Chilly

Of course plaster releases from plaster. How else would you make multi-part moulds? Using a lathe to turn plaster is easier than turning wood. Different mess, different dust, but both are hazardous to health. Take proper HSE precautions, no problem.

I always need the smallest hat. Also wear specs. I bought one of these, size small Fits well, and is comfortable.

If you have no experience of pottery and glazing, it will be a very steep learning curve, and expensive. You might be better off with transfer/stickers, or finding ready-made tiles. Some of the designer ranges might also sell custom tiles.

On year they were shaking alumina under everything before firing. I was cringing, and holding my breath trying not to breathe it in.

Do you need to fire more than once a week? If no, switch it on at 5pm on Friday.

Most commercial glazes say that. As Min says, the only way is to test. Some glazes will behave, some won't. Test, Test, Test

Does thickness of glaze affect COE? I can imagine very thick glaze would be likely to shiver off at some,point.

Does the kiln have a programmer? Or do you have to turn switches as the firing progresses? If programmer, set it to start as you leave for the day. It will be done by the time you return in the morning. I fire a kiln in a community centre, and they don't like the smell, so at midday on Wednesday it gets switched on with a 54 hour delay, and fires over the weekend when the craft room is not in use. Works fine.

ha ha. Stoke is definitely not an arid area. I think the drying room is as much about getting too much done in too short a space of time. In our own studios we can wait until the clay has firmed up, or wait a week or two for it to dry completely, they're trying to get it all done in a weekend. More should be said about that, but then again it is an "entertainment" programme, not educational.

Hi @Ariana I took on an after-school pottery class in a primary school several years ago. We had to buy clay, but there were jars of glaze that hadn't been touched in many years. Some worked fine, straight out of the bottle, some needed a little attention, some I never got into a useable state. The only way is to test. Some glazes settle so hard, it's really hard work, and in terms of hours spent, it's probably cheaper to spend £20 on a jar of glaze than 2 hours trying to get it workable. Depends on whether you are time-rich or cash-rich! One tip that I saw (think it was John Britt) is to use a tool like this to scrape the dried hard glaze into fragments/dust (wear a dust mask) before re-hydrating. If you can get the tool into the jar of course. And yes, I've cut many a plastic bottle in half to get at the glaze inside.

I thought the same. They went back to egg cups thrown off the hump for the "10 minute throw as many as you can" challenge

What they said. And always read the labels on the glaze.

The Great Pottery Throw Down has returned to British TV this week. It's no longer on the BBC, but is now on Channel4. I don't know if it can be watched from outside the UK, but if you want to try, here's a link. https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-great-pottery-throw-down I'll post a list of challenges if anyone wants to know and can't/can't be bothered to watch. It was mildly entertaining, and frustrating at the same time, as it has been in previous years.

@Callie Beller Diesel I've searched the forums for "Photo and tutorial". Lots of old info, found a post from me saying I was having an "e-mail" conversation with OldLady, and would post details later. I've looked, can't find the e-mails Looking at the old posts, I think everything has changed since then, so probably better to start again. I'm happy to help if you need anything doing. (I spent 20+ years writing IT courseware and training business executives).

Hi @Callie Beller Diesel I : mainly use a desktop with full keyboard and mouse, running Windows 10 sometimes a Microsoft surface Pro tablet, with touch screen and separate keyboard, although, like now, I usually use the on-screen keyboard, also Windows 10 Occasionally read threads on an android phone, rarely post or reply. I think I wrote some instructions, but it might have been before the forum was upgraded. I'll have a look, see what I can find.