility counts in a 2 day show where there are many crafts available for the buyers. 
when i set it up on the top shelf, i turned around to get another pot and saw a man about 50 feet away look at it and begin to walk fast toward me.   he bought it before i had a chance for a photo.  fortunately, he set the tone for that event and i sold most of my work.

i thought the huge, black platter with a pink swirl would be my most visible piece at a show back in the 90s.   visibility counts in a 2 day show where there are many crafts available for the buyers. 
when i set it up on the top shelf, i turned around to get another pot and saw a man about 50 feet away look at it and begin to walk fast toward me.   he bought it before i had a chance for a photo.  fortunately, he set the tone for that event and i sold most of my work.

i thought the huge, black platter with a pink swirl would be my most visible piece at a show back in the 90s.   visibility counts in a 2 day show where there are many crafts available for the buyers. 
when i set it up on the top shelf, i turned around to get another pot and saw a man about 50 feet away look at it and begin to walk fast toward me.   he bought it before i had a chance for a photo.  fortunately, he set the tone for that event and i sold most of my work.

is there a reason you want to make everything so thick?   i cannot imagine anyone wanting to use something so heavy.   a lot of beginner potters learned that they HAD to make wheel pieces 1/4 inch thick.   i guess that was ok as a complete beginner but that is nonsense after learning the skill of handling the shape on the wheel.   look at fine china in a store or your china cabinet.  quarter of an inch?   i don't think so.  even terra cotta is not usually so thick.   
many people use sand or fine grog  under flat pieces to allow the clay to shrink as it fires as bill says above.   if your shelves are perfectly flat that is probably all you need with a thinner plate.   if your shelves are not flat, level them off with a metal yardstick and fine grog.   flat pots do not stay flat on a warped shelf.   be careful not to go too close to the edge of a shelf,  some might fall onto a shelf below.   
your firing schedule seems very short to me, especially for some very heavy work.   are you aiming for a short firing period?  can you say why?    what is a "collar" ?   that is a new term for me. 

the problem i had was not opening at the very center.  i wound up with a nice, round pot that had a thin section somewhere. it could only be seen from above and  directly at the center of the wheel.   i worked at making sure i marked the absolute center when i had finished attaching the ball to the bat using the methods above, round the bottom, roll it just enough to make sure it was tapered and not flat as i put it down.   when i centered with both hands acting like steel  rods attached to my body, i finished by not flattening the top but putting a slight point at the center.   
at that point, i knew where the opening had to start and i did it with a pointed wooden tool.   just enough to get a finger inside so i could push straight down and start the first pull.  sounds complicated but it is not and it is no longer necessary to open with a stick.

Talk to contractors in your area about what kinds of tiles they install outdoors. They may have recommendations for materials and installation.

bill van gilder sends out a weekly email showing how to do something.  today it is about using slabs for drinking vessels.  he rolls a textured slab over a cardboard tube and rolls it bigger.  the technique is a good one, just a 5 minute video with a lot of info in it.

welcome to the forum.   to get the best answer, giving more info would help.  what materials do you use, how the work is made, size, etc.  photos are always helpful.  this is a great group and someone will know just what you need.

upholstery fabric is rolled onto cardboard tubes.   very long pieces can be cut so you can make a number of the same size mugs at the same time.  do six and remove the tubes in the same order as they were used.  work quickly tp  avoid shrinking over the form,  cardboard can soften as it becomes moist.

that previous life went by at 100 miles and hour, you were too busy to notice all the things you do now as separate from the old daily rat race.   now you have a few more minutes to notice that you still have to work.  the new work is called "chores" and are with us forever.
we all need time to look around at how beautiful life can be if we just sit down and breathe once in a while.

it appears from his location that brandon may be in the UK.