Pyewackette

@neilestrick Gracias, senor. (Don't remember the code for the little twiddle thing for the enyay LOL!)

OK Gettin' serious here. Really. Which multimeter: I'm going to need one for general maintenance of the kiln, right? But does it need to be able to measure just voltage, voltage drops, resistance, or does it also need to be able to measure more than 10A current? You measure ohms for resistance to check element health, right? If I never need to measure actual current could I go with this (which is in stock at a local Home Despot): only goes up to 10A https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Manual-Ranging-Digital-Multimeter-MM300/206517192 Or do I need something with sufficient capacity to measure high amperage like this: up to 400A https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-400-Amp-Digital-Clamp-Meter-AC-Auto-Ranging-with-Temp-CL220/312649913 I can't get the power company to tell me what they ran to my house and I want to get my order placed BEFORE the prices go up May 15. My engineer neighbor (I have a horror story to tell about his electrical fire if anybody wants to hear it) tells me he is sure we have 220/230V and not 240V. All my HVAC stuff is marked 220/230V. The circuit box has 220V written on it. Gotta measure it myself to tell for sure! Help a grandma out here, LOL!

I've thrown 10 to 12 lbs on the VL-Lite without slowing it down. That is close to its limit though. Its a good wheel as long as you are good with its lower capacity - and lots of people will never throw more than 10 lbs of clay at once. As for "stopping" it, what you CAN do and what is likely to happen in normal use are not related. Frankly I've never TRIED to stop it, but it hasn't stopped or bogged down under normal use for me in the past. I actually did work on it for several months (I think I once hyperbollically said "only used it once" which was a gross understatement from before I started getting treatment for adrenal insufficiency and came out of the fog bank). However the OP from the sound of it would be disappointed with that wheel fairly soon so - not recommended for someone who is asking if he can throw 20 to 40 lbs of clay. In the under $1500 price range none of the wheels from Soldner or Bailey have more than 1/4 HP motors. I don't know if they're belt, direct, or cone drive. The Soldner 50 only has a 1/6 HP motor. In the under $1500 price range the Shimpo Whisper is the only wheel rated for more than 50 lbs. No wheel will operate at the rated "centering" capacity. As a good guess for the actual operating capacity of any wheel, take the centering capacity and halve it. So all the under $1500 wheels currently listed at Baileys will top out around 25 lbs, the Shimpo Whisper at around 50 lbs (its the only one rated at 100 lbs "centering" capacity instead of 50 lbs for all the others). I doubt the ability of the Soldner 50 to actually handle 25 lbs with that 1/6HP motor it has. The studio where I work replaced ALL their Brents with all Shimpo Whispers. There are artists who throw quite large pots on those wheels. In discussion with the best of their teachers - and he is very very good - he was more than satisfied with the Shimpo Whispers, one (but not the only) consideration being that they are, in fact, whisper quiet and make it way easier to actually teach in a room with 15 wheels running at once. I asked him about the "stoppage" issue and he showed me that yes, he COULD "stop" the wheel, but it was by doing it in a way that you would never be using when throwing normally. No, it won't handle 100 lbs throwing, yes, it will handle around half of that - but there are very few people throwing that much clay at once. You may get a little more or less than that depending on the consistency of the clay body. Stiff clay, a bit less (I shudder to imagine trying to throw a 50 lb lump of stiff clay), softer clay, you may eke out a bit more. I should ask him again next I see him to get a bit more detailed discussion. It's been almost a year since I talked to him about it last. @Jose - I like the VL-Lite for what it is and what it is is a solid but LIGHTWEIGHT wheel for throwing SMALL amounts of clay. It will handle 10 lbs. It may handle 12 to 15 lbs, depending on the clay. IT WILL ABSOULUTELY NOT handle 20 lbs. Sorry! It just doesn't weigh enough in and of itself for one thing, even if you could get the proper sort of power out of the motor and drive.

@Callie Beller Diesel I'm going to have to try that with sheets of hardiebacker. Also the idea of clumps instead of long strips which is what I did in the past with my slop to dry it out. It sure looks like I'm going to be processing more clay from dry or reclaim than I thought. Once I've got my kiln stuff underway I need to get the pugger ordered too. Still waffling between the VPM-9SS and the VPM-20SS.

@Callie Beller Diesel I'm afraid I have the same mindsight - its not enough for me to know something works. I want to know WHY it works that way, and why it doesn't work when it fails. Apparently that's not the norm. But I feel like without the background of the whys and wherefores, it's just stumbling around in a dark room with a blindfold on and your ears plugged. I seriously do need to get a notebook and start taking notes like I'm in class. I have so many things bookmarked that I can't easily find something I already read, nor adequately associate related information. Just right this second I think I'll just take a nap. I have a long drive there and back again tomorrow, nap again Sunday, and start fresh Monday. Plans! I love 'em!

I DO have a mold sensitivity but its never been set off by aged smelly probably moldy clay or clay water. That said your mold sensitivity may be entirely different. I will add to the issue of the musty studio space - that shouldn't be a thing. I've worked in several more or less "public" studio spaces over the years, at least 2 or 3 of which were in very humid areas, and none of them smelled. Maybe look for a different space?

I just did this myself a few days ago - forgot and put some still moist clay to slake in a bucket. What I SHOULD have done was let it dry out completely, THEN slake it. Or in your case I would suggest cutting it into thinnish slabs, letting it dry, breaking it up a bit if necessary and then putting it in with your other dry clay (trimmings I guess)? Dry clay scraps slake a lot faster and more thoroughly than wet. I knew this but forgot anyway LOL! I don't know about the algae, I'll let others comment on that. Potters typically don't care much about moldy smelling clay but algae? Not sure. I'm not sure why you have 3 things going with "greenware" which I assume means pieces you've let dry but don't intend to fire; trimmings which I think must be the scrap clay when you trim a piece; and then slops which I think you are calling "waste". IF that is the case it is fine to let all three mingle, as it were. But in a dry state, and slake only when you are ready to reuse. Then you slake it, put it to dewater on a 3" thick slab made of (NOT PLASTER OF PARIS BUT) #1 Potter's Plaster, hydrostone, or hydrocal - hydrostone is my favorite - or a sheet of 1/2" (really .42") hardiebacker. NOT DUROCK OR ANY OTHER BRAND OF TILE BACKER BOARD. It comes in 3x5 sheets, you would need to score and snap it to about 2x3 or whatever size you feel is appropriate for a dewatering "board". You could try layering 2 pieces that size and see how it works - the draw back of hardie backer over plaster for this purpose is it is so much thinner than plaster, but that is also its advantage. You can't schlep a 3" thick slab of plaster around very well, but you can just lean the hardiebacker up in a corner or behind something when not in use, or carry it off somewhere for storage. But because it is so much thinner you will need to lay the wet clay out on it in strips to dry. Otherwise if you put down one mass of clay it won't dry in the middle as fast as the edges. I've used it this way but I just had the one piece - when I set up my studio I'll try double or triple layers and see if that works better to dewater. It works great as ware boards or drying boards. I think if it were thicker it would work better (as it is it works way better than plaster of equal thickness) if it were thicker, but I don't know if it would get good enough contact between pieces to help when dewatering. Two .42" thick pieces is not the same as one .84" thick piece, if you get my drift. Consider renting a small storage space until you can get a studio. Some of them have electrical outlets and some are even "climate controlled". Even if not suitable to work in (and I know people who have used them as studio space for a variety of activities) you could at least free up some room on the boat. You would most likely have to schlep water there if you tried to work in there, guerilla style.

Wow! So much to take in, LOL! I have to get a notebook and start taking notes. Hope I haven't lost my math chops. Diffy-q was a looooong time ago ... Chemistry, even longer LOL!

Now I want one of these too ... Keep us posted!

@Min 44 lbs, ok, I just couldn't find anywhere on the site where it said how much was actually in a box LOL! So that would make the Zero3 or Zero4 (whichever version he's favoring now) porcelain about $2.70 USD per lb retail. It might be a little bit cheaper if you make it yourself but probably not by a lot since you wouldn't be buying in industrial quantities. I hadn't thought of the additional expense engendered by all that other stuff in the porcelain. I could quite easily see the additional expense of the frit added to red earthenware to make that red earthstoneware (see what I did there? Wordsmith, me!) - in particular, unlike most red earthenware bodies that I know of, that body doesn't lose its red coloring as firing temp increases. Lots of red earthenwares that I've seen are lovely after bisque and just sort of brown after firing to maturity. Plainsman seems to be reformulating their clays to eliminate talc (gee, I wonder why!) and it seems like as they do that, the reformulated clay bodies mature earlier and improve in overall density. Is it safe to take it as a sort of rule of thumb that talc in a clay body lowers its potential max firing temp, effectively weakening the final fired product? I don't know if they have that frit at the studio, but given supply issues atm, they may or may not sell me some. I'm pretty sure in normal times it wouldn't be an issue but these are not normal times ... I'll ask though. But first I have to whip my clay booty into throwable shape and do some test firings. I may not be able to actually fire them until my little kiln gets here - I mean at other than the studio-normal bisque of cone 06. While they haven't eliminated the white earthenware, nobody is currently working with it either (and I actually don't know what cone they use to fire it to maturity). Of late firings have been quite delayed. I had pieces on the glaze shelves that didn't get fired for months (so did others) and bisque firings are lagging as well. Not sure what's going on but I'm guessing there was some, shall we say, CROWDING of the schedule going on due to two recent studio-related events that involved ceramics sales. I'm guessing some people's production runs were prioritized over classes and the rest of us. Just as a guess. Possibly if that run on kiln space is over now I can get some space in the smaller kiln (which is not tiny, about 2 to 3 cft I think). That'll make test firing easier. For protecting the kiln shelves, would bisqued stoneware trays be sufficient? Or should they be fired to maturity, given bisque at this studio is cone 06 and I'll be going above that while testing? To make sure the trays have shrunk all their gonna shrink and don't develop cracks or other flaws when fired at higher than bisque temperatures.

So @Min sent me down a clay-lined rabbit hole with this post: Thanks a lot! NO REALLY! I loves me a good rabbit hole. Turns out that stuff is FREAKIN' EXPENSIVE (but still interesting). The guy who is working on it says they would have to sell the porcelain version for "$150 a box". As far as I can tell, a box is 25 lbs (unless its something else close-ish to that in kg, he's Canadian). And the $150 is Canadian Money or about $118 in American Dollars. Still a LOT. The red earthenware version uses 1/4th the amount of frit so I assume its not nearly as expensive but probably still not exactly affordable. But it turns out, unbeknownst to me who has always been told "earthenware MELTS at higher than cone 04" - you can "overfire" MANY earthenware clay bodies to improve the absorption and increase strength/density. They will not (necessarily) melt all over your shelves. Or even bloat. Some even reach stoneware strength with near zero absorption by cone 2, sometimes even less. https://insight-live.com/insight/share.php?z=No2m98AEhJ On that page he gives a recipe for a terracotta clay body that he says reaches stoneware strength at cone 02. He formulates this as a casting slip but says I assume by "plastic version" he means something throwable? He says it fires to porcelain strength by cone 4. I love earthenware but have always been told it is impractical for utilitarian ware. Since this clay body is not available for purchase through his company (Plainsman Clay in Canada) I assume there is something impractical about it, like difficulty finding or formulating glazes that fit the body maybe. For many of the things I want to make glazing is not necessary. In fact, if a glaze crazes it might even be preferable as a decorative feature. I'm going to try to get the recipe for the clay booty I recently scooped up from the studio so I can try to figure some things out. Where do you learn this stuff??? WHY DOESN'T EVERYBODY WANT TO KNOW THIS STUFF??? I haven't had this much fun in decades ...

So is this akin to tumble stacking? That sort of Yertle-the-turtle layering looks scary to me, but maybe that's because I'm not totally sure yet that something I make might 'splode (well crumble or at least crack) in the kiln and bring the whole towering pile tumbling down.

@Hulk My first car (that ran) was a 69 VW Fastback. I loved that car! She had a name. Lola. I was almost all set to rebuild her engine (I was just waiting to catch the Snapon Tool Man for the last tool needed) when I opened the trunk one day (in the front of that car) and I was looking at the tire, and it wasn't the spare. Turned out the only thing holding it together was the heavy duty trunk liner. Lola: RIP. Died of terminal rust.

@Denice Throwing, I'm good. I use very little extra water when throwing, which has helped a lot with the too-soft clay we keep getting at the studio. But trimming! Yesterday I was trimming a bowl-now-a-cactus-pot-because-hole-in-the-bottom and pieces were flying EVERYWHERE. WAY messier than throwing! But the tarps (and I have a lot of them already, assuming they didn't get left in the move) I have, so maybe that will help capture the trimmings. Or making a pan from a garbage can - I saw that somewhere or other ... BTW wetting my hands in the reclaim bucket is how I got that allergic reaction to somebody-or-other's lotion. Now I keep my own reclaim bucket and add it to the studio's when I'm done LOL! @Magnolia Mud Research That makes me think of the line from "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" where the Sherriff of Nottingham says "I'll cut his heart out with a SPOON!" "A spoon?" "Because it'll HURT more!"

LOL! But really ...

I LOVE how quiet they are. I can hear myself think! Are you sure you're not thinking of the VL Lite? That's the one I have at home. I've thrown more than 10 lbs (in the past, not back to that yet) on the Whisper and it was fine. The VL Lite will only handle 12 or 15 lbs ... What's a "pancake motor"?

Well that's a relief! I don't know why that bugged me so much but it REALLY did. Re "centering" I always thought that was a measure of the wheel capacity under its (presumably) greatest load, when you are likely applying the most force to the (semi-)constant load of the clay itself. Its my understanding that the WHISPER DAGGUMIT THAT'S THE NAME can really only (reliably) handle about 50 to 60 lbs of clay but I figured that's not very important because who throws that much at once anyway??? Like 3 potters in the entire country maybe and they don't "throw" as far as I can tell, they throw the bottom and then coil-build and smooth until its as big as they want it. Or they throw in sections. As far as I know, which may not be all that far. I mean I aspire to throwing Big Pots but I have trouble imagining how Big a 50 lb Pot would be. But yeah there are other issues about how a wheel handles a load besides centering. Like, how responsive is the pedal, and whether it lugs under certain conditions, and other stuff I'm not really very well versed in. I need to go re-read the threads about wheel comparisons, now that I might remember more of it LOL!

Two hands, two eyes, and my brain (such as it is). That said I have serious tool lust and I've got a rolly-grocery-cart load of stuff I schlep back and forth to the studio. Working on my next Bailey's order.

I'm nowhere near as experienced (or skilled) as any of you guys, but I like a foot on the bottom of pretty much everything, both as a potter and as an end user. I would never buy a mug or bowl or anything else that just had a flat bottom. That's too much contact with the table for one thing. I actually have a NICE table that I wouldn't want to risk marring. The foot also gives you a stand-off when your cup is full of hot tea or coffee or toddy. Flat bottom? 100% you need a coaster for that. Even cold - condensation on my mahogany table? GET THEE BEYOND ME SATAN! I don't know why but I DO like trimming. And while I'm a pretty neat thrower, turns out I'm a VERY MESSY trimmer. Not sure how that's going to work out when it gets cold and the wheel has to come back inside. Now if I could just get my foot trimming mojo back. Yesterday I (accidentally) turned a bowl into a cactus/succulents pot.

They changed all their model numbers and apparently there is at least one totally new wheel: The former Whisper is now the RK-3E Pretty sure I'm at least 2 models behind, now its the RK-3D . The last model I remember is the RK-2. I guess its upgraded? Or at least not the same as it was most recently? Whisper-T, not sure where this is coming from at all. It appears to be an uglier, less capable version of the former Whisper-now-RK-3E. It has two tiny tabs at the sides instead of an actual workspace and a smaller motor (300W vs 400W and why are we talking W instead of HP?) Former VL-Lite, now the RK-55. Former Aspire, now the RK-5T/RK-5TF, depending on whether it comes with a foot pedal or a hand lever thingy. Oh and it weighs 26 lbs and they claim it will center 22 lbs. Not sure if that's a new claim but its a ridiculous claim regardless. You're not going to center nearly as much as the wheel weighs. Can you say "see the wheel slide off the table"? LOL! Well actually you'd probably just end up with a lap full of clay. OK OK, most likely just a stopped wheel head. As far as I can tell the wheels formerly known as Whisper and VL-Lite haven't changed (not sure about the legacy format of the RK-2/10/3D or the former Aspire). And the "Whisper-T" doesn't seem to have a reason for existing. Also why is it now the ONLY model that doesn't have a number? I would guess they're trying to associate it with the more capable as far as I can tell former Whisper-now-RK-3E? I don't know quite why I find this so very off-putting but I do. Now we have a bunch of models with designations that are too close for comfort. It was easy to differentiate between the Whisper, the RK-10 (could have called it Shimpo Classic but whatever), the VL Lite and the Aspire. Numbers are not better than names. Except for the odd man out, the "Whisper T" which I am thinking they are trying to associate with the Whisper that doesn't exist in name any more. Pretty sure that is purposefully intended to confuse. And I can't tell for sure what else might have changed. It just popped up out of the blue. The Whisper/RK-3E still apparently centers 100 lbs (allegedly), but the "Whisper T" doesn't indicate ANYWHERE what its centering capacity with the smaller motor is. I checked their promo literature AND the manual itself, they don't say. I did find an Australian site that says it centers 88 lbs. I sort of doubt it is that close in capabilities to the Former Whisper. But you sure can't tell from their description, they don't even use the same terms or categories (plus total failure to mention centering capacity.) They do both seem to be direct drive. "Turn and face the strange"

Tandoori naan are cooked by being slapped onto the screaming hot sides of a clay vessel with fire at the bottom just as shown in the video and pictures. It cooks fast and they snatch them out of the flames before they fall off and burn up in the fire. I have no idea how they manage it. The tops have spots of char and they are properly cooked through when done right. Oven baked naan are just not the same. When they slap them on there the dough stretches a little which is why you get that sort of "tab" at one side (usually, not sure how they kept them round in the other picture). They fake that tab on the prepackaged ones. I know from Indian food. Trust me on this. Pretty sure the OP does as well.

LOL! I thought that was some kind of enamel! Not being the bbq sort. I'm good with squishy ribs out of the sous vide then bakened in an oven a little bit. Barbaric, I know. So no. We want this: Not this: THIS: Not this: BTW: How to cure a tandoor. Or at least that's what these guys claim. That may actually be a stone tandoor, not sure. OOO 'eck, that may even be cement or something. Plus jes pitchers there, here are the actual curing directions for whatever those mobile tandoors are made of. EDIT: Yah yah yah. Clay after all:

I beg to differ! YOU'RE in there!

@Mark C. You can't do proper tandoor in a Big Green Egg. The naan won't stick to the metal! Or if it does, it'll burn to a crisp before it can bake.

I'm pretty sure my dad had one of these and it is PROBABLY packed in a box somewhere in the garage, but it would be pretty old by now and I'm not sure its even functional if I COULD find it. It'll be months before my kiln gets here anyway but it seems like I ought to have a functional multimeter for all sorts of reasons. Testing elements, connections, wiring thingies, etc. Maybe not while its new but seems like a helpful thing to have. I have one of those yellow pen thingies for telling you if the power is really off but I THINK that's all it does. Can't double check ATM because my son seems to have misplaced it last he had it out. It'll turn up. Any suggestions for which one to get? I mean I'll look for the old one but if I can't find it near about the time the kiln is due, I should probably just buy a new one, not?