Mark C.

Cone 11 fired 1/2 way is my lifes blood-If I had to choose between low or midrange I would be a midrange person. Low fire breaks much to easy . I did them all in art school (not midrange) and settled in at cone 10. I like wood and salt but my btread and butter is porcelain toughness with bright colors. They sell themselves and people love them for the durability. I got this from square today in fact Wait Time, Quality, Other, Selection, Environment, Customer Service Thanks mark! We appreciate your work. We have 4 mugs and 4 bowls and a butter dish with lid and 4 large plates, and few other things I’m not remembering. Plus all the countless gifts we’ve given to friends and family over the years. Thanks for your help, and take care! All my collage low fire work is broken and gone except a jug from high school on a shelve (non functional ) most likely lead glazed.I was 17 or 18 then.It reminds me how far I have come. Must be about 1 foot thick wall as well.

I like muds solution but if you are going to make one use only#1 pottery plaster plaster of paris is not good for ceramics period as far as I am concerned

You have to do the absorbsion test to anything about the end results. Underfired leaking clay is good for nobody no matter what the cost.

You either do the absorption test to see what your clay is doing (on the test bars)-but knowing that you are shortening the element life. I as Neil said just drive the 3 hours and get the right clay Using cone 10 clay at cone 8 is not a good idea . The absorbtion test will tell the whole story-except the shortened life of elements One note in ceramics a 10,000 things can go wrong (and you will find some do no matter what)and you are starting out with a few of them right off the bat. This can be issues with glaze and body issues righ tout of the gate. Take the drive and start right. The savings is not worth it my mind.

For me electric kiln firing was a stepping stone in my progression. I leaned to use them and bought one in collage (used) and have always had one around working in some form. Out of school I used to bisque in mine now and again and would do luster and decal fires in one. I made my own beer bottle labels for a spell and fired them on in my electric as a 20 something . When I was starting I wanted to leartn about all kilns and electrics wherte in the mix. Now in my area electricity is very high price and tahst be a constant here a swell for my life. But the heart of ceramics in the long run and what keeps me today in ceramics is the unknown or the reveal if you will. In electric firing the results are (or where back then at least) very dependable.This was cone 06 back in my day not cone 6. I never heard of cone 6 in the 70s. Cone 6 was and is a temp I go thru to get somewhere else.The unknown is the results of glazes in reduction fires and the challage to make them spectacular. Thats the hook that got me and the same is true with my salt kiln. I like working with glazes and those on the edge are the best when they work. This unknown factor has kept me in production all these years. I love the unknown about every glaze fire -no knowing that all my effort is paying off or crap its a disaster (which by the way was a small kiln load last friday I overfired ) lost 1./3 of it but man the keepers are over the top. Now I;m a glaze and fire potter-thats the thrill not the making. Sure I did raku,pit and wood firings as well as salt in school but reduction hooked me in the long run and I could build the kilns at home which I did during school as well. Sure the making is fine but I like the glazing and firing better. I feel the electric is more like paint -you open the jar and thats that-now I know since cone 6 and making your own glazes (I mentored a few in this field) its more an unknown now but back in the day it was not. So I have put a few pieces in a friends cone 10 electric oxidation (he got the super duper high fire crystalline model to do that) and they looked like stock colors to me. I feel the electric is more easy to use and for sure to get permitted especailly these days. For me its gas reduction or die and its carried me for 45 years now. I'm sure if it was only my electric back then I'd be an electrician or Plumber full time now instead of a potter. I like the challage of the fire and in an electric you progarm it and once you find it thats that .Each and every fire for me is an unknown to some degree-thats the past I live for.

There have been few extruders on potters attic or the southern equipment facebook site or the other ceramic facebook site in past 6 months. slab rollers not so much

My electric (bisque only) is a full on bottom and up on some smaller broken kiln shelve pieces at the stacking points .That space is 1/2 inch off floor. Its about 10 cubic feet. I only use 1/2 shelves from there up-I do have a full shelve if needed I just do do not use it ever. its a manuel kiln with a fire rite auto turn up switch that ramps it up automatically .Timer and cone sitter for shut down The kiln is outside and has no vent system-Its not fired more than 6-8 times a year -I tumble stack the top of it usually-really stuff it full. Most bisques are in my 35 cubic car kiln every other week-way cheaper to fire

My wife had a new hip two years ago at UCSF in San Francisco. Had her walking within day. Had a walker a few days than a cane for a week or so-real speedy recovery. All good very soon. 1st few days are thw worst then all good.

I'm still doing Pt daliy at home on hand myself-I found throwing small sponge holders helped seed up PT recovery for me and I then worked up size wize to 2# forms and then tried to center using other parts of left hand on 6# bowls. My Pt pl;ace cut me loose last Tuesday and now my only restrictions is not to pug on thumb palm and I cannot pinch for 12 more days with thumb.Turns out I can make pots without pinching at all.Clay work really brought my hand back around fast.The hand will not be 100% until late July than zero restrictions

I clean the studio and ware boards with water once a year-after Christmas -usually during my break .I tend to wash kiln shelves in spring when its getting sunny and warm out to dry them outside.Summer is gas kiln repair usually-bag walss etc . every 10 years or so in summer I grind flat any wonky palster bats outside on a wheel with a mask on.60-80 grit stuck to a bat does nthat fast-really dusty job. I vacuum the shop on Sunday afternoon weekly with central vac system that also our trash out and recycling day so I deal with cardboard in recycle tub and trimmings collected in buckets If its warm and sunny I empty my two tub clay waste system early in week to dry out in clay boxes for Sundays trash as well. I have been on this schedule a long time now but its noit fixed in stone. same is true with glazing and firing certain days.

Bryan clay has memory so it you push it out with a sponge or knife it can remember this and will later return to that form. When we added 15% EPK it never did a thing to our 4 glazes we used in terms of pinholing in reduction fires that where slow long fires (10-12hr) and slow cooling . sponging bone dry will not affect any deformation unless its rewetted and moved shape . Remember not to cut on plaster with anything other than a plastic tool and even that can cut into the plaster.. Does your mold have a longer top spew at the top? or are you cutting the top right at mold level?

(Similar to a comment I made yesterday you can also minimize warping if you remove the piece from the mold and THEN cut the rim. My cup forms come out of the mold with the sprew still in place. I place the clay form on a banding wheel and cut the sprew with an exacto knife. I then place the cone form back into the cup and allow it to set up for awhile. ) This would be pretty slow for production casting . When we had hundreds of molds going we designed the spew to be longer (you must do this always anyways) and cut the top inside spew with a plastic slip knife.(which does dot injuge the plast as much. Then demolded the piece and finished the cut with a sharp metal blade many at a time. This mold was a three-piece mold. We where making thousands of aroma therapy lamps for a decade The fill hole in the front was also the spew. The top is cupped to hold the oils the bottom was flat.These where all cone 10 porcealian.Still have the masters if anyone is interested.

(Goes both ways, I get it from men and women. It's uncomfortable for me) yes it does I get creeped out by either sex when they bring it up.

John I have nothing against that movie (I watched that scene recently and only that scene as the move does not interest me)-a few points she did not throw that pot on the wheel-its all a set up and any potter can see that so for me thats a falsehood and thats the premise take away for me. After being a potter for (now nearly 50 years now ) when that film came out that whole scene was told to me so many times I just never wanted to hear about it again. I never liked the entire film yet along the fake scene .Now it been so long ago I only hear about every few years. I have done the on the beach love scene as well as the clay mess love scene in real life with lovers as a youngster so none of this was new to me when the film came out. I'm glad someone actually took a clay class because of it-but let me add you are the 1st person that I have heard that actually happened to. Its the romance that folks recall.

In California around the 3rd to 5th grade elementary school we studied the missions that dot California from Mexico to just north of the Golden gate a piece. Those missionary's spread them out to a days walk between missions. They (white men ) settled the territory 1st in a big way. Working or torturing (believe what you may) the Indians who had always lived here. From that history we made small pinch pots like the Indians did as well as cardboard missions. That pot I still have a white body low fire pieve with cobalt on it. This did not get me thinking ah ceramics thats for me. The next was seeing my older brothers ceramic two foot owl he made in high school . Still have it somewhere? That did not do it for me but later when I got the bug was high school at a place that I could with a friend make pots . We both liked it so much we took private night throwing lessons in Seal beach for some months. That was in 69 if I recall.I bought a Brent wheel from Robert Brent at that time-he was just starting out as well. I went to JC in 1971 and then I already could throw pots (not well) They where building kilns and just starting a new campus so I landed at the right time to build kilns make pots and so on. I built a catenary arch kiln at my rental where I lived and made a throwing studio lean to off the back-soon I need a bigger place.-1st kiln the inspector ever saw-he lit a match looking for leaks (wow even then I thought that was a bit off) I bought a house in 73 with a small loan from my mother and immediately turned a one car shack into a studio and built a kiln.The gas Company ran a 1,000 foot main to house for free -kinder times back then (since then they have made a small fortune selling me gas at commercial rates.) Within a few years I transfered over to Humboldt state-1973-and there some new hires from Alfreds where teaching glaze and clay making. I sponged that up. They had a salt kiln-right time for learning that as well. They where on fire with recent clay learning from the greats at Alfreds.They taught mold making ,low fire ,high fire ,hand building-I soaked it all in and then some. I got a work study job at school pot shop-made glazes-fired kilns -cleaned the place -ground shelves-built kilns. I took it all in 24/7 for 5 years straight . I lived and breathed clay while chasing an art paper degree .After graduation with said Art degree I was making pots at home . I was 22-by then I was selling them anywhere I could find in our county. 12 years slipped by. My mother asked me at age 35 what I was going to be doing with my life in terms of work. I had never thought about it as I was paying the mortgage and eating with pottery money never thought it as a living then.-it just all worked. Never considered much else -like other work-sure i picked up some stray jobs to help along the way but clay was the way as it felt great. Later in life in my 40s I realized I was a potter and that was my path and livelyhood. Along the way I worked as an electrician as my best friend had a electrical contractin g business and needed help on big jobs where I learned on the job-same dael with a plumber friend he tought me and hired me a bit a swell all during my slower winter times with clay .Same with diving and clay I could help out doing commercial dive work with some dive contractor friends but only if it worked with show schedule. Then another 20 years slipped by again with pots. I will say those other skills really helped to make kilns and studio and homes and I suggest all the other skills for any potter these days .Runing gas pipe or wiring kilns -all good stuff to know. All my life I m the guy who wants to know HOW IT WORKS-that worked well for me. So for me I never had an ahah moment clay slowly did its magic on me and really until age 35 when my mother asked I had not considered it a job or the rest of my life. Looking backing I think I was 17 when clay got me. From that moment on it was like breathing air-I never had a chance. Today I feel like clay got me not the other way round. Clay has been very good to me and as a sit here doing exercises on my hand that just had a bone removed in thumb due to overuse clay also has been hard on me. Its a mixed bag really. Killer on the body on the scale I choose to pursue but mind and spirt its been very good indeed.. Need to check my kiln fires now

My workbench (all of them looked like this yesterday-today the kilns are glaze firing). Today benches are empty One and half handed glazing takes time My new temporay cast can take a xxxl rubber glove over it now. Going to rain some it feels like.

EPK is a cheap way to get alumina into your body and that will strenghten it and the clay will not affect . I used 15% in my cast body long ago which the form had a huge hole in side and it slumped. Thast why the 15%. It fixed the issue and was a easy fix. Your mug is not that warped so 5-10% may be enough .

Add 5% EPK (dry mix) to a test before wet mixing and since you are testing do a 10% EPK. This will stiffen the body just a bit. Maybe enough -cast a mug with handle on each test and see if the 5% or 10% works. I assume this is cone 6 as you did not say-just a guess This will stiffen the clay body just a bit and is an easy cheap fix. I have done this with cone 10 porcelain laguna slip dry body myself years ago with great results.

Whats a dreamer? Always been a doer-I think some dreaming skills may help me-lets see drinking my expresso now I'm dreaming of finishing all my work today-only have one hand so work is slow.I am dreaming about this cast coming off-only 5 days left then it a tempory cast for two weeks and rehab on the thumb will start. clay throwing still a long ways out-wait thats a dream. I do dream about being underwater if that counts

I would not do that-we have burr grinder for fresh beans every day-an expresso maker -a half dozen Italiain expresso pots-drip coffee maker-a few steamers-untold drippers, aeropress for travel-a complete travel coffee making outfit for shows and on the road.A turkish brass bean grinder andbrass pots for turkish coffee (this Turkish coffee is how my brother hooked me with coffee in my 30s)-underrate coffee-never I have told my Doc you can take everthing away except coffee

I was 18 when I got hooked-lifetime of woes worse than coffee for sure

Loading pots to close so they cannot (breath). In my reduction fires I pack them as tight as one can-always have. Yes in my salt kiln pots need to breath so salt gets on them but in reduction its a myth for me. I can occasionally throw handle and fire pots same day. Its all about timing and knowing the limits of your materials and work. Washing pots that where bisques -This I do with less than .001% of my studio production. Again only if they have months of dust on them which for me never happens. Pots are like mild around here they get processed and out the door. no need for washing . I did wash a mug the other day as I am one handed for spell I dropped on in the glaze bucket and it need washing off and drying them reglazed and fired-that the .001% this year I do not consider these habits but workflow