LeeU

Drill bits are less likely to crack the piece, since they remove material as they make the hole. Hole cutters force the clay to expand to make room for the wall thickness of the cutter. If the clay is too firm, or the hole is too close to an edge, it will crack.
The biggest problem with all holes, and one that many, many people do not address, is the sharpness of the edge of the hole. Rubbing out the edge with a sponge or finger takes forever. The simplest solution I've learned is to use a countersink LIKE THIS ONE. Just twist it lightly in the hole once it's just past leather hard, and it will knock off the sharp edge. I use this on all my colanders, and I can do all the holes in a matter of a minute. It puts a nice little bevel that looks rounded once it's glazed.

I really like the Kemper hole cutter more than the brass ones. I also use various size bamboo skewers and knitting needles, depending on applicability.
 

I draw on the Kraft paper that covers some of my work surfaces, and sometimes make sketches in a small drawing pad. Mostly I think & visualize. I take photos of some processes & all finished pieces. I don't like ceramic note-taking so I use the Pottery Logbook smart phone app. Most of what I make is not meant to be particularly  congruent with repetition, standardization, nor for retail purposes, and I'm a low volume producer in any event. I used to sketch everything, do all the math etc. made sure that things fit that needed to fit, and worked as intended (i.e. spouts, fittings for bird bath etc.)--just don't, these days.  

I've had these 5 pieces on my worktable for over a week---can't make up my mind. I'm submitting sets of 2  to  2 different exhibits. One will be in our capitol city, at a Victorian estate that has galleries and an art school-it's for the NH Potters' Guild. The other is for the NH Institute of Art and includes external clay artists associated with the community education program. The small dish with the nice celedon glaze and the firecolor on the back is from their anagama kiln, as is the one with the white inner glaze. The other pieces are from my L&L, and are very hefty. The rectangular one is  1 lb. 10 oz.  of porcelain. I added the pic of their  undersides because the pieces are meant to be heavy, tactile, and inviting to be looked/touched at all over.   Help me eliminate one piece and put 4 into companionable pairs!  Any feedback welcome. Thx-Lee  PS-I added a detail shot of the little bowl w/the black circle 'cuz the outside doesn't get a fair shake in the group shots. 
 

1st pots of 2019!
Tried to make some planters with built-in drip trays

we lost several of the best last  year.   
mitch lyons gave a lot of workshops introducing people to the broomstick method of making cylinders.   i attended a meeting where he explained how he made his  monoprints  and showed the making of one print.    he was a kind and gentle man.
we should not take for granted the continued  presence of the potters we know of but do not have direct contact.

We may need a different word than "event. " I think of "event" as signifying something that is going on, or about to go on, like a conference or workshop.
Perhaps Significant Ceramic News would capture better what you are looking at here. 

Even though Warren McKenzie died in December of 2018, I am kicking this strand off by including him here.
Min posted the following link to an excellent historic article on Warren.
Posted Wednesday at 11:33 AM Sad news, one of the greats, Warren MacKenzie, passed away on December 31. 
Truly a big loss.
http://www.startribune.com/world-famous-minnesota-potter-warren-mackenzie-dies-at-94/503729332/
  

Whenever I think I can't go to the pottery for some reason or another, I always picture Warren MacKenzie walking out to his pottery at 90+ years of age. And when I'm really full of self pity I watch his video, "A Potter's Hands" and am ashamed of my insignificant whining. 
I feel the same way about Shoji Hamada. He sits or kneels and spins his wheel with a stick in "Art of the Potter" and creates beauty. 
How can I ever say "I'm too tired or too old or whatever" to go to the pottery?
 

My process started with and continues with research. You would have to accept clay formulation as an art, to understand my passion for it. I see the chemical manipulation of a clay body ranking up there with the most expressive thrown or molded form. I have been working on a plasticity calculator for awhile now; having sent out test bodies for review. I have been testing bodies that specifically react to salt and wood firings. Then again, I also believe that clay is as much relative to the design and function of a piece; as any forming technique or glaze. My process most would find boring and mundane, but the results are gratifying. Galleries and museums would be empty if someone did not take the time to formulate the paint.
T

This:
 

if you eliminate the bowl with the white glaze interior, you would have two sets of similar looking work when viewed from above.

Hi Tom, sure.....
^10 - flashing slips - soda - front / back

 

I don't think it's because a movie made pottery iconic, I think it's because there's some kind of sensual overtone to the joke that comes with it.  I don't even tell people I make pottery anymore because of it, even though it's a large part of my daily life.  I get "ooo lah lah, like in ghost?" With winks and rapid eyebrow raises.  I don't know what happens in ghost, but just from people's reactions there must have been something smutty or something.  Makes me feel gross and uncomfortable.
 

Well, if you must know, I was filling a humidifier container from my utility sink, forgot to close the top off, tripped over my own feet, and--to keep myself from tipping over--quickly  set the thing down on the clear edge of the glazing table so I could free my hand to catch my balance, where  the unit wobbled over and crashed into the greenware, and then spilled water just to add insult to injury.  That is the sad story.  Oh well, no handmade Christmas candy dish for Aunt Ruthie. 

Prototype dinner plate for a disabled family member, she has partial use of one hand, paralyzed on the other side. Theory is she will be able to push her fork to the curved in back edge of the plate to keep the food on the fork. Front edge of plate is smooth and rounded over so she can rest her wrist either on that or the table.

Well, if you must know, I was filling a humidifier container from my utility sink, forgot to close the top off, tripped over my own feet, and--to keep myself from tipping over--quickly  set the thing down on the clear edge of the glazing table so I could free my hand to catch my balance, where  the unit wobbled over and crashed into the greenware, and then spilled water just to add insult to injury.  That is the sad story.  Oh well, no handmade Christmas candy dish for Aunt Ruthie. 

What makes the most sense of everything I read is it was a marketing move. Playing off words that use names in a generic way, like “peeping Tom” or “Jim-dandy” “Jolly Roger” etc. The “z” sound in lazy with the first “s” in susan just was pleasing to the ear of a marketing person. 
Seems the term was first published in a Vanity Fair advertisement for a “Revolving Server or Lazy Susan” in 1917. It was described as “An impossibly low wage for a good servant and the cleverest waitress in the world.”
From what I read they have been around since the 1700’s, when they were called whirling domestics or dumbwaiters.They were silent waiters hence the word “dumb”. Landowners who couldn’t afford enough servants used them to help with the serving. (this term went on to become the small freight elevator by that name) I spent way too much time reading about them today, got to the point where I felt I was going around in circles. 
 

Glazing for this weekend firing. Opps. 
 

Great question. I was fortunate enough to take my work bench on the road to build a bench for a friend which went to sofa and sold  successfully for at least four figures. Loved her art and glad it sold! Feel good about the bench as it had to support at least three hundred pounds without deflection to crack any of her tiles. Fun project and success always makes the labor part forgettable. Picture of it going to its new owner attached.
December project (s)
Complete a couple glaze formulations to work well over heavy underglaze on  low expansion porcelain.  Test are going well and should be able to publish after the first of the year.
Additional December project was to get at least four basic throwing videos done for newbies in the studio. Three done so far so we will just keep plugging along.
last project was to begin creating a glaze workshop for the resident artist at the studio. Just beginning this one and have outlined it. Thus far I like the direction and content.
 

Here's the reclaim jars, had to torch them a little because the reclaim was pretttttttty soft, but they came out pretty good.  They'll all get lids and handles in the coming days

I am currently just making some personal holiday giftees. Pics are my view out the studio windows after it snows! (Landlord's construction yard, sitting below a ridge-lovely.)
 

I am currently just making some personal holiday giftees. Pics are my view out the studio windows after it snows! (Landlord's construction yard, sitting below a ridge-lovely.)
 

I am currently just making some personal holiday giftees. Pics are my view out the studio windows after it snows! (Landlord's construction yard, sitting below a ridge-lovely.)
 

Hello!
My name is Philip White. I was the manufacturer of the Stoker Electric Reduction Kiln. The company, a.k.a. The Reduction Production Refractory Factory was building Stoker Kilns in Amesbury,Massachusetts, USA. It had to close in the early 1980's when the US Small Business Administration reconsidered RPRF from being a 'small' business to a 'miniscule' one and not important enough to continue subsidizing. Consequently, the whole thing went down the tubes. Needless to say, I was so disillusioned with this state of affairs that I didn't want to have anything to do with kilns or pottery for years.
 
Flash forward to 2018 and I'm now retired. Thought I'd see if the Internet knew anything about the Stoker. I was amazed to see it mentioned on this website. Subsequently, I decided to come 'out of the shadows' and share a little of what I learned about electric reduction firing and the engineering constraints that made it highly doable and practical. Some of this may be surprising, and (I hope) edifying. Some of what I discovered, you may find surprising. As with other discoveries, it was under our nose all this time, but no one had connected the dots.
It is really not my intention to write a 'book' on this topic without knowing if there is still any interest.
If there is anyone that may find the subject interesting, or want to actually learn more and build one, please reply and perhaps we can open a thread on the subject.
Phil White