LeeU

Moving along with glaze prep for wood fire. Need a smaller hand mixer though! 

Moving along with glaze prep for wood fire. Need a smaller hand mixer though! 

Thank you, Pres.  The temptation to comment (here) can be resisted, if one tries!!!  Not necessairly so easy, but it can be done. I am laughing becasue I am involved in another group that has a terrible problem with getting members to post their comments where they are supposed to, and to stop responding in the wrong place as well. 

Thank you, Pres.  The temptation to comment (here) can be resisted, if one tries!!!  Not necessairly so easy, but it can be done. I am laughing becasue I am involved in another group that has a terrible problem with getting members to post their comments where they are supposed to, and to stop responding in the wrong place as well. 

Reclycling/wedging from dried clay is awful for me. I am saving up for the smallest cheapest pug mill I can find and Advancers (can't lift shelves so good anymore).  My favored equiptment is my tabletop Bailey slab roller, followed by the heavy Shimpo banding wheel.  I gave myself the gift of fully outfitting my studio from the git-go, upon retiring from my "day job", so there is nothing I wish I'd done sooner. Having my kiln right here is beyond awesome--there is no public-access kiln anwhere close by, plus the over-time, ongoing, expense and restrictions of having to use their clay/glaze/firing programs etc. would not suit me long term. So, I guess it is my L& L Easy-Fire that is really the winner! 

Reclycling/wedging from dried clay is awful for me. I am saving up for the smallest cheapest pug mill I can find and Advancers (can't lift shelves so good anymore).  My favored equiptment is my tabletop Bailey slab roller, followed by the heavy Shimpo banding wheel.  I gave myself the gift of fully outfitting my studio from the git-go, upon retiring from my "day job", so there is nothing I wish I'd done sooner. Having my kiln right here is beyond awesome--there is no public-access kiln anwhere close by, plus the over-time, ongoing, expense and restrictions of having to use their clay/glaze/firing programs etc. would not suit me long term. So, I guess it is my L& L Easy-Fire that is really the winner! 

i gave up using red clay because of the mess.   i could not get it out of my many wrinkles without bleach.   white clay is so much neater,   (unless you put the throwing water on top of the wheelhead and accidentally hit the pedal.)   do not ask how i know this.

I”m also going to say pugmill. I like to recycle my clay trimmings and there’s no way I could wedge it all by hand. 
Even if I weren’t a recycler, spending 20 minutes at the beginning of a throwing day making sure all of your clay is soft, homogenous, de-aired, and in round pieces, means you don’t spend the next four hours fighting with uneven, bubbly, or hard clay. Makes the whole day much easier. 
@liambesaw I got mine second hand for $1200. Keep your eyes peeled!

Thank you, Pres.  The temptation to comment (here) can be resisted, if one tries!!!  Not necessairly so easy, but it can be done. I am laughing becasue I am involved in another group that has a terrible problem with getting members to post their comments where they are supposed to, and to stop responding in the wrong place as well. 

It's like night and day, no more fighting the ring and cone drive... Feels like heaven.
It has a small splash pan but it's so easy to clean

Hey folks, lets hold the replies until I post the Questions. . . .this is not to rebuke, just to say keep the thread clean for me to easily find posted questions.
best,
Pres

You will stop looking for new glazes when you "kick the bucket". If you believe in an afterlife, then never.  Firing results may vary in heaven vs hell

This side will have a dug-out channel going around the sun. The piece is a spinoff from my Excavation series, and incorporates a Hidden Dragonfly when placed  sunny side up.  I was at the potters' guild reception for the Once Upon the Earth show and it pained me to have to deal with the fact that nobody could touch and handle my pieces.   I handle and touch my pieces from the beginning of the process as though I were blind. Their heft and texture is half the point, as with this one that is on the workbench.   3/11 added pics after some carving
 

A work in progress. Last piece for the anagam fire in April.  Double sided whatchamacallit. It will get some carving & just a bit of  weight reduction. 

This side will have a dug-out channel going around the sun. The piece is a spinoff from my Excavation series, and incorporates a Hidden Dragonfly when placed  sunny side up.  I was at the potters' guild reception for the Once Upon the Earth show and it pained me to have to deal with the fact that nobody could touch and handle my pieces.   I handle and touch my pieces from the beginning of the process as though I were blind. Their heft and texture is half the point, as with this one that is on the workbench.   3/11 added pics after some carving
 

I put a bit of Bag Balm (kinda like Vaseline) on a cotton ball and lightly coated the metal press--which I think may be brass, not iron. I finally got a good impression today.  Yes, I rub from the back! Not fooling with plaster, tho I know I "should".  No picture of the best mother mold------I looked up and saw this---ran for the camera, which of course had the wrong lens on it...there were FOUR of 'em wandering through. I've lived here for 16 years and never seen this out my windows. 

This side will have a dug-out channel going around the sun. The piece is a spinoff from my Excavation series, and incorporates a Hidden Dragonfly when placed  sunny side up.  I was at the potters' guild reception for the Once Upon the Earth show and it pained me to have to deal with the fact that nobody could touch and handle my pieces.   I handle and touch my pieces from the beginning of the process as though I were blind. Their heft and texture is half the point, as with this one that is on the workbench.   3/11 added pics after some carving
 

@LeeU, love my Bag Balm  Never thought of using it as a release!

I put a bit of Bag Balm (kinda like Vaseline) on a cotton ball and lightly coated the metal press--which I think may be brass, not iron. I finally got a good impression today.  Yes, I rub from the back! Not fooling with plaster, tho I know I "should".  No picture of the best mother mold------I looked up and saw this---ran for the camera, which of course had the wrong lens on it...there were FOUR of 'em wandering through. I've lived here for 16 years and never seen this out my windows. 

I put a bit of Bag Balm (kinda like Vaseline) on a cotton ball and lightly coated the metal press--which I think may be brass, not iron. I finally got a good impression today.  Yes, I rub from the back! Not fooling with plaster, tho I know I "should".  No picture of the best mother mold------I looked up and saw this---ran for the camera, which of course had the wrong lens on it...there were FOUR of 'em wandering through. I've lived here for 16 years and never seen this out my windows. 

I put a bit of Bag Balm (kinda like Vaseline) on a cotton ball and lightly coated the metal press--which I think may be brass, not iron. I finally got a good impression today.  Yes, I rub from the back! Not fooling with plaster, tho I know I "should".  No picture of the best mother mold------I looked up and saw this---ran for the camera, which of course had the wrong lens on it...there were FOUR of 'em wandering through. I've lived here for 16 years and never seen this out my windows. 

^ good question dh
Thinkin' 'bout Mark's question raises (for me):
  What type of mentor/mentee (wow, "mentee" actually dictionary word*) experiences have you had in wheel?
From how long to learn to how.
Wheel instruction in the two classes I've had consisted of brief demonstrations, then go to it. Students who had questions or were obviously struggling got one on one and/or small group instruction. I'm not complainin' - I'd rather toodle and stumble along than get instruction that don't fit me; that said, perhaps timely and appropriate mentorship may have helped? May help in future?
Any road, my mentor is a motley of visual (realtime and video), print, stills. In the other direction - I'm no one's mentor in wheel!
*a manatee learning from another would be a manatee mentee, and same who'd ordered tea would be a manatee mentee who meant tea, and... 

@LeeU. Nice piggy!
I've taken many to-be- bisqued molds. For areas that don't impress as well as others, I work from the back. My favorite "roller" is a 2" blue sports ball (handball?). A little practice with gentle pressure, not moving the clay sideways, but firmly down, with straight or circular motions as it suits you. This fills in detail better than a cylindrical brayer. 
Of course, you could instead hand-carve more definition where you want it.
What are you using for release?

Great find LeeU.
Old phone books ..endless uses.
LeeU make a nother clay impression wait till leatherhard or more. Vaseline or soap it up , board it up, seal corners and bottom of board/ table meeting lines, and pour plaster into the box thus formed . Hey presto a plaster mold...no nead to bisque the clay impression the clay just peels away from the plaster.
Though I am sure you know this.
 

Scored an old iron bacon press; want to make a mold so I can make trays. I found a good clay for the purpose (Si02) but I need a better first impression so when I bisque it and make the final mold I get enough detail, especially in the letters (it sez bacon press).  The rough & quick tray is with a direct pressing, so the words are still reversed--it's just for some glaze testing.