Chilly

When I retired from my day job, I had 3 choices for my "pay out" of accrued vacation/sick leave etc.:  save for the inevitable rainy day; go to Europe to visit art/culture centers like Italy/Germany/France (I've never never been north of Maine) or; make myself a studio.  My big treat for myself was buying new equipment-I am a wizard at saving money & have no problem with used/repurposed stuff, but this represented what I had put on the back burner for over 40 years, so brand new it was! Highest costs were my L&L 23s kiln, the Brent ie-X wheel, and my Bailey table top slab roller. Equally expensive was changing the big bedroom into a studio and the back porch into a kiln room, with proper electric, running water, floor covering, & lighting. Even tho I am not doing as much now & the body & brain are resisting a bit, it is still the best money I ever spent!

1.  Greenhouse where the pottery started to take over.
2.  Electronic controller for third-hand manual kiln.
 

I don't throw.
I stand for 99% of the time, moving around from this bench to that, finding a tool, stamping my feet to warm them in the winter.  Moving in or out of the shade in summer.  
I sometimes sit when glazing, but not in my studio, only at the centre. 
I did sit last summer, but only because I put a low table under a gazebo to create shade when it was really bright.

In my early days, I read whatever I could get from the local library, or was available in the pottery room at the local community centre.
 
Now, I'm more choosy, but most of my reading is this forum, and the rabbit holes (links) provided by everyone here.

I only slab build:
 If new/previously recycled clay is cold (8 months a year)  I cut and drop on the concrete paving greenhouse floor to warm/wake it up.
I do wedge recycled slurry as it comes off the plaster drying blocks.  But only just, and small amounts.
 
I do make new students wedge clay, straight out of the bag/recycled.  It's good practice, as otherwise they are not aware of the feel of clay. 

I only slab build:
 If new/previously recycled clay is cold (8 months a year)  I cut and drop on the concrete paving greenhouse floor to warm/wake it up.
I do wedge recycled slurry as it comes off the plaster drying blocks.  But only just, and small amounts.
 
I do make new students wedge clay, straight out of the bag/recycled.  It's good practice, as otherwise they are not aware of the feel of clay. 

You won't get all the elements glowing unless it's on high.
Get yourself an inexpensive digital pyrometer and a heavy duty (8 gauge) type K thermocouple from Amazon and stick it in the spy hole to track temperature rise.

Hello Pres,
I have a question for you, or for our viewers. If this topic has been discussed ad nauseam then I understand if you skip it, but it's something I think about.
Question: To wedge or not to wedge? Do you wedge clay when it comes straight from a bag or pug mill? If you do wedge, why?
Maybe you wedge for the following?
a) It's what I was taught and I can't get my instructor's voice out of your head?
b) I'm a little OCD, I can't sit down at the wheel until I've repeated my wedging "x" number of times.
c) There is scientific proof that one must wedge! 
d) Nope, don't wedge, waste of time and my pots turn out beautifully!
e) Other...please enlighten us.

Ha. For some, this glaze chem stuff IS wilderness camping. All. The. Time.

Wow @Pres, you posted this question 21 hours ago and no-one has yet replied......
For me, the answer has to be "both".
I like ^6, but my little kiln doesn't.  The one at the community centre likes ^6, but no-one else does, or needs ^6.  
So, for some purposes, ^04 is fine, the glazes are more plentiful (UK), they come in every colour including special effects.  They suit the users at the community centre, and make my life as the advisor and firing tech much easier.
 
But for mugs, outdoor pots, bonsai pots, casserole dishes, I still want ^6.  Or higher and wood fired.

Wow @Pres, you posted this question 21 hours ago and no-one has yet replied......
For me, the answer has to be "both".
I like ^6, but my little kiln doesn't.  The one at the community centre likes ^6, but no-one else does, or needs ^6.  
So, for some purposes, ^04 is fine, the glazes are more plentiful (UK), they come in every colour including special effects.  They suit the users at the community centre, and make my life as the advisor and firing tech much easier.
 
But for mugs, outdoor pots, bonsai pots, casserole dishes, I still want ^6.  Or higher and wood fired.

Wow @Pres, you posted this question 21 hours ago and no-one has yet replied......
For me, the answer has to be "both".
I like ^6, but my little kiln doesn't.  The one at the community centre likes ^6, but no-one else does, or needs ^6.  
So, for some purposes, ^04 is fine, the glazes are more plentiful (UK), they come in every colour including special effects.  They suit the users at the community centre, and make my life as the advisor and firing tech much easier.
 
But for mugs, outdoor pots, bonsai pots, casserole dishes, I still want ^6.  Or higher and wood fired.

Wow @Pres, you posted this question 21 hours ago and no-one has yet replied......
For me, the answer has to be "both".
I like ^6, but my little kiln doesn't.  The one at the community centre likes ^6, but no-one else does, or needs ^6.  
So, for some purposes, ^04 is fine, the glazes are more plentiful (UK), they come in every colour including special effects.  They suit the users at the community centre, and make my life as the advisor and firing tech much easier.
 
But for mugs, outdoor pots, bonsai pots, casserole dishes, I still want ^6.  Or higher and wood fired.

Nah, I just don't clean my splash pan very often. That mess is from a lot of pots.
I work with cylinders rather than sausages/coils. For these I throw a 7# base slab with a 1" tall wall, then stack two 12.5# cylinders (all while wet) and pull and shape. After it stiffens up a little bit, I add another 12.5# cylinder to finish it off. So 45 pounds total.


 

Making a couple of big planters for our deck.

 

Set o' mugs

And here are the finished vases, not on the workbench, but on the hearth.

And here are the finished vases, not on the workbench, but on the hearth.

Can't comment much, except that when my Pottery Association offers a wood firing weekend, I sign up without hesitation.

Can't comment much, except that when my Pottery Association offers a wood firing weekend, I sign up without hesitation.

katie, please do not feel bad.   this is really a good group of very caring people who want to help.  i have been where you are now and nobody offered any help.  that was a long time ago when the only education i could get was in books.   after all these years, i have learned a few things about working with clay and making things i can sell.   it sounds as though you have a reason to make this specific item.   has someone agreed to pay you for the mugs and you think you can earn that if you just find a way to fire the ones you have already made?
you are not being criticized, each of these answers are to help you learn that you really need to follow some "rules" to progress.   lately, there have been some questions that were not asking for an answer, they seemed more like challenges from some people who wanted to do stuff their way no matter what anybody suggested.   i read the answers here and realize that all the answers are past what you have learned.   you are still working on the alphabet and the answers are like reading shakespeare. 
it will take a lot of time and many, many mistakes before you will be able to do exactly what you want almost every time you touch clay.  try to find a way to learn the basics and not become unhappy when you run into the inevitable rock when you escape from the hard place. 
 

Hi folks, once again no new questions in the question pool - 
Soooo I will pose another question this week. 
As all of you probably know, I have a new kiln and will be going through the test firings and first firings and other things. This is big step, as I have not used a vent or computerized kiln before to fire my own work. I have assisted in firing and seen the dyna trol system in use. My new one has genesis, and quad elements a power vent, and 3 inch brick. However, that is not anything to do with the question. . . somewhat.
I have always fired my kilns with a base shelf usually placed on 1/4-1/2 inch stilts. I started out with full shelves in the bottom. The full shelf broke after several firings, and I started using 1/2 shelves. Then I started to use 1/2 shelves with different height stilts under them. My reasoning was two fold, one to start the shelf build with the bottom allowing overlapping plate lips, and second to give more air circulation at the bottom of the kiln. Now I have decided that the bottom will have two 1/2 shelves, but do not think I need to use a staggered first layer, as if I leave them flat I could possibly up 3 pieces to a layer, even though one would bridge the two shelves.
My practical question for the QotW: Do you protect your kiln floor with a kiln shelf to start your shelf build, and if so do you use a full or pair of 1/2 shelves?
 
best,
Pres

Seems like there is a lot more in the way of Potter Maintenance going on here than one might assume!
 
best,
Pres

I made some pots a week or so ago and now they're dry.  So today's task was to load and fire the kiln.
Before that could happen, of course, I had to make space to roll the kiln out from under the greenhouse staging, and into the middle of the floor.  So I also had to move stuff away from the kiln, and from on top of the kiln.  Also had to lift and store the anti-fatigue mats that keep my feet warm.  Then had to sweep the floor. Silver birch seeds get everywhere!

And here are the finished vases, not on the workbench, but on the hearth.