[L&L vs Cone Art Kilns]

Old Lady I feel your pain.  I am in the process of getting rid of my kiln.  I'm approaching my 84th birthday and am 5 inches shorter than you.  It is too hard to get those old shelves into the kiln.  I will go back to getting my pieces fires at the Club studio that I belong to.  Love the idea of the old warped shelves as pasta bowls.  Big party eh?  Lin

[The Pottery of Sound]

That is exactly what I remember!  I had wondered how correct my memory was.  It was a long time ago.  Lin

[The Pottery of Sound]

This subject reminded me of seeing Carlton Ball in the late 70s or early 80s.  He had made several kinds of horns which worked and looked fantastic.  I wonder if anyone here remembers his work?  Lin

[Clay body for birdbath ?]

Many years ago I made a birdbath.  The pedestal is a shaped open cylinder with the bowl sitting on top.  I soon discovered that the local raccoons liked  to get up to the water and tipped the bowl over and cracked or broke it a couple of times.  The last bowl I made had a deep - 5 - 6 inch foot on it to fit inside the cylinder so the raccoons couldn't tip it off the top anymore.  Lin

[QotW: How many times a month/year do you fire your kiln/s?]

I think I will be firing my kiln for the last time tomorrow.  At 84 it is getting too hard to lift those full shelves into my 7cu ft Olympic  5 burner updraft kiln.  I think I'll go back to doing my firing at the studio that my group runs.  Lin

[Glazing right before Raku firing?]

A group of potters I belong to used to do a raku firing as a fund raiser.  The members would make items in advance.  We would haul all our equipment out to the site of a local fair and  the public would buy a piece or 2, glaze under instruction of a member.  The pieces would be dried on the lid of one of the 2 kilns we had going and put into the fire when ready.  I don't think we ever had an explosion.  Lin

[Setting Kiln Posts On Sides]

I have used  kiln posts on their sides frequently.  Sometimes the side measurement gives you just the right height that you need.  No Problem.  Lin

[Identify chemicals and what they are used for]

Thank you everyone for the info you have given me.  Who knew that someone in the UK would know Richler Pass?  But as we are in BC that is a good probability.  All this information is very useful and will help us sort out what we should keep and what goes.

Yes we make our own glazes but as a group and individual members do not have access to these chemicals.  I suspect we will want to get rid of anything that is Toxic.  Unwanted chemicals will be offered to members who do make their own glazes in their own studios and then to other organizations which have pottery classes.

Thank you so much,

Lin

[Identify chemicals and what they are used for]

I belong to a organization of potters that has been in existence for about 55 years.  Over that time retiring members have donated their chemicals to the Club and some of these have been used and some have been shoved to the back of the cupboards.  We work in a studio in a public building.  As we are going through a big reorganization of the studio we want to identify the uses of some of these materials we have been given and work out if they are of use to us or if we need to find a new home for them.  I will list the materials and if anyone can help me as to their use I would greatly appreciate that.  Or faling that is there a site I could consult?  We use glazes that fire to Cone 6.

Aluminum oxide

Barnard clay

Black iron oxide

Burnt sienna

Burnt umber

Calcium carbonate precipitated

Chromite

CMC gum

Iron ferrite

Kaolin calcined

Kaolin Tile 6

Kaolin Pioneer

Kona Feldspar

Lincoln fire clay

Magnesium oxide

Monarch china clay

Mullite

Red Art Clay

Richler Pass Ash

Saggar clay

Tennessee Ball Clay

Thompson China Clay White silica - coarse

White silica - coarse

Many thanks, Lin

 

[Glaze travel]

Spray the glazed pots with hair spray and wrap with dry cleaner plastic.  Works really well.  Lin

[The Great Canadian Pottery Throwdown]

Callie, I'm cheering for Sue.  Another lovely person who is a very active member of the Fraser Valley  Potter's Guild a group I belong to.  However I'm really looking forward to seeing the whole group and what they might do.  Lin

[The Great Canadian Pottery Throwdown]

Finally a date!  Thurs Feb. 8 on CBC and CBC GEM.  Lin

[The Great Canadian Pottery Throwdown]

Going into the CBC scheduling sites the information is that the show will air winter 2024.  Lin

[Drawing fine lines in black]

On leather hard clay, wax all over.  Draw through the wax with a needle tool or your favorite tool.  Apply the under glaze and wipe off the excess.  Lin

[Breathing in air dry clay dust from sanding]

And don't sand over the sink!  That will plug up your drains in no time.  Sand outside if possible.  wear a mask and just be aware of the negatives of dust.  Lin

[The Great Canadian Pottery Throwdown]

Oh yay! indeed.  If you get a date please let us know.  Thanks for this info.  Lin

[best agent to release clay from plaster, when clay will be reused.]

Place a piece of cotton on the plaster slab, then your clay for recycling on that.  You still get the water absorbed by the plaster without the clay coming in contact with the plaster.  Lin

[24 gauge wire in ornaments]

Assuming that your wire will fire to cone 6 without melting, the span of your rod needs to be addressed.   If the rod sags at all the wires will slide together.  If the length of the rod is worrying put a support in the middle.  A shelf support of the right height will work.  lin

[Drying+firing question - beginner in pottery....]

I did a lot of clay work with my grandkids when they were little.  Sometimes I had to make sure that joints were well enough joined and sometimes I would help them hollow out thick pieces.  All came through the firing  Lin

[Small one off projects]

Pinch pots can be turned upside down and become bells.  Lin

[Forgot to grog it]

I have always used my regular cone 6 clay for Raku.  No grog, just careful joining of parts.  Lin

[Their enslaved ancestor’s pottery sells for over $1 million. They get nothing.]

Thanks for posting this.  Interesting research into a sad subject..  What a potter he was.  Lin

[cracks in large platters even with grogged stoneware]

I used to make large flat trays.  I didn't put a foot on them and fired them on a 1/8" plus bed of silica sand.  But I only fired to cone 6.  I didn't grog the clay.  Lin

[Forums page layout]

I like the change that has been made today.  The previous couple of weeks was not as good with several posts on the same subject.  I prefer the variety.  Lin

[Lithium substitute?]

Thanks for all your suggestions.  I shall relay them to the glaze chair.   And yes we have been using Gerstley Borate instead of Colemanite.  Lin