Rae Reich

Good question.
I'd executed my parent's estate.
The paperwork and "big stuff" was all clear.
The hobby and tool stuff, not so much.
My Mom's embroidery stuff - not a box of stuff, no, an entire walk-in closet full, plus more boxes - a person who came to look at the lighted magnifying thing took it all, for they ran embroidery classes and were involved with a few groups. They were literally sobbing with gratitude.
My Dad's lathe - a person who bought that took a truckful of material and tools that we pushed. Many tools and contraptions went in the truck to Goodwill.
We found homes and/or beneficiaries for everything, mostly by luck.
The person we called out to fix the well asked after something. I said, "You can have it for giving me a hand moving these things? Can you burn part of your lunch break? We'll feed you." They came back over the weekend; without their help, idk, we'd have never finished. ...and they were thrilled with a pile of gadgets and tools.

Our lifes big  stuff is in a trust-Property etc. autos .boats etc are in  both names and we havea plan with all that . The trust outlines our wishes . The ceramic part of my life is not in that plan so I need to have a plan and it should be soon . The schools here ( two collages no longer have good ceramic programs)  one is not working now in my temp range so my high fire kilns would be of zero interest .My 5 wheels and the electrcic are easy low hanging fruit to sell. The shear volume of materials may be another thing . The property would be best for a working potter but these days that a pie in the sky idea. I need to work on a plan and a plan B.
If you are a full timer and on the west coast send me a pm if your are willing to take it all when that day comes . It includes gas kilns,two that move as  units , two that are a pile of bricks.more bricks fiber, much in new boxes ,more bricks and a few tons of dry materils-you need to be much younger that I by the way and have a great back and a large lift gate truck.
I have gone thru this death deal a lot already with my family  so I know this path and we have no children only nephews who are in the loop with the trust so that part is done.
I once was going to give it all to the local  state collage but that plan went to heck when they plan on tearing down the ceramics lab and no longer have anyone but temperory lectures teaching. Longevity is not on my side of the family as I'm the oldest male in over 100 years to have lived this long. I think clay has a lot to do with that for me.

Hi folks, Some of you may know that I recently lost my father. He had all of his ducks lined up and as executor, I had little to do other than notify banks. His wife notified the SS, military ret., and others. It got me to thinking about what I should be doing. . . Oh, I have the will and living will etc. However, that does not cover the pottery equipment. I have thought to leave my pottery equipment to the HS I taught at, if no one in the family wants it, along with my library of art books.
So once again, the QotW: What are your plans for passing it on when you pass on?
 
best,
Pres

If your basement is a finished area with no studs or joists exposed, I would think that a window fan would be the best option, along with a door open to the basement so that you have air moving through the basement out the window. I am assuming that you are following the precautions needed for a kiln, including distance from walls and ceilings, proper wiring, and general safety. I you still have the odor issue you may want to look into a fan with duct for a hood that is over the kiln and ducts out the window.
 
best,
Pres

If it hasn't been fired on yet then yes it can be dusty. 
It would just be a guess but the least expensive materials to use in a kiln/ batt wash would be kaolin and silica so if companies are trying to save money with the wash they supply they will load the wash up with that and skimp on alumina hydrate. There is a link below discussing kiln/batt wash with some tried and true recipes (it's towards the end of the link). Also, I would suggest wiping it back from the edge about 1 cm and wipe off any drips from the side of the shelf.
https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/20981-frit-substitution-chart-orton-cone-charts-kiln-wash-recipes/

I would make my own wash and remove with a wet sponge  before firing any commercial wash as it usually poor quality.
Speaking of quailty wash I noticed on the Advancer shelve (kiln shelve.com ) site they use the same formula as I posted years ago
1/2 alumina hydrate
1/4 epk
1/4 calcined EPK or (glowmax)

Another tip would be to leave a “button” in the center bottom of the plate. You can find some images of Steven hills plates/platters to get the idea. 

Just perhaps an easy thing to remember - Flat plates with a hole in them start off with a pretty distinctive stress concentration. Have seen many a clock face crack just like in the pictures above. Reinforcing around a hole can help with clay, just like many other materials, this pattern and fix are similar to help many materials survive this typical stress concentration around a hole - pictured below. We reinforce all holes in flat plates with some added uniform thickness or washer if you will. Since, along with good practices no longitudinal cracks in these clock face figures.

I see that there are some cracks running from one lump to another.  I make a lot of tile,   a thicker area next to a thinner slab can cause cracks to form.   She might try removing the clay from the back of the tile in the thick areas  and try to keep the clay a even thickness.  Denice

A waster slab should do the trick, or put some silica sand on the shelf. Make sure you put kiln wash or alumina wax on the waster slab so the tile doesn't stick to it. If you need a cooling ramp it would be during quartz inversion, so from about 1100 to 900, but it's rare that you would need that.

Thank you so much!!! You made my day!!!

There are always exceptions to the rule, but I would not recommend trying that again. Glad it worked out for you!

Those shrinkage rates are more than close enough for what you're doing, and those numbers are way too precise. There will always be slight differences in shrinkage depending on the  accuracy of the firing, the thickness of the pieces, etc, so for them to give a number that precise is totally unnecessary. They basically have the same shrinkage rate.

Take off the bottom cover and see if the belt came off or broke. 

Firing two glaze fires today still trying to appease the pit monster.I can now work 1/2 days before foot say no more.Spent many 1/2 days glazzing and loading up till todays firing. Spring mini heat wave yesterday (81 was the high and the low was 37) it's a 3 day deal.

Workbench has some recently glazed wares waiting on foot polishing, inspection, and washing; and some just handled raw wares as well.

The test tiles are IMCO's new "Terry" clay.

I am glad you are getting better,  I know that eight weeks is a long break for you.   I finished my radiation therapy on my skin cancer a month ago and it has finally healed.   I need to go buy a big straw hat for the summer.   Don't overdo it.      Denice

I found what looked like a broken pugger tip in a bag of purchased clay.   In my own recycled clay I am always finding elephant ear sponges.    Denice

I am here to support the always interesting, always informative, always fun QotW and it's master Host.  As for surprizes in my clay---never, nada, nothin'.  Just here for support. 

Oh the artist is well aware, I wouldn’t do anything without consulting her first. 

No--nope--not  chance--not worth it. Taking such high risk with any kiln (and especially someone else's with other people's stuff it) is just plain looking for trouble.

Have done this with automotive metal flake back in the day and used a gun with a stirring blade inside. That was a reliable way to distribute and spray with the viscosity needed for an automotive finish. A zebra striped metal flake auto not so desireable. Your finishes can be more random so it might be possible to suspend and spray acceptably. I have not tried anything other than spraying glaze very evenly but think it’s worth a try.

Unless you make it considerably thicker, porcelain is going to warp with a form like that. 

@Katie S I have become quite adamant about "what clay is it?"  Name, rank, serial number, when firing for others.  If they do not know, I politely decline.  A friend of mine just had a horrible kiln accident with that very thing.  Melted cups and plates all over the shelves.  Yes, they were low fire.  Fired to mid fire.  The person making the request didn't do their work.  You would probably be fine with 04,  probably.  But.....

No! She's got a sculpture piece.  It's also not cast but has been hand built and carved.  She was clear that her pieces will be put on a shelf for display and did not intend to glaze them - but might change her mind.  Also got me thinking about cone 04 firing.