Rae Reich

I like a broad shallow bowl with room for wetting, scraping both hands at once and for pulling handles over. I throw pretty dry, using slip/slurry and a chamois. Big water bucket for more washing and rinsing of tools.
I just recently got one of those paint buckets with a handle, for painting, and then saw them being used by potters. Too narrow for me!

,)
My string (for "off the hump" separations) has a wine cork on one end...
I'm setting my pointer and metal kidneys on a half sponge set in the other corner of the spash pan - easier to pick up, particularly that metal rib.
The other tools, in a cylinder set next to the half sponge...

I'm using a one gallon plastic bucket* - it fits in the splash pan - with a clothespin for keeping the chamois un-lost, nearly full.
Sometimes I'll keep a two gallon bucket nearby for second rinse when transitioning to clean and dry hands, keeping the towel - and everything else as well - cleaner, much.
To start, I'll pour off clear/clearish, mix up and dump the settled muck into reclaim, pour back the clear, then top up with hot fresh.
Since adding an electric kettle to the Studio space, warm water is much more frequent (always), as hike to/from the kitchen no longer required.
I throw with water, enough that there is some accumulation in the pan, some being more than none.
I use a half sponge** for cleaning, two sponge pieces (corners cut from a full sponge) for adding and taking off water/slip, also wood knife, metal flexy rib, wood rib, chamois strip, and, sometimes, a pointer.
I'll collect some slip (from my right hand, mostly -  clockwise rotation...) in a small bowl for attaching handles, making repairs, etc. later on.
 
*it's a favorite! ...a washed out paint bucket (fancy deck paint) from ~forty-two years ago.
**large grout sponge, cut in halves is a nice size (for me).
 

@HulkI just attach a fishing float to the chamois, and it gives me a handle when my fingers are slippery.
 
best,
Pres

750 ml yogurt container, so I guess that would be nearly as small as the paint cups with the handle. It sits in the splash tray (Bailey wheel), don't keep any sponges or chamois in it. I start with warm water then top it up as the day goes along. After a few throwing days I put it to one side, stir a splash or two of peroxide and then it goes into the reclaim.  3 yogurt containers used in rotation. 

I use a plastic bowl for water . Its a wide open form -I keep a cut shammy on the lip and few sponges in it. I get fresh warm water every throwing day from electric tea kettle-my guess is 1/2 +gallon of water-less water the better in terms of throwing

Hey Paula,
How big is your plaster board and how old is it? 
You can "repair" plaster but I find it only works best with new plaster. Presumably your plaster surface has absorbed a lot of minerals, from wedging lots of clay, and that makes it less friendly to new plaster. If you want to try it simply mix plaster, into a milk like thickness, and pour it into the plaster holes. As soon as it loses its wet sheen use a sharp scraper to level off the surface. Do this procedure a few times until you have a smooth surface. It may not absorb as well as the rest of the slab but at least the holes will be filled.
Also, is it not possible to flip the plaster board and use the other side as a new surface?
 

Well it's looking like the second quarter in terms of Pottery sales has been slow-same as the first quarter. This is showing in my retail/wholesale outlets . The economy in our small backwater community is always lagging behind the national scene . Its been a bust and boom economy localy for all my time living here. This area was once king to Redwood timberr sales (when I moved here over 53 years ago). Then that went bust and Weed growing took over until thats gone bust in past years. Now its in between  the next thing. The toursit industry has been steady thru it all and thats a season flow for te shops and galleries . Now that I no longer travel with pots out of the area so I'm  now subject once again to this cycle except to one very large wholesale gallery far away from here wich I'm working on a huge twice a year order right now. In terms of my slowing down work wise this actually has worked well for me..I need to stock up for the summer trade season soon aas well. Not sure about te rest of the country but here pottery sales are slower than past years at this time locally.

Small test kilns can fire incredibly fast, much faster than larger electric kilns. So yes, if the “real” pots will be fired in a larger kiln then you’ll want to approximate the same firing speed. I would suggest asking the studio where you fire your work what schedule they use plus how long the firing takes then program your test kiln to match it as close as you can. Test kilns also cool down super fast so you probably should do a slow cool down also. This wouldn’t be necessary for clear glazes though. 

Hi Hannah and welcome to the forum.
I've never used ash from domestic waste but your post has made me curious. I did a quick google search and found a fair bit of info on Municipal solid waste ash. From one study the main components found in it were Si, Al, Fe, Mg, Ca, K, Na, Cl, SiO2, Al2O3, CaO, Fe2O3, Na2O, K2O. But also found in the fly ash were the heavy metals, "Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Cd, Zn and Pb are the most commonly found in MSWI ash, and Zn and Pb usually exist in the largest amounts (fly ash and bottom ash..."
For a comparison a general generic analysis of wood ash from Hamer and  Hamer would be  8 Na2O, 17 K2O, 12 MgO, 27 CaO, 1 Al2O3, 24 SiO2, 7 P2O5, 4 Fe2O3
The heavy metals lead, cadmium and mercury found in domestic waste ash testing done in the link (below) I pulled this info from would be an area of concern. 
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/2/7/1943

I owned that model for 30 years I bought it used,  it was from a commercial studio and had been fire constantly so I had new elements and cord installed.   I used a Skutt dual digital pyrometer  set to do holds and downfire.  Getting old so I decided to get a smaller kiln,  I sold my old one  for 600 dollars.  It had a new lid and a couple of shelves,  posts, cones and new elements.  Make sure the lid isn't cracked.   The expansion of a lid can cause crumbs from the crack to fall on your pots ruining any glaze beneath it.  I sold it about year ago.   Denice

Hey Samantha,
Welcome to the Forum. The kiln looks great. The outside jacket looks fairly clean and the interior bricks look to be in good shape.  The kiln floor looks to be in good shape.
$450 is probably a good price these days.
It uses a kiln sitter to control the kiln so that's just one aspect that you will need to consider. (You have to manually turn up the kiln throughout the firing process.) I've been firing a kiln, very similar, and have had no problems for 25 years.
 

I'm hoping the 1027 I had* is still chugging away.
Also hoping the lid on your prospective new kiln is in good shape - not broken, nor shedding bits/chunks (don't bang that lid!).
Check also the condition of the sitter mechanism. The old stands eventually rust and disintegrate - check that too.
How many firings the elements have left, that could be big! A set of elements for that kiln will co$t.
Also II, does the kiln come with furniture (shelves and stands) - both essential and expensive? ...any other helpful stuff? e.g. boxes of cones, kiln parts, tools, consumables?
 
*Found well before supply/demand drove used pottery equipment prices up, the former owner included a new shelf set, a box of stands, several boxes of cones, some iron oxide, and a few bits of advice as well. With relatively new elements, my otherwise crumbling 1027 gave me almost five years of service afore I gave it away (not the shelves though!).
I'd learned to watch the pyrometer (worthwhile investment) and twiddle the switches to get repeatable firing profiles that worked for me. My (voluminous) notes provided starting points for programming the controller on my new kiln.

Is this the commercial Amaco  Wash you are using? If it is I would try brushing it on the wiping it back with a damp sponge to remain in the recesses then apply a glaze over top. I think leaving it without wiping it back would be too intense. Whatever glaze you use will dilute the intensity of the Amaco Wash.
 

Lovely!
Scared for you because your piece looks totally dry. Any wash may induce crackinģ imo.
If could be dampened gently, then a wash application and careful  wipe off raised areas would be the way I'd go. 
3parts mang dioxide to 1 part black copper oxide could give a bronze effect at that cone, just saying.
Because no glaze , the iron or mn. Will not " dilute" in colour
Not a food container or server

I have a fully functioning home studio and would like to "pass on" a lot of it now! But: (1) I'm emotionally obstructed-just can't do the sorting/labeling/organizing/marketing , even calling on helpers is just too much right now, and; (2) I have too much $ invested to just give it away (plus need some money soon for a pending family situation). So--maybe I'll get lucky and pass on before I fret too much over the current state of affairs LOL.
If that should be the case, I have dumped it, in my Will, in a friend's lap. He's instructed to either give it all to the NH Potter's Guild (they'd have to take everything, no cherry picking--if they want my L&L 23EZ & nice Brent wheel,  the tools, etc. they gotta take all the containers of dried clay trimmings & dried  glazes too) or he may sell everything  and keep the proceeds.  NH colleges/university have suffered the same down-turn for ceramics departments and even just scattered courses as other states have, so donating to a school is a non-starter. 

There is two private pottery schools in Wichita when we decide to downsize again I will contact them to see if they are interested in any of my studio materials.   One private school is  fairly large  the other school  is in a large arts center building with other schools.   The pottery school was already growing out of its space and it hadn't been open that long.   It probably had 30 powered kickwheels  in the main room.    We have one large college and three small colleges that have a ceramics program.   There is hope that handmade pottery will survive if not future archeologist will be digging up our pots out of the dump.   Wondering who made them and why?  For now I plan to keep working in my studio until my hands turn into curled up pretzels.  Denice

I’m not too worried about “the youth,” @Pres. I saw a young potter on the Great Canadian Throwdown describe the coil-building technique as “like a 3D printer.” .
Clay adapts to people and our needs.
I’m starting to look for inheritors for my stuff. There are also our collections of significant (to us) pots - I’ve begun to redistribute some.
 
 

What have you cleaned with this? Your floors? Your walls? I'm thoroughly confused about this. Sounds to me like you have a sewer gas leak. 

Some time ago I posted about challenges with wollastonite clumping.  I have now found a process which is helping with this issue.  I utilize one of these flour sifters when weighing out the wollastonite.
  I sift the material directly into a pan on the balance until I have the necessary amount.  It's pretty low tech, but it works.  Perhaps not feasible for large-scale batches, but I'm usually making 1-2kg batches of most of my glazes, and it works fine for that.
 

Remembering my student days, the experience of actually handling pots made by acknowledged fine potters was given to us by a teacher who brought us in contact with contemporary fine potters. 
Consider a collection donation, documented as well as possible, to a favored school with a ceramics department. A “library” of pots available for reference would be wonderful inspiration. (I’m assuming that most of the works that we have accumulated are not ‘museum quality,’ but what we could afford.)

If no one in the family would want them @Mark C., I would look for a museum, organization, or other that would want them in their collection/s. Otherwise gift them to some young potters you have met.
 
best,
Pres

You bring up a great point Rae about our pots that we have at home either ours or made by others.Some go to family members I'm sure like my dinnerware. Though none of my family members want or know much of the more famous works I own like Otto Heino's or Tom Coleman's or Warren McKenzies work. I am on the fence about these works sell them? or what? as they are potters pots. Since I have been downsizing for over 5 years now its come up in my brain a few times.My wife does not care about these objects its all me on them .Of course I knew these potters and we traded pots with most  but with Coleman it was a small fee. Warren was such a nice real person and Otto had the best stories. So the pots mean more to me than say just paying for them.Its a conundrum for sure as to what to do with them.

I’m not too worried about “the youth,” @Pres. I saw a young potter on the Great Canadian Throwdown describe the coil-building technique as “like a 3D printer.” .
Clay adapts to people and our needs.
I’m starting to look for inheritors for my stuff. There are also our collections of significant (to us) pots - I’ve begun to redistribute some.
 
 

I’m not too worried about “the youth,” @Pres. I saw a young potter on the Great Canadian Throwdown describe the coil-building technique as “like a 3D printer.” .
Clay adapts to people and our needs.
I’m starting to look for inheritors for my stuff. There are also our collections of significant (to us) pots - I’ve begun to redistribute some.