neilestrick

I would try substituting some or all of the ball clay with kaolin for starters, and adding a little bentonite. If that doesn't do the trick, try washing the ash at least a couple of times. Unwashed wood wash has a lot of soluble material in it that affects flocculation. Washing will probably affect the melt a bit, so it may require a recipe adjustment. FYI, unwashed ash is very caustic, so it's a good idea to wear gloves while dipping and definitely wear a respirator when spraying. Washing it will make it less caustic, so that's a bonus.

I would try substituting some or all of the ball clay with kaolin for starters, and adding a little bentonite. If that doesn't do the trick, try washing the ash at least a couple of times. Unwashed wood wash has a lot of soluble material in it that affects flocculation. Washing will probably affect the melt a bit, so it may require a recipe adjustment. FYI, unwashed ash is very caustic, so it's a good idea to wear gloves while dipping and definitely wear a respirator when spraying. Washing it will make it less caustic, so that's a bonus.

I agree, the underglaze looks kinda thick. What brand of underglazes are you using? Most will give you a good solid color of you thin them down a little bit and apply 3-4 thin coats, brushing each coat in the opposite direction of the previous coat.
I find that clear glaze covers better when dipping if you apply the underglaze before bisque firing, so that the binders burn out in the bisque, leaving the surface more porous for the glaze application.

I agree, the underglaze looks kinda thick. What brand of underglazes are you using? Most will give you a good solid color of you thin them down a little bit and apply 3-4 thin coats, brushing each coat in the opposite direction of the previous coat.
I find that clear glaze covers better when dipping if you apply the underglaze before bisque firing, so that the binders burn out in the bisque, leaving the surface more porous for the glaze application.

Gum is added specifically to make them brush nicely and to harden the surface so that added layers don't pick up the previous layer. Part of what makes that work is that you have a higher water content in the glaze, plus the gum itself makes the glaze slimy and slows down drying. That is definitely a problem when it comes to spraying, so I would first see if any of the glazes you like to use are available in dry form so that you can mix them without any gum. If not, then I think you're just going to have to spray them in thinner layers, letting each layer dry between applications. Or you can start mixing your own glazes.

Set the gas for the rate of climb you want, set the air for the degree of reduction, and set the damper so you have back pressure out both spy holes. One will have a lot of pressure, the other just a touch. Each time you adjust one of these the other two may need adjustment as well. There is such a thing as too much gas and air, and generally the damper will only need very small adjustments. Keep notes as you go.

Wet the bat just a tiny bit, like wipe a wrung out sponge over it, and slam the clay down. The force  will help it to stick.

Gum is added specifically to make them brush nicely and to harden the surface so that added layers don't pick up the previous layer. Part of what makes that work is that you have a higher water content in the glaze, plus the gum itself makes the glaze slimy and slows down drying. That is definitely a problem when it comes to spraying, so I would first see if any of the glazes you like to use are available in dry form so that you can mix them without any gum. If not, then I think you're just going to have to spray them in thinner layers, letting each layer dry between applications. Or you can start mixing your own glazes.

I agree with Hulk, a piece of sheet vinyl would work great.

I agree with Hulk, a piece of sheet vinyl would work great.

I've done the math on the cost of Thermal-Lite and CoreLite shelves for my 28" wide kiln, and it will take almost 875 firings before I break even with the more expensive shelves, and that's with buying two sets of the CoreLite because they won't last as long. Because I would only save 1 7/8" of height per firing in a glaze firing with the thinner shelves, and half that in a bisque, it's like getting a free firing every 19 loads. That averages out to $1.11 savings per load, which isn't much.
This is also assuming I never accidentally break any of the Thermal-Lite shelves, and that I actually fire the kiln 876 times over the life of the shelves. For me that's not a problem, but for the average hobbyist who does 2 firings a month, that means it'll take 36 years for the more expensive shelves to pay off. However, for a production potter the extra 2 inches of space means 5% fewer kiln loads, which can really add up if you're firing a lot. And if you have a larger kiln than a typical 27" tall electric kiln, like a large gas kiln, then the payoff will come much faster.
As for the weight of the more expensive shelves being so much better, they're really not. The 26" half round Thermal-Lite and CoreLite I used in my calculations have a weight difference of only 1 pound, so it's really not enough to make a significant difference in wear and tear on your body or the cost of firing.

I've done the math on the cost of Thermal-Lite and CoreLite shelves for my 28" wide kiln, and it will take almost 875 firings before I break even with the more expensive shelves, and that's with buying two sets of the CoreLite because they won't last as long. Because I would only save 1 7/8" of height per firing in a glaze firing with the thinner shelves, and half that in a bisque, it's like getting a free firing every 19 loads. That averages out to $1.11 savings per load, which isn't much.
This is also assuming I never accidentally break any of the Thermal-Lite shelves, and that I actually fire the kiln 876 times over the life of the shelves. For me that's not a problem, but for the average hobbyist who does 2 firings a month, that means it'll take 36 years for the more expensive shelves to pay off. However, for a production potter the extra 2 inches of space means 5% fewer kiln loads, which can really add up if you're firing a lot. And if you have a larger kiln than a typical 27" tall electric kiln, like a large gas kiln, then the payoff will come much faster.
As for the weight of the more expensive shelves being so much better, they're really not. The 26" half round Thermal-Lite and CoreLite I used in my calculations have a weight difference of only 1 pound, so it's really not enough to make a significant difference in wear and tear on your body or the cost of firing.

Juried gallery exhibitions may get you one or two sales beyond the piece you have in the show, but mostly it's just a resume builder that may help you get into other galleries or build your social media account a little. Art fairs will definitely build sales, because you can show so much more work to so many more people.

I just made my morning tea- porcelain mug with water in it, microwaved for 2 minutes. The water is too hot to drink, but the mug handle is very cool, like maybe 85 degrees instead of room temp. I'm going to call that microwave safe.

I just made my morning tea- porcelain mug with water in it, microwaved for 2 minutes. The water is too hot to drink, but the mug handle is very cool, like maybe 85 degrees instead of room temp. I'm going to call that microwave safe.

There might be a little more to the calculation than you accounted for in just the economics.  I have a mix of both corelite and advancers for both my large electric and my gas kilns.  I had lots of issues with warped shelves and the corelite were much better.  I was still getting a lot of warping in my slab plates with the core-lite shelves.  The advancers completely fixed the warping.  I don;t think it is only because they are very flat.  I think they heat the ware a little more and allow slab plates to settle perfectly flat on the perfectly flat shelves.  I use the advancers for slab plates and the core-lites for bowls and mugs.  I recommend a mix of advancers and core-lites for a compromise in firing properties and economics.

The chain won't short out a thermocouple connection permanently, it'll just make it read funny while it's touching. Double check your thermocouple connections at both the thermocouple end and the controller end. Make sure the +/- wires are in the correct positions.  On type K thermocouples, yellow is positive, red it negative. Maker sure the thermocouple isn't too close to the metal casing on the kiln.

I just made my morning tea- porcelain mug with water in it, microwaved for 2 minutes. The water is too hot to drink, but the mug handle is very cool, like maybe 85 degrees instead of room temp. I'm going to call that microwave safe.

My guess would be it's because of different reflected indexes between the glazed and unglazed surfaces while in the microwave. 

I just ran a 1 minute microwave test with 4 pots with the following clay bodies:
Standard 365 cone 6 English porcelain Standard 266 black clay A medium-brown cone 10 stoneware with grog A red body, fired around cone 3. After microwaving for 1 minute and measuring the temperature of the piece in the middle, using a laser pyrometer:
The porcelain and the cone 10 body both came out around 140F. Kinda hot, but I could get them out of the microwave. The 266 black hit 170F, too hot to handle. The red body was over 220F. Here's the really interesting thing, though: in all cases, the unglazed areas were a lot hotter than the glazed areas. When I measured down the side of the piece, they were all cooler at the top than they were at the bottom, presumably because they all have unglazed bottoms. The red clay pot was glazed on the inside and about 3/4 of the way down on the outside, and at the very bottom of the outside where it was unglazed, it measured over 260F. In all cases, the bottom inside was at least 30 degrees hotter than further up the walls.
So glaze on both sides seems to have a pretty big effect on how hot the pot gets. @Kelly in AK if that plate was glazed on the bottom like most commercial plates are, that may explain why it stayed cool in the microwave.
Another odd thing:  If I microwaved several at a time, they didn't get as hot- just like when you have more food in the microwave you have to run it longer. But the unglazed areas heated up almost as much as when I ran them alone. Strange stuff.
So iron in the body, glaze, vitrification? I don't know if the red body got hotter because of the iron in it or because it's not fully vitrified, or both? The Standard 266 has a lot of iron, maybe more than the red body, but it's more vitrified than the red, so is that why it didn't get as hot? Or did the red get hotter because it has more unglazed area? Lots of mysteries here.
Having something in the pot that has to get heated up definitely slows down the heating of the pot. I microwave a mug of water 3-4 times a week in my studio for tea. It's made of Standard 365 cone 6 English porcelain, and every day I pull it out of the microwave by the handle with no problem.
 

Without going into too specific details to follow the ASTM... for cups and mugs put a cup of cool water in the corner of a microwave then with the empty test sample mug run it for 2 minutes at full power.  Handle temp must not exceed 60C/140F and  any of the other surfaces 121C/250F. Before commencing test the test pieces must be submerged in room temp water for 12 hours and also pass the ASTM 325F oven to water test. (which I don't have) Slightly different times and temps for plates etc.

I just ran a 1 minute microwave test with 4 pots with the following clay bodies:
Standard 365 cone 6 English porcelain Standard 266 black clay A medium-brown cone 10 stoneware with grog A red body, fired around cone 3. After microwaving for 1 minute and measuring the temperature of the piece in the middle, using a laser pyrometer:
The porcelain and the cone 10 body both came out around 140F. Kinda hot, but I could get them out of the microwave. The 266 black hit 170F, too hot to handle. The red body was over 220F. Here's the really interesting thing, though: in all cases, the unglazed areas were a lot hotter than the glazed areas. When I measured down the side of the piece, they were all cooler at the top than they were at the bottom, presumably because they all have unglazed bottoms. The red clay pot was glazed on the inside and about 3/4 of the way down on the outside, and at the very bottom of the outside where it was unglazed, it measured over 260F. In all cases, the bottom inside was at least 30 degrees hotter than further up the walls.
So glaze on both sides seems to have a pretty big effect on how hot the pot gets. @Kelly in AK if that plate was glazed on the bottom like most commercial plates are, that may explain why it stayed cool in the microwave.
Another odd thing:  If I microwaved several at a time, they didn't get as hot- just like when you have more food in the microwave you have to run it longer. But the unglazed areas heated up almost as much as when I ran them alone. Strange stuff.
So iron in the body, glaze, vitrification? I don't know if the red body got hotter because of the iron in it or because it's not fully vitrified, or both? The Standard 266 has a lot of iron, maybe more than the red body, but it's more vitrified than the red, so is that why it didn't get as hot? Or did the red get hotter because it has more unglazed area? Lots of mysteries here.
Having something in the pot that has to get heated up definitely slows down the heating of the pot. I microwave a mug of water 3-4 times a week in my studio for tea. It's made of Standard 365 cone 6 English porcelain, and every day I pull it out of the microwave by the handle with no problem.
 

It doesn't matter.

I prefer half shelves. More flexibility, easier loading, and half shelves tend to last longer. Posting gets awkward when using both full and half, because you end up having to use 4 posts on a  full shelf and they don't always sit evenly, which puts a lot of stress on them.

@chloemmetcalf What are the dimensions of the kiln interior. If we know the volume of the kiln we can compare that and the wattage to other kilns of similar size to get an idea of how hot it will get.