Pyewackette

@neilestrick Well its not so much that its "heavy" as that I seem to have much much MUCH finer tuned control over the speed of the wheel. And there is something different about how the wheel head goes around. I was only throwing 2 or 3 lbs on it (same on the Shimpos) so I doubt it has a lot to do with the weight on the wheel, but something is different about the characteristics of the wheel head under rotatation. There is a Skutt wheel there as well but it is up on blocks and I'm pretty sure it doesn't go backwards. But I'll try to try it as well, as soon as I find my (adjustable) Shimpo stool. They don't have anything but plastic folding chairs and wooden stools over at this other place so that's pretty much my only chance of getting high enough to use the Skutt at its current elevation. I just happened to run across a listing for those Shimpo stools and OMG it was $110! They're just bog standard lightweight industrial-style stools painted white with a bit of THIN, let me emphasize that, THIN blue pleather over cheap foam! You know its cheap foam because of how quickly the thin blue pleather line breaks. I've got an industrial stool with lower back support that's also adjustable that I got from Costco for like $30. Not very portable though. It's way heavier than the Shimpo. Probably doesn't adjust as far up but fer cryin' out loud! That's a lotta money for what it is (and isn't).

@elaine clapper It must be nice to have such beautiful handwriting LOL! I have to mark it before it gets fired so I can be sure to get my stuff back. It annoys the kiln loader mightily if you don't mark your stuff before it gets fired. I've tried writing my name in the clay with a needle or mishima/sgraffito tool - very messy. And I've tried marking it with iron oxide - still messy, sometimes even illegible. I figure my best bet is some kind of stamp, the kind they use to mark leather and jewelry, or an actual clay stamp. I'm still weighing the option of just going for tool steel, the stamps are very cheap and so far I've not had a lot of trouble with the (too small) first attempt I got, rustwise. That may change when we move somewhere where it actually rains though.

@Mark C. I have read that it is a cone drive but I will try to catch up with the other instructor over there and find out more. He has been working on it so he should know a thing or two. It got left to them from an "estate" so whoever had it must have had it for years and years. That is I read that an Amaco model #15 is a cone drive at least.

@Callie Beller Diesel The first thing I centered since I forgot how after a 10-12 year gap was a tall hour glass shaped chuck LOL! But it did have a wide base so you're still accurate. I knew how once so I guess I wasn't so much "learning" as remembering. Once I started using the correct hand at the correct position it felt totally natural. I wonder how I ever managed go forget to start with. Except, well - melty brain syndrome was all part of the untreated Addison's thing, and its never TOTALLY gone away. I don't think we ever get over trying to rely on our memory even when its not all that reliable anymore.

@Mark C. @Hulk I don't feel the wheel is compact at all. Unless you mean that the deck is triangle shaped and I can get closer to the wheel? That's certainly true and I do in fact get much more centered over the wheel. I actually hadn't noticed or thought of that. That's a big plus for a little person like me. Its the modern Shimpos that I don't get the fine tuned pedal response that I'm getting with the ancient Amaco wheel. The Amaco pedal is really uncomfortable and not movable, but I get 100% smooth and even response from it. I DO NOT GET THAT even with the newer Shimpos in my main studio. They are very balky. Maybe they're just jammed up with clay, but I have a really hard time with speed control. Maybe I should look for a pedal-cleaning video and try cleaning one out to see if it improves. The wheel head only feels stiff to me if I'm trying to turn it by hand, which it doesn't like to do. But in operation, I feel like it is smooth as butter. And I don't know how to describe it exactly, somehow DEFINITE in its motion. Unhesitating? Maybe there's a little drag on the newer Shimpos that I've never been consciously aware of?

@Hulk Hasegawa starts in somewhere between 9 and 10 o'clock and actually makes contact at about 9, then the motion of his hand follows the bowl as it rotates. I think that gives him more control over the strength and direction. I'm doing about the same only with my right hand, at between 2 and 3 o'clock. Similarly my hand follows the arc of rotation but from the other side. It works extremely well for me. I couldn't remember how I'd done it before, I was self taught and its been 10 or 12 years. So I was copying everybody on the internet that I could find, including a guy who had a counting method I was just SURE would work for me (but didn't). I was doing JUST EXACTLY what they did. None of it worked. I was about to give up. Then I saw Hasegawa's video and the light went on. I can't do it the Gadsby way, or the Lin way, or the Leach way, or any other way I've seen demonstrated, and had Hasegawa not gone to the extent of actually talking about angles of rotation and given a very slow demonstration where I could actually SEE what he was doing, I might still be hopelessly trying to get things centered with the pencil-mark-stop-shift method. And then being afraid to take it off and fix something because then I'd have to center it again. Which wouldn't be the SAME center. I think that's why its so hard to "teach" tap centering - everybody has a slightly different way that their eye-hand coordination works that they just have to shift around to find. If you keep doing exactly what somebody else does but that just doesn't happen to work for you of COURSE you will be frustrated and give up. Once you find YOUR sweet spot - and if I can do it ANYBODY can- its so easy its ridiculous. You just have to know that your way may be nothing like whatever great master you are following. And keep trying different things over and over until you hit the sweet spot. Not just the same thing over and over that just won't work for you.

OMG I couldn't even get that right! I was SUPPOSED to be trying to tap center with my RIGHT hand and I was ACTUALLY trying to tap center with my LEFT hand. The RIGHT hand going clockwise is the RIGHT (correct) hand for me. I'm more slap centering as well, fingertips don't seem to work for me all that well. I feel like I have more control over the strength of the tap-slap with the sort of slapping motion he demonstrates than stabbing the end of my index finger at the bowl. Life is tough when you're over 60 and still can't tell your right from your left, even when you make the effort to try to keep it straight. AAAARGH!

I am taking a class at the city sponsored "studio" and the only wheel they had that would go backwards was this really old Amaco potter's wheel. It looks like this: I LOVE THIS WHEEL! Which naturally hasn't been made for decades. I've only thrown on Shimpo wheels for years now. The only other wheel I've ever used was the bog standard mustard yellow Brent (model C I think). Although extremely awkwardly placed, the foot pedal is responsive and easy to control. The Shimpos at the studio are balky and don't have fine control but maybe that's because they are clogged with clay? The wheel head doesn't freewheel which has some advantages. I don't hate that the way I thought I would. The wheel head seems more ... substantial somehow. I don't know why, but I like it a lot better than the way it feels when I'm throwing on the Shimpos. It makes a VERY loud hum when it runs, but that hum fades quickly into the background. I stopped noticing it at all almost immediately, EXCEPT when I was paying attention to adjusting the speed. Then the sound sort of ramped up and down with the speed and actually helped me to gauge the speed. I LIKE IT. I don't know what it is about the construction of this wheel that makes it the way it is. I've been considering getting a 2nd better wheel now that I'm making actual progress (I have the little Shimpo Whisper Lite, they have the regular Shimpos at the studio). But I've never thrown on anything but a Brent going on 12 years ago and the Shimpos (and now this ancient Amaco). Is there a modern wheel that is largely similar to this old Amaco? What is it about the construction of this old wheel that is lacking in the Shimpos (which I have up to now also loved)?

@Hulk Put a slab of closed cell foam in the bottom to protect sharp bits. It won't get soggy like other kinds of foam. I'm talking the black or grey stuff like they use to make pipe insulation. It is sometimes used as packing material. I try to snag it whenever it appears. SOOO many uses.

@oldlady I think being a hoot is a GOOD thing. And I think Bob Ross was a hoot too. Back when I was still undiagnosed and had a lot of trouble sleeping because of not getting treatment for Addison's disease, I used to put his videos on endless loop and let his voice soothe me to sleep. Unfortunately I didn't also learn to paint in my sleep. I also think the beard and mode of dress is cool. He really does look like my idea of a medieval craftsman. Come on. It was the 70s. We were all dressing in "interesting" ways. Personally I still do. BTW it occurs to me that perhaps a definition of terms is called for. Being a hoot means something is fun and interesting, a person, an event, doesn't matter. Fun and interesting and an experience to be sought after and repeated. Never heard it used any other way.

Thanks to this guy I finally figured out why I haven't been able to tap center any more. I was starting to think I hallucinated ever being able to tap center. Let alone thinking it was so easy, as I had. But this video finally showed me where I was going wrong. How was the woman who can't tell her left from her right and throws backwards screwing it up? How did you guess! That's right, I was trying to tap center a clockwise wheel with my right hand. Switch to my left hand and voila! Suddenly tap centering was easy again. I can tap center even my off kilter stuff in nothing flat. I tap centered a chuck the instructor made for me (so its as close to perfectly round as is humanly possible) in two taps. The slow motion stuff in the beginning while he talked about the direction of your hand in relation to the direction of rotation had it clinched for me in the first few minutes. I'm so full of myself now!

I use whatever clear plastic food boxes my tools will fit in. I also use the food delivery boxes from a particular restaurant here - they are sturdier than similar products from Ziploc and the cheaper stuff from Rubbermaid, but only the tops are clear. I think they are made by Glad for the food service industry. Shoeboxes should also work well for some longer/larger items. And there are also tool bins from places like Harbor Freight and Home Depot - that's what they use at the community studio where I currently work. They stack and its easy to glance inside the large openings and see what's there. Bonus - since they're open to the air you don't get mold and rust. Stuff can dry more easily and more thoroughly. I use a cheap tall water bottle for brushes, and another for my wooden cutting and modeling tools. Right now I've got all my wooden tools soaking in mineral oil in one of the water bottles. They were so dry they were floating LOL! While the plastic boxes work ok for most of my stuff because I tend to dry things thoroughly, you (a) can't expect that from high school students (rather the contrary) and (b) some things just won't live nicely in a closed plastic box - not even a slide out drawer type of thing. So tool bins or open boxes for things like sponges and shammies is probably your best bet for those things at the very least. I'm carrying all my wet stuff (sponges, shammy, cutoff tool) in a bag meant for washing bras LOL! Very effective at letting stuff dry rather than mold - and I don't have to remember to open the box of wet stuff to let it air dry when I get home (I schlep all my tools back and forth). I strongly recommend Armaly ProPlus Grouting and Concrete sponges, which I got at Home Depot. They last practically forever. I cut them up to use instead of those crappy little tack sponges that tear up at the drop of a hat. I get a dozen out of one big sponge. I stuck one on the end of a chopstick for a sponge-on-a-stick (I cut a "tack" sponge size in half, cut a small slit in the narrow end, shoved the narrow end of the chopstick in there about halfway down the length of the sponge, and fastened it with a silicone "rubber" band). I have two of the "tack" sponges in my kit, and those two still look brand new. I donated a half dozen (full size ones) to the community studio a bit over a year ago and every single one is still in service. Only 2 are starting to look raggedy and one of those came from the factory damaged already LOL! I used a Hefty "knife" that uses super sharp box cutter blades to cut the sponges up - marked them with a Sharpie and a ruler and just cut along the lines, to make the "tack" sponge replacements.

The studio manager showed me a bat he loves and has had for over 10 years that he loves because it has never warped and apparently is set to last forever. He can't remember where he got them and would like to get more for the studio. It looks to be some kind of coarse plywood sandwiched between 1/8" masonite, but given its longevity, perhaps some kind of "special" masonite. I'm sure I've read about such bats on here before. Does anybody recognize the material and have any idea where it can be sourced?

@Hulkyeah these days I am feeling these weird lumps in the clay as it turns under my hands. At first I thought it had something to do with being wedged by hand but once in awhile I feel it in the pugged clay as well. Only not as bad or persistent in the pugged clay so maybe it is something to do with having been hand wedged. I can't remember ever noticing lumps like that before. Clinton Pottery seems to have made just the one video which seems odd given I'm pretty sure he was talking about having just bought a stand for his camera so he could record. And the British guy was a hoot - I guess those are old videos recorded from British TV? I swear he dresses like a medieval craftsman including beard LOL! Mostly I've been watching that Korean guy you sent me. Sometimes I can't actually tell which hand he's treating as dominant - maybe he's a switch hitter like me or maybe I just am not very observant LOL! That looks so uncomfortable, he started out on his knees. I just kept thinking OUCH. But he's fun to watch. I love throwing off the hump but I have yet to get the back the knack of cutting it off. Best I stick to the cylinders. Taking a class always kind of messes me up in a way because you end up so focused on making stuff, instead of breaking stuff until you get it right. Ya gotta have stuff to glaze, no matter how lumpy, or the instructor is never happy. I've mostly been watching Florian Gadsby videos, and some of the Potter's Roundtable stuff. Jon Brit is up to 30 videos in his glazing series. Hsin Chien Lin has over 500 videos posted over the years, I can remember when he first started posting. I'm never going to catch up with 'em all. Oh and if anybody is interested, Florian Gadsby has written a book called "From My Hands" (I think). Its not out until September though. Hope your move is going well. I'm dreading ours.

@Pres @Callie Beller Diesel That would be an extremely long video! I am SLOW. I think those 3 cylinders took me a couple hours. Now part of that time was spent staring at it and thinking, but I even had trouble just centering the blobs yesterday. I was watching Florian Gadsby (again) earlier and he was telling me I should be taking just 2 or 3 minutes to throw a mug. I don't center even when I'm centering well in 2 or 3 minutes! LOL! You mock me, Florian Gadsby, with your 3 minute mugs! OK that's a little hyperbolic. I can center in under a minute, sometimes. But 3 minute mugs are currently beyond me for sure. As slow as I am its a wonder anything stands up for me at all instead of just wetly flopping over. I guess its an extra good thing that I'm a fairly dry thrower. It will be interesting to see how many of these blow up in the kiln. I forgot to mop the water out of the bottom of a jar I made with a narrow top so that's probably a weak bottom. We'll see. I have to find somewhere to post a video. I'm currently locked out of my Youtube account. All of google actually. I hardly ever use it and apparently at some point they started demanding a phone number, unbeknownst to me. Haven't got one to give 'em. I have to make an end run. Its in the works.

First cylinder of the day (yesterday) From the top Cut in half Bottom was left thick on purpose - I like to trim foot rings. But the walls were thicker than I was aiming for. Also it flopped open like that when I cut it - they pretty much all did. It wasn't flared like that before I cut it. Second cylinder after cutting: I intentionally aimed for a thinner bottom but that was thinner than I meant it to be, plus the island humping up in the middle is not my idea of perfection either LOL! It is a lot taller than the first one, YAY. Walls are too thick especially towards the bottom so I tried again with cylinder 3: I feel like I made progress getting the wall even and the bottom a little thinner than I usually like to throw but probably not thick enough to trim for the taller foot rings I prefer. I like to be able to hold on to 'em while I'm a dippin' of the cup. It's a couple inches shorter than #2 (I'm guessing that was around 6" tall) but the base is broader than it was on #2. Given that up until a few days ago all my cylinders flared out at the top like upside down volcanos (Cylinder? We LAUGH at your cylinder! We are BOWLS!) I think I've made a big improvement. If you bigify the picture you can sorta see one of my lopsided off-center vases in the background from last week. Told ya they look funny when they get off center LOL! Obviously there is room for more improvement but hope lives yet in my heart. I'm working on trying to get the base smaller, but I think I have to use less clay to start with. The instructor's advice is to use 3 lbs, and cut the top off. But if I throw with that much clay I end up with a wide base, or else I have a tall blob to turn into a donut. That doesn't seem to work out so well. @Hulk I'm not really right handed for "most things". Just the most common things like writing and using a knife. And hand sewing, come to think of it. Pretty much had those drilled into me by other people. But most anything I've been left to my own devices, especially darts which I took up in my late 20s, I use my left hand by preference. I still, after all this time, occasionally pick up a pencil with my left hand and start writing. I switch because the left hand doesn't write as well as the right (given I've had 55 years more of right handed practice LOL!) And now here is a picture of something that I feel turned out fairly well other than lack of planning. I should have etched the lines in BEFORE I chattered, like Hsin Chuen Lin - I want to grow up to be like him! The thick line was supposed to be 2 thin lines but the 2nd line got caught on the chattering and jumped the tracks so I had to hand carve it into one big line. You can see where the top line also jumped the tracks. I left it. But I think my chattering is coming along! See the nice little line around the foot rim? For catchin' drippy glaze, I hope.

I got pictures! But they're messed up and I hit submit too soon. I'll fix and post when I get back later this afternoon.

@Callie Beller Diesel Oh I just want something that won't stick much, is easy to clean, and won't rust. Wood tends to stick to the clay, or the clay sticks to it; tool steel rusts. I was thinking $30 or $40 isn't too badly priced for brass. I have some wooden Indian block printing stamps I was hoping to use for "inking" with slip or underglaze or something, but I don't think they'd work for making imprints, at least not without a lot of cleaning out with a pick, LOL! Which would probably damage them over time. And of course they're Indian abstract designs so ... not makers marks even if they weren't 3" or 4" long. Please share your source! Thanks!

@Pres TLDR: I THINK it may be helpful for me to remember to work from the LEADING edge - does that sound right? Instead of constantly trying to figure out where's left and where's right. For me the "leading" edge is coming from 3 o'clock to 6 o'clock. For "normal" throwers it is coming towards them from 9 o'clock to 6 o'clock - does that sound right - err, correct? Work on the leading edge with the outside hand being the dominant hand (the hand that you keep on the OUTSIDE of the work as well as the hand that is to the OUTSIDE of the wheel, the other hand being more centerish) - that would be the left hand for counterclockwise "normal" throwers, correct? But for me the outside hand would be the right hand. Does that make sense? I'm going to address part of your advice with some excruciatingly detailed descriptions of which hand I'm using for what. I don't know how else to describe what I'm doing in the absence of actual video. If the above is on target you may not even have to wade through my wordiness though. No. I'm sorta ambidextrous, except not really. Some things I am right hand dominant - writing for example. Up to the 3rd grade I wrote either left or right handed. Then my (ick) 3rd grade teacher forced me to write right handed or she'd slap me with a ruler, because "writing right handed is right". She made me hold my pencil a particular (wrong) way that actually caused an outgrowth of the bone on my right middle finger. That was 57 years ago and I still feel for that bump when I'm trying to figure out my left from my right. That finger is also not straight because of that, it leans to the right starting from the first joint. Thank you, mean old blue haired lady, for causing me a permanent and unnecessary deformation, LOL! Anyway. I throw darts, use a bow and arrow (back when I did archery), and a few other things left handed. I cut with a knife right handed. I bowl right handed. My mother forced me to take tennis lessons for 12 years running and I was terrible at it - possibly would have done better if she would have let me do it left handed. I know, its weird and a pain. SORRY! I can't seem to change it at my advanced age, and I can't tell my left from my right without first taking a moment's thought either. At least I don't drive backwards LOL! I ended up throwing backwards because the first class I took we had Shimpo wheels. I switched it to "FORWARD" and threw that way because nobody told me that was actually REVERSE, American style. The teacher just thought I was left handed. I've since tried to change it and have thus far failed, even after a 10 year absence from the wheel. Possibly this is just another thing that I'd best be doing left handed. No, I use my Left hand braced on my left hip. The right hand is my "auxilliary" when I'm centering, what you refer to as the pulling hand. That is the same as a counterclockwise thrower, thus "backwards" for me as a clockwise thrower, correct? That means I'm centering on the "leaving" edge of the blob instead of on the "leading" edge, if that makes any sense. I've tried to switch but it doesn't work as well. If it really matters I guess I would have to spend some time trying to forcibly switch. I get it centered ok this way but maybe its causing some problem down the line? Perhaps persistence in this matter would be called for? When I'm pulling open I tend to switch hit but I've been trying to change to always using the same hand. The problem is that I keep forgetting which hand that ought to be. I think that ought to be worked from the leading edge of the blob as it turns, so that I should be working at 3 to 6 o'clock with my right hand being the dominant (outside) hand. I mostly manage to do that as long as I am paying attention. The blob comes towards me from the 3 o'clock position to the 6 o'clock position and my right hand is the dominant hand, that's what I'm trying to describe. For everybody else it would be coming at them from the 9 o'clock to 6 o'clock position and the left hand is the dominant hand. Where dominant hand stays on the OUTSIDE of the form. For opening, the instructor takes his index finger alone and jams it straight down into the center of the blob. Then he uses the middle two fingers to pull open. Not the pinky or the index finger. He makes a hole straight down and then pulls the V, then he opens the V out to the walls. I've never seen anybody do it this way, they go right to the V whatever fingers or thumbs they are using. I find it very awkward to try to imitate this. I used to get an obvious wobble with my 2 thumbs method but possibly I'm getting a very slight unnoticeable-to-me wobble trying to do it his way - I may start at the middle with the index finger jab, but maybe it drifts slightly off center as I try to jam that finger straight down like he does and I just don't notice the wrongness. I think I will try to go back to the thumbs for opening up to the V, but I'll do it the way she does it in this video (only with opposite handage): My 2 thumbs method involved both thumbs touching the clay, that is 2 points of contact with the clay. I'm pretty sure uneven pressure is what caused the opening to not be centered. But her way involves only one thumb in contact with the clay. One point of contact, even pressure, less chance of an uncentered opening. So I'll try that and see how it works for me. Maybe somebody knows where there's a left handed thrower on Youtube? I don't think I've ever found one. When you can't tell your left from your right, its tough enough to get this right - er, CORRECT - but its worse when all your examples throw the opposite way from you, LOL! I can barely tell MY left from my right, let alone someone else. OK this is really long so I'll quit here for now and address the rest of your advice AFTER I come back from the studio today and I've had a chance to put some of this into action. Hopefully the leading edge - outside hand as dominant concept will help - assuming that's even correct to start with.

@Pres I don't THINK so but what do I know. What I FEEL happening (in my hands) is that I knock the walls off center of the base. The base (I am pretty sure) is centered, but in trying to raise the walls I'm knocking the body off center. It may be happening when I open it too. I end up with a skewed form where the top of the pot is not centered over the base. It makes for some interesting attempts to center for trimming. Should I center the top, or the base? Both choices seem bad, once things have gone sideways. I get the lump centered pretty quick these days and it looks centered and feels centered but opening is awkward. I'm not sure if my inability to tell my left from my right is involved too. I throw backwards - wheel spins clockwise. But I center with my left hand which is apparently not the way most people center when the wheel is going clockwise. I then switch hit for almost everything else that goes on. I've been restricting the wall raising to my right hand on the outside and my left hand on the inside at about 5 o'clock. When I open, I used to always use both thumbs but I was having a lot of trouble where the opening was not centered. I've been trying to emulate the instructor of this latest class - he sticks an index finger down the center and then pulls out with his 2 middle fingers - not the pinky and not the index. My fingers are not strong enough to do that. I am using my left hand to open, try to hold my right palm to keep the blob from pulling out of center while opening, but eventually I have to use my right index and middle finger laid over my left to get it to open. It feels awkward. I'm probably NOT doing it right. Hope I described that properly. Its tough to tell people what you are doing when you can't tell your left from your right but you have to figure it out after the fact trying to describe it LOL! I feel things start to wobble when I'm pulling up. Sometimes I think that wobble started during the opening phase, but sometimes it seems like I got that part right but still get a wobble in the walls eventually.

ITS A MIRACLE! I went in this past Monday and the new clay was suddenly firmer than its been in over a year. I couldn't believe it. I asked about it and yes, I wasn't imagining it, this latest batch was firmer on purpose. I'm told the hand builders like it soft and smooshy (I certainly don't when I'm hand building so I guess I'm the weirdo yet again). I have been trying to make hay while the sun shines, because the next batch might be soft and smooshy again. Apparently hand builders rate over wheel throwers LOL! It was soooo much better to throw with, and I didn't have to wedge it at all! My cell phone camera stand is supposed to be here today or tomorrow so I can take pictures of myself mangling cylinders and what not. I've been trying to emulate Florian Gadsby and his technique of pulling walls up into a cone - so far I have not succeeded in pulling it inward like that, but at least they are now going up more or less straight LOL! Before my hands just kept trying to turn everything into a bowl right off the bat. I have hope that I will eventually go from merely avoiding pulling the walls OUT to actually being able to guide them inward with that first pull like he does. Its already helping to overcome my auto-bowl handicap. I struggle still with getting the body off center of the base. I can feel it now when it happens but I still can't necessarily fix it. I managed to fix or avoid doing that for one whole day - then the next day, back to knocking the body off center of the base again. It makes for some very funny looking vases LOL! I can feel when things go wrong now. I can't always tell HOW it goes wrong, but I can feel it once its gone wrong and I can mostly identify the type of wrongness. I think I've got enough stuff for practice glazing (depending on whether or not anything blows up in the kiln) - so I'll be going back to just pulling cylinders until they collapse. At the moment I am no good at pulling up thin walls. My hands/fingers move up the wall and it pulls up a little bit but I still end up with thick walls by the time the clay has been overworked. But I keep on trying!

What do you guys use for your maker's mark? I know some people make their own, but I've tried that and been unsatisfied with the results so far. Some people recommend metal stamps, but they are tool steel and I would think they would tend to rust. I would guess I would have to dry it thoroughly, wipe it down with mineral oil on a regular basis, and keep it in its own container (have tools, will travel). I am aiming for fairly simple stamps, mostly so I know what's mine going into (and coming out of) the community kiln. I'm looking for a gecko, and the Greek symbol Pi. Different stamps - one for my favorite critter and the other to indicate, well, ME. There's an Etsy shop that will make a brass makers mark for $30 and up depending on the size. Would that be wiser than trying to use a tool steel stamp? What do you guys use? What sizes have you found most useful? Do you have more than one? Thanks for any advice.

@Babs Oh. That IS a hibachi LOL! I didn't know that was a hippie thing. I'm sort of that generation, almost. I was 10 for the Summer of Love.

OK I give up. What's a habachi? Google thinks I spelled hibachi wrong ...

Does anybody have any suggestions for a cell phone video stand? One that would be flexible and easy to adjust the angle and sturdy and .... you know. Perfect. Some have incorporated LED lighting mounted on the stand. Some just look like regular old camera stands. I'd like to be able to use it outdoors. Maybe with spikes on the end so it doesn't blow over? I have TWO phones (only one gets phone service) so I can record from at least 2 different angles, so two stands would be good. Right now I just want to record so people who are trying to help with my throwing can see what I'm doing, and for myself (for the same reason), but eventually I'd like to be able to make good recordings with it for a variety of things that I do. I'm not ALL about the clay LOL!