irenepots

Hi, and no, I didn't. I bought an old Skutt (1974ish) and I've been using that lately because it spins faster and doesn't slow down when I center. Good luck with yours!

That's from a poem, "Tell me where is fancy bred, in the heart or in the head", but I can't remember the rest of it or who wrote it. Obviously they were talking about making pottery....

Thanks LeeU. I added it to my list of clays to check out. I’ve never looked at the Sheffield clays so thanks for the input.

that’s what I find too, it’s very wet.

Do you fire to 6? Is Speckled Turtle more speckly than 112? I don't mind that it might be darker, just how it works with the way I glaze. I have an electric kiln. Can I ask you how you determine it doesn't seem vitrified enough? Thanks!

I think it's me that doesn't use it well. I rolled a slab yesterday and let it get to almost leather and cut out some flat pieces and sandwiched them in dry wall. They seem to be very flat but I won't know till I bisque them. I think I need to let the slabs harden like that more often, but usually I forge ahead and give myself problems. I think my bag of clay is very fresh and moist too, nice for throwing but a little soft for slabs.

Why don't you like the B Mix with grog? What do you use to handbuild? It's ok if it's not white. Thanks for the input.

I'm looking for suggestions for specific clays for hand building slab bowls and mugs and butter dishes etc. I buy from Standard Ceramic, but also online since they carry only their own clays. What do you like to use? I throw with Standard 112 (tan speckle) and Standard 266 (brown) and Little Loafers, (white). Of those, the 112 seems to work ok for handbuilding, but I'd like a lighter colored clay too. Thanks for your help and ideas! Irene in NJ

Great discussion. Great Forum.

OK here are my results. The cones are 5.5, 6 and 7. I was out of 5s. The sets of cones on the left of each pic are the original, reused cones. On the right are the single fired cones. The last pic is in the first category, but I neglected to add a new set to that lower left half shelf. Do you think there's a significant difference? It looks enough to me that I won't re-use underfired cones again. I hope this info is helpful to you too. Thanks for your input!

Thanks for your answers. Looking on the box is not something I ever thought to do. Duh. Since this is my first glaze fire since changing all the elements and the relays, I have cones on each half shelf. The bisque firings ran pretty much the way I expected so I fired the glaze load as I normally do. I thought if anything it would be running hotter since the parts are new, but it finished a little low. The kiln just shut off so I'll get results tomorrow and let you know if the set from the first run and the second run look the same. Thanks again.

OK thanks everyone for your prompt responses. I'll leave them in and add some new ones and let you know how the experiment goes. I'll be sure to mark them so I know which are the old and which the new ones. I use the free standing cones, I think they're called self-supporting. Thanks for your input! I'm going to run the kiln overnight. By the way, where exactly is the cone supposed to hit for it to be that measure of heat and temp that matches what it's calibrated to? I can't seem to find that info. More thanks......

I need to refire a glaze load and am wondering if I can leave the same witness cones in it for this second firing, which will hopefully get up to the right temperature once I change the cone offset. I think it should work, but I'd like some opinions. The lowest cone only bent a bit so they have a ways to go. Thanks for your help!

My first thought is mosquito larvae. I had some breeding once in a vase where I was rooting something. Yech. I don't know what you can put in there that won't upset the clay, but I'm sure someone on this forum knows exactly what you should do. Maybe it's the sacrifice needed so the bell rings true after it's cast... oh wait, wrong folk tale.

Excellent posts. Thanks