Rae Reich

Hey that's an idea, guess I could just set up all the ones I've thrown on the floor and toss a ball across the room too haha

Just make your own-its easy -you have your dog step into a clay slab-(you place the paw) fire that then press clay into that and its now a stamp after you fire that. It will shrink a tad every time so keep this in mind. You need to turn the negative paw to a positive paw .No need to pay $ for and easy paw prind -heck I have made my cat ones for years and dogs are easier to work with.

I added some smaller prints too, don't know what a giant wood paw print stamp would cost me, I'll have to look into it.  I have a larger dog bone cookie cutter I can use on a slab and attach too.
Last night I decided to try to throw a vase, was recording it too, and when I finished I went to hit stop and my phone was dead.  Darn! It was a good one too!
 

I like the "Print" dishes.  I had some mugs like that, with some cat paw prints in them, only I didn't put said prints there...  My workshop, is also, where the cat likes to hang out, and she thought she had to check out the new "things" that  were sitting on the workbench.

Planters, went to my nearest garden center after work and got a "test" wholesale order for 30 to see if/what sells, spent 2 hours wedging/throwing and ended up with a dozen. It was a good day tater...
 

More dog bowls this week and mugs of course.
Changed my design a bit, will probably change it again before I'm done.  Anyway, here's last night's Roundup, along with handling 20 mugs.
 

Yip 18 untippable mugs i.e.stuck fast to shelves. Yeh newest shelves a few weeks ago. No protection against fools or the foolhardy in my shed.

Well the retrofit kit from euclids was 750+shipping.  I got the parts for:
V6cf controller - 280
Relays - 2x 22
Transformer - 22
Housing - 55
Wires and connectors maybe 20 bucks
So saved around 300-350, took me about 3 hours to remove kiln sitter, rewire and put back together.  I was genuinely surprised when I flipped the cutoff switch and the dang thing beeped and turned on.  Was expecting fireworks at the very least!
Was a fun project and highly recommend to anyone with a manual kiln.
 

No idea, I just plugged it in, hit fast bisque and chose cone 06.  I haven't dingled with any of the settings yet, I just wanted to make sure all the parts were connected and working, and that there was no immediate fires.
I also was able to get away with only one sheet metal cut on my hand and that is amazing.

Works a charm, test fired it to cone 06 last night, even forgot it was running!  
My main problem with the manual kiln was medium maxed out at 1800, high climbed way too fast.  So to slowly climb the last 200 or so degrees, I had to go out and turn one switch to medium and one to high, and every ten minutes or so flip them to keep the kiln somewhat even.  
Pain. In. The. Booty.
No more!  Everything is gravy now.

Well my project yesterday was converting my manual kiln with kilnsitter into a digital kiln.
Mission complete.
 

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. 

Looking good Shawn!  Have you booked your first show yet?  I ruined a kiln load of 40 mugs last weekend which will set me back a bit.  I still need to figure out my branding and set up a website, etc before I even think about selling.  It's all very daunting, wish I could just make pots all day and they'd magically sell themselves haha.

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

Iv'e seen tons of deer in our back yard, they've scared the heck out of me walking out to the observatory in the evenings just after dark with a loud "HUFF!". That's OK though, Iv'e snuck up on them and gotten payback. 
Unloaded the kiln with some mugs and planters, and some of my wife's first experiments with underglaze, I think she's gonna do great!. Sure feels good to have work on the table! Getting ready for a show at the nature center in a few weeks.
 
 
 

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. 

@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?

Not clay, but glass.  Still goes into the kiln.

I have another big tile on my work table and firing my third glass test firing today.   I am testing four different glasses a wine bottle,  clear drinking glass, window glass and a blue tempered glass.  So far the wine bottle glass melts and looks the best.  I haven't got a complete melt on the other three yet.  Denice

@Gabby, she could change it to Bacon Dress and have fun glazing different costumes!  

Did it last night and worked well, thanks!

@Gabby, she could change it to Bacon Dress and have fun glazing different costumes!  

The technique I described is intended to get the height you want without the extra compensation for wobble that occurs when raising a wall with a thin, weak rim. Not suggesting that you form the fat rim first, just leave the top of the wall with  the same or a little more thickness as the wall with each pass, and compressed. After you've got your height, you can shape any style of rim you want.  

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.