Pyewackette

Those are pretty cool! Thanks for taking the time to demo @Min.

Nice!!!

Nice pictorial, great way to make a strap handle that matches the surfaces/fluidity of a casserole or other piece.
best,
Pres

I learned my lessons on  making pottery as a business instead of a artistic hobby.   I designed a set of dishes for a friends severely disabled daughter.   Before I know it I had calls from other families to buy a set.   I already owned a wallpaper store so I didn't have a lot of spare time and they would get it before the next holiday.   I ended up with demanding customers and suddenly my artistic hobby became work.    I got the same feeling when I taught a summer throwing class,  I wanted to be working in my own studio not teaching.    Denice

I'd put thin foam sheets between them with them tight to each other, and transport them standing up, not laying down, on something soft like a sheet of styrofoam. Tie them or block them to the side of the car/truck so they can't fall over.

Cone 6 porcelain is definitely under 1%. Stoneware bodies can be, but many are closer to 1.5%, which is still pretty tight and within the range we call acceptable for functional work.

@Pyewackette That makes sense. You like the atmospheric stuff, which gas kilns are great for and electric kilns are not great for. I will argue that cone 6 porcelains are just as good as cone 10 porcelains. I've used cone 6 porcelain for years and years and I don't see any advantage to the cone 10 porcelain I used to use. Both are white, glassy, and translucent.

@neilestrick Pretty much all of the above.  I like the glazes, shinos, etc, the way the same slip or glaze can give you varying results.  There's a sort of freeness to it.  Glaze results are less constrained and, I feel, more natural.  Some people have been able to more or less imitate these results at ^6 in an electric kiln - Shikha Joshi for instance - but at great effort.  Shikha Joshi refires her glazed pieces as many as 4 times to get the results she wants.
I'd love to do soda firings but given how it eats away at bricks I probably can't.  But I can get close to those sorts of results at ^10 reduction through judicious selection of glazes and firing schedules. I've read about different processes that allege they can achieve similar results but haven't been able to try them, like ash glazes or washes that can help get flashing on a pot without exposing the entire interior of the kiln to soda fumes.  I can't try these if I don't have the kiln in which to try them.
And most porcelain fires better (or only) at ^10. If you're going to high fire a lot - and I would certainly like to do that - that's an awful lot of money in elements and other parts (over $900 for an element change in the 4 section Jupiter kilns).  Somehow I don't think those elements are going to get any cheaper.
I get that its not an automated process like in an electric kiln.  That also has a certain allure for me.

I don’t know how much Kanthal wire will add structural integrity to a fired sculpture, but if it’s a matter of building a figure around an armature, as long as the finished piece will support itself you should be ok to just leave it in place. If you want a piece such as a bird to stand on wire feet, you’d be better off adding the wire after the firing as a cold process, as it may get brittle after firing to those temps.
Kanthal isn’t the first wire choice I’d use for large sculptures though. 1 lb of Kanthal runs about $70 CDN.
Most figurative sculptors that I’ve seen use additive methods and wire armatures will cut the sculptures apart and remove the armature, hollow out some of the excess clay and put it back together. 

If you’re getting clay in the dryer, the items aren’t coming clean enough in the wash. I would venture the culprit isn’t so much the soap you’re using as the amount of soap, and possibly the amount of water. 
If you use too much deterg, it can build up in the cloths/towels, especially if you have a high efficiency machine. If you do have an HE, make sure you’re using an HE detergent, and don’t use the provided cap to measure it. The caps are too large, and encourage over-use of product. Get a shot glass or a 1/4 cup measuring scoop. Excess detergent builds up and traps clay dust, as does any use of fabric softeners, dryer sheets or those scent bead things. If you’re using any of those, stop. They’re unnecessary for studio towels. If static is a concern, the wool dryer balls are great!
Especially if you have a more water efficient washer, you may have to pre rinse items in a bucket to get the largest bits off first, and use the heaviest duty cycle available. You may want to try giving it an extra rinse, or even running the cycle twice if you’re still having dusty leftovers.
If you’re using a front loading washer, this may not be the best thing for this job. They’re great for protecting clothes, but they weren’t designed with clay studio level of dirt in mind. 
 If you have been using fabric softener or dryer sheets, you might want to do a laundry strip to remove the buildup. Try not to have to do this often, because it is hard on fabric. Not as hard as bleach, but it’s still not an every week kind of thing, 
Fill a bathtub with the hottest water you can, or use a top loading washer using a hot water cycle. Dissolve in  1/2 cup borax, 1/2 cup washing soda and 1/2 the usual measure of your existing laundry detergent. Add the cloths and soak for 4-8 hours. Use the longer time if you have hard water, less if you have soft. After this, the water will be shockingly gross! If you’re using a bathtub, drain the water and give everything a passing rinse. Run through your regular washer without adding any additional detergent. If you’re using a top loader, just close the lid and let the heaviest duty cycle run. 

Sellling 10k worth of pots is very doable. And if you’re running a business, purchasing equipment is an expense. 

@Rae Reich What no Valdemarts (Walmart) or $Trees in Orange, CA?  Or near?

@Pyewackette, pool noodle prices in Nowhere are better than here! 
Love your bucket-filling noodle!
 
off topic: I use pool noodles to keep my boots standing up in the closet  

I still want gas!
Fire, flame, fun, go!
However, not practically possible at our previous home, same here at our new/current home.
The electric gets the job done. I love opening the kiln after a firing!
One of the "important" things was either existing solar or suitable for solar.
We sized the system with electric car, seven cubic foot electric kiln, 3/4 ton mini-split (Studio) and second EV (down the line) in mind.
That help$.
I'm liking the Quad elements.

@neilestrick Pretty much all of the above.  I like the glazes, shinos, etc, the way the same slip or glaze can give you varying results.  There's a sort of freeness to it.  Glaze results are less constrained and, I feel, more natural.  Some people have been able to more or less imitate these results at ^6 in an electric kiln - Shikha Joshi for instance - but at great effort.  Shikha Joshi refires her glazed pieces as many as 4 times to get the results she wants.
I'd love to do soda firings but given how it eats away at bricks I probably can't.  But I can get close to those sorts of results at ^10 reduction through judicious selection of glazes and firing schedules. I've read about different processes that allege they can achieve similar results but haven't been able to try them, like ash glazes or washes that can help get flashing on a pot without exposing the entire interior of the kiln to soda fumes.  I can't try these if I don't have the kiln in which to try them.
And most porcelain fires better (or only) at ^10. If you're going to high fire a lot - and I would certainly like to do that - that's an awful lot of money in elements and other parts (over $900 for an element change in the 4 section Jupiter kilns).  Somehow I don't think those elements are going to get any cheaper.
I get that its not an automated process like in an electric kiln.  That also has a certain allure for me.

@Rae Reich I got my pool noodles for $1.25 at $ Tree or 98c at Valdemart.  Valdemart only has them in season, but you can usually find them year round at at least some $ Trees (in xmas colors at xmas).  They are fatter/thicker than pipe insulation, though I've used pipe insulation as well.
1/2" pipe insulation is currently 1.78 for a 6' section at my local Home Despot.  3/4" pipe insulation isn't available in a 6' length atm, but a package of 4 in 3' lengths is 4.53, or about 1.13 each (2.26 for 6' worth).  Neither are as thick and cushy as a pool noodle.
I'm a pool noodle fan.  I can fill a 5 gal bucket for watering plants using a pool noodle from my bathroom faucet (right next to my plant room).  I used them to stabilize my EMT trellis on 8' T posts (using PVC T's to support the conduit).  I stick them on shorter trellises so people don't put an eye out running into an exposed conduit end.  I use pool noodles to protect the edges of my bats when I'm schlepping them.  I use them to roll up quilts as I'm working on them.  Etc etc etc.
Plus - PURTY COLORS!

I've got one of those Magic Chef mini washers.  Its on a wheeled dolly and hooked up to the washer fixtures with quick disconnects.  When I want to wash clay stuff in it, I quick-disconnect it, roll it onto the back porch, hook the garden hose to a Y connector that quick-connects to the water inputs, and drain it into the garden.  And cold dihydrogen monoxide is the cleanser of choice for me as well.
I'm into the whole rinsing stuff in a bucket first thing too.  Actually I have some of these:

I forget if I have the 12 or 16 gallon size.  They're Tuff Stuff tubs, aka "storage tanks".  You can find them at farm supply places.

@neilestrick
reduction high fire reduction no elements to replace, and fewer electric/electronic doodads overall reduction It can do everything an electric kiln can do (though bisque firing seems like it might be trickier) but an electric kiln can't do what a gas kiln can (for instance reduction) reduction reduction reduction reduction I've got a reduction obsession now.  I've been spoiled having access to regular reduction firings.
I should probably have thrown a few more high fires in there as well.  I've got a porcelain thing going now, too.

Thanks. I tried that before but only once and I mangled it trying to cut it off the bat.  I'll try again.  I need to do similar to make test tiles (only more stand-uppish) anyway so I'd better learn how, LOL!

I got hooked on clay when I was 11 years old,  the art teacher gave us a ball of clay.  I made a Egyptian cat pendant,  I realized that clay was magic and I could make anything with it.  I took every ceramics class in high school and later got a degree in fine arts with a ceramics focus.   My husband knew I was addicted to clay,   instead of buying a couch for our first house we bought a kiln.   My first studio was a fold down table, three tools,  bucket and the kiln.   I have been working with clay for 55 years and each studio has gotten bigger and better.   When I started producing a lot of work  I made my own clay,  packaged premade clay was expensive.  I am lucky to have a ceramic supply store in town,  I buy all of my tools and supplies there.   Working from your own studio you miss being around other potters that you can bounce ideas around and get critiques.  The only digital element I use is a app for my Genisis controllers on my kilns.   Denice

@Morgan I'm hardly the expert around here, but its my understanding that at some point you need to work some "new" clay into the old and let it age.  There's probably a bit more to it than that.  So far I have been able to handle my "reclaim" a few pounds at a time, like 10 to 12.  For larger amounts, and repeated reclaim, things are probably different.
And no, you're not going to retain ALL the fines - even I don't and I'm the driest thrower I know.  That's why working some new clay in helps, as I understand it.  If things really get out of whack then you're adding ball clay or whatever is appropriate for the body you're working with, or epsom salts, or Veegum etc etc.  Stuff that's beyond me.

I've got one of those Magic Chef mini washers.  Its on a wheeled dolly and hooked up to the washer fixtures with quick disconnects.  When I want to wash clay stuff in it, I quick-disconnect it, roll it onto the back porch, hook the garden hose to a Y connector that quick-connects to the water inputs, and drain it into the garden.  And cold dihydrogen monoxide is the cleanser of choice for me as well.
I'm into the whole rinsing stuff in a bucket first thing too.  Actually I have some of these:

I forget if I have the 12 or 16 gallon size.  They're Tuff Stuff tubs, aka "storage tanks".  You can find them at farm supply places.

One thing that’s useful to know is how your clay develops over a temperature range. It could be that simply firing to a different temperature gives you the color you’re after.
See these links from Tony Hansen’s Digitalfire website:
https://digitalfire.com/picture/baftunycyg

https://digitalfire.com/picture/5m5aJocQuR

Denice if it helps I'm bringing in a new to me 18cubic foot Giel downdraft this spring/summer. I need to pour a slab and up my 2 inch gas service . The kiln is about 15 miles away -I found it about 10 years ago used in LA for a potter friend (he was a hobbist but at a high level) I already  bought him a kiln (electric I found in AZ from some of my customers) and ran some gas pipes for him. He was sitting on the fence about this Geil and I at that time said you buy it or me take your pick. I really wanted a 24 cubic footer as that a better fit as my car kiuln is 35 my updraft is 12 and 18 is a bit odd and beside Geil on some modela like this oine uses shelve sizes that are non standard (I love and use advancer 12x24 and this Geil is set up for 14x28 and us oldies say to big to heavy.Anyway he tased few years back afterv two fires (it really was to big for him as his one of a kind works just takes to long to fill that kiln. The thing is he buildt a kiln room around it and made it so it could come apart (the room is sheet rocked and insulated ) so I nee to take that apart and move it onto a trailer after supported the ach (its all soft brick) with a fork lift most likley  as the road is private and really small and out in the boonies. Then trailer it to my place on a steep hill and unload it and get it thru my 8 foot gate under my 7 foot (low spot) metal roofed area. That is filled up and shoe horn it onto a slab. . It maybe be possible  to use a small mini fork lift for that as long as it has 5 foot fork extensions which are harder to find. The space it is going in is very tight with uprights holding the large 24 x 30 roof up. Once its in. I need to cut a hole in metal roof to vent it and change orfices back to Natural gas. 
I cleaned out this potters shop for his widow a few yaers ago and this is the last large item.I was on the fence as Denice says (I thought long and hard on whether it was a sensible thing to do at my age it invest in new equipment at my age) and I came to the conclusion that another 6-7 k on a kiln that saves gas(big deal these days out here in high gas priceland  and is smaller and has all the furniture included  and has a few auto features like set and hold so I can sleep as it gaining temp and stop and hold at whatever I set (the older Geil DD system-simple)
I gave it a green light recently after lots of thought

On the topic of your body being able to do the work: There's a very real possibility that one's business model will have to change (or even stop) well before you reach retirement age. I am at a point in my career where that is happening to me. I'm 51 years old, and after 30 years of making pots my hands hurt way too much to continue wheel throwing. It's nothing that surgery can fix for the most part, and I want to be able to use my hands when I retire some day, so I am now a hand builder! If I was making my living 100% from making pots, that would be a severe change in my production output and my business may or may not be able to survive that kind of change. Luckily for me, selling pots is only one of 4 income streams I have. That said, kiln repair work is also really hard on my body and I'm starting to see signs that I will probably have to stop doing it well before retirement age. None of this was an issue when I was 40, I'm just worn out. Once it starts happening it seems to build quickly, so you have to plan ahead for those changes. There's a reason you don't see many 64 year old guys framing houses or installing roof shingles.