Mark C.
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Posts posted by Mark C.
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On 2/11/2019 at 5:01 PM, Bill Kielb said:
Funny I sat down tonight at a wheel and first it didn’t start, then it ran backwards, then it finally performed normally after I jiggled the footpedal wires. Guess I will do a quick video on cutting these back and repairing them nicely. New strain reliefs, new crimp on connectors all for little money but in good lasting order when they are done. It has come up on this site recently several times now. Time to make a video and link it here somewhere.
Whats the brand?
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My thought is the sponge leans against the side at an angle so air hits just about everywhere. It may be extra work for not.
I have seen them with shark teeth on sides -as well as the bottom cut out on bottom-both things are unnecessary . Our sponges to not drip are get loose.
I had a Japanese potter send me oine from Japan with the bottom cut out an a panda bear on the side. Now that was time consuming.
I put put holes in about 1/2 my extruded soap dishes-holes take extra time to clean up.-just a thought. As you know these sell better with one demo sponge in them on of them.
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Whats the purpose of the side holes in the sponge holders?-it has to be decorative ?
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10 hours ago, liambesaw said:
Can I see what those look like?
For me, I've got a bunch of mugs to trim and handle, and another bunch of mugs to throw. I have been making sake sets for my relatives in Japan, hopefully going back this year
You meanDxtruded soap dishes thrown -butterdishes -spongeholders and mugs
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1 hour ago, Min said:
Trimming the openings in salt pigs. Think it takes me longer to try and get the holes cut more or less evenly and round than it takes to throw them.
Min I got tired of salt pigs taking so long-I worked on a copper pipe to cut my opening like a hole cutter. I like an oval opening but since yours are round this will go easier for you.
I ovaled the larger copper pipe fitting and then ground the inside down to a point with a Dremel tool . You could do this with platic pipe or fittings(these vary in size) Just find the size you want and sand or grind the edge to a point and t=now you have a fast punch. It works great then sponge smooth. Saves tons of time. -
They have made a few improvements in the past 50 years with wheels. The Fred flintsone model is impossible to get parts for now.
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I think good music matters most when throwing .I know that is a little out of the box but for me its true.A nice large light gathering window in front of me keeps me chipper as well
The other smaller things are speed control and a good throwing seat.
The speed control needs to work well.
(The pedals on the shimpos at the time weren't nearly as sensitive.) I think Callie thats an understatement as all those old Shimpo's have teriable speed control .The foot pedal on the ring drives seem really outdated-even back in the day.Sure thay are cute but thats about it.
All 5 of my wheels spin only one way-never thrown the other way. No reason to.
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Brass hole punch set works wonders-1/4- 3/8- 1/2 -3/4 inch They used to have wood handles now I think they are all brass pipe with plastic cap or you get them from Chinese art supply and they are very cheaply made-make sure the hole bottom is flush with planter bottom. I always did 3 holes evenly spaced.
No pots made yet in 2019 but I ma firing a electric clean up bisque right now.I have a small gas kiln load to do in a week to clean it all out.
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That strange as I was just going thru my 2011 tax papers to shred (8 years back) to make room for the new 2018 papers I'm working on now.
One was a letter from Warren about the bowl he sent me as a trade (I paid shipping cost)I put it with bowl today-same day I read this thread.I had not heard the news-small world.
- Marcia Selsor, Benzine and Pres
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I tend to work thru a new item by making some 1st and using them. Next batch I improve them and so on-usually I get to what I think is the best in term of functionality and weight and form and function by the 3rd go round.Then I make many hundreds in my line. I can change the form over time like my tumblers which used to flare at the lip more 10 years ago now they are almost straight -just a little for your lip.
I have added a few forms over the years if I'm asked a hundred times about it. Thats how I came back to making french butterdishes (butterballs for some)
I was doing southwest desert shows and got asked for a decade about them before caving and offering them.I did make them in the 90os but they had yet to catch on then so I stopped .
I tend to standardize forms with the same metric measurements so lids will always fit bottoms if I need more-I have done this since the early 80s before that every lid was a different size to fit that particular bottom.I was green out of school and it was learned skill that made life easier but requires some discipline .
I also from the start weighed all clay to have standard forms-I can do this without a scaling all the pieces but cutting the pug in so many pieces. It saves lots of time as well.
The trick is cutting one handle off your cut off wire and you can drag it thru the pug on end and pull the wire out at bottom of cut.Its the little tricks really that save energy and time. also no need to make clay balls the wheel will round them out in a second unless the clay is over about 6#s then a ball shape will aide you.
In terms of exact forms like Pres. said above -on a batter bowl or what I call a whip bowl. I make mine with extra thick beefy handle and a pour spout and sell them with wire whips included. I have yet to break a handle on one.
I make a handled whip pitcher with sprout that has a small handle on side that holds the small whip-cute as a bug but its my least favorite form due to the fragile side handle. I was recruited to make them buy a gallery in Mendocino and they sold very well for 18 years until the closed two years ago. I have about 50 more whips and when they run out I'm done making them as I know folks break off the side handles.
I tend to like strong forms that last. I make thousands of sponge holders and they are a bit fragile but I know they work very well(we use two ourselves )
I do not like them to thick even though they would last longer and hold up to falls better.Its form weight function trade off.My sponge bottom keeps then from moving on counters.
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5 hours ago, Rex Johnson said:
I knew it! Mark you are the consummate NorCal hippy potter
I'd never guessed you were from Long Beach though.
Glad the craft life has been good to you.
I had very long hair until the early 80s-Being raised in turbulent times(60's)We set out to change the world-my part is with clay.I have had a beard since 18-only have shaved twice in my life.Not much of a hippy since 81-more a worker bee-my midwestern parents work drive kicked in as I grew up.
My Long Beach years where 53-71 minus almost one year in Nashua New Hampshire when I was 15 (ran away with a girl-long story but I have a New Hampshire soc security number from my 1st job working for 6 months in a cemetery .Brutal outside labor job from frozen to beyond humid.That climate is like a rath much of the year.
- Rae Reich and Marcia Selsor
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Rae
I see the drug ads with pottery as a hobby thats mainstream these days.I'm going to pass on any comment as I was taught to be quiet if you had nothing nice to say.I do not believe in magic so that must be it.
I was introduced to clay in high school-well sort of. Back in my day we had a dress code and it was not to have long hair or sideburns extended. Well that did not fly with me so I spent lots of time in the deans office in late 11th grade discussing hair length and side burns-Thinking back on this its just insane. sort story now- My mother was in the teaching system and suggested I check out the continuation school taught at the Business and technology junior collage campus-I did and I finished high school early there(my 12th grade) as you could work as much as you wanted. Here they had a small clay studio that was used during the day sessions when I was there. Since I was not a troubled discipline problem (b average all thru school)I could work in there with a friend.
Hence I was exposed to clay then. My friend suggested we take some private night lessons taught by a potter in nearby Seal Beach at the same time so we did.My family was mostly all teachers and art was a common theme in our home.Before graduating I was taking flying lessons and stopped after soloing and spent my savings on a wheel and was throwing at home. I moved to the Northern part of the state (from Long Beach)to go to Junior collage to study forestry and art then on to Humboldt state to finish my art degree. I landed at the JC in the right time as they where building kilns as it was new school. I knew how to throw and learned kiln building-went on the HSU and learned glaze making and ALL other aspects of ceramics from recent Alfred graduates who where all new hires and very much on fire to teach what they learned from the greats.I was at the right places at the right times it turned out. Went full time in 1976 the year of graduating from there. I never left my area of education (still a sleepy spot in this busy state)I bought some property in 73 and started building kilns while in school-still here 45 years later.
I caught the clay bug without realizing it-never viewed this as a job or thought of it as work or a living until late 30s.
I went thru some very tough $ years first 10 years then it slowly took off. The rest is history.
Looking back you could say growing long hair and side burns got me into clay.
PS: they dropped the dress code two years after I graduated .
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I cannot wait until ghost is gone in all customers memories-Its been a sore spot with unrealistic pottery talk in my booth for decades.The romance of pottery-ya right-getting dirty-living heavy things- sure it romantic
Johnny we have a different take on that.I cannot count the comments on that move years ago but they are now very much fading.
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Here's that last load that came out last week.This is the kiln load in above post
It was a loose load -what I call a year end clean up fire.
Now its a everyday selling pots at my pottery booth and dropping pots off at my 9 outlets in this county. Xmas is go time in my world.
The 25th is time to put my feet up. Then its stock up the outlets for the slow winter months.
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Pres its like this every other week on Glaze day and sometimes every week if I took a few weeks and just threw without firing.
Its my last fire of this year, only thing left is sell the pots myself and take them to my outlets every week. It go time in my business until the 25th then its as Mea says time to put my feet up -right now I'm waiting for a cortisone shot in my thumb.Seems all this clay work can mess with your body -who knew as one person said recently?
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So today started like many glaze days except this was the last one this year. The day ended looking like these last two photos.Which is all that bisque ware you see in above post which got glazed and loaded today.
The big car kiln was not quite full (last fire of year is a cleanup of whats left) and the little 12 cubic updraft was bait loose as well.
This year in firing making terns is ending earlier than it ever has for me. Due to my two month broken arm setback-I ended up with a whole shows extra inventory-Hence no need to make that much more for xmas.I;ll post a year end comparison as usual for my business later in month after things slow down. I closed my retail pottery sale booth for two days (mon_tues) to concentrate on the glazing and firing as well as the usually 18 days this season is just a bit to long for me-I like 15 days selling maximum . So is will reopen on Wednesday and sell everyday thru xmas eve.
My workbench will be empty of greenware and bisque ware its only for fired pots that need pricing or sorting or shipping now as the selling season is on and the makings season is over.
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This was on my workbench this AM it did not fit the bench and spilled onto many surfaces.At the end of day (5 pm it looked like next post all glazed and loaded in two kiln loads -see next post)
I throw a bunch of bowls and size them in groups by measure after bisqued-thats whats going on with these piles of bowls-they where just sized with a ruler.
We(my studio assistant and myself) waxed and glazed and I loaded two kilns today-all this bisque ware processed today. Glaze fires in am.
She does the hot dip waxing I do the hand waxing on footed forms
This is my last two fire this year. see next post on that
- Rae Reich, Marcia Selsor, GEP and 1 other
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I has a customer request this same item-but I do not do special orders anymore.
Good job
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letting clay freeze seems like make work to me-rewedeging and all . I would avoid at all costs-of course a few bags is no big deal.
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I own 4 --150 quart coolers for fishing -how about using something like those or insulated moving blankets to keep the clay above freezing. It just needs no be at say 34 degrees.
Foe small amounts (less than 1/2 ton-20 boxes) you could some keep in in the house as clay is dense and takes little room to store really.
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No I do not let my clay freeze-1st its not good on the clay as I would have to wedge it afterwards second it never freezes in the studio or much outside here in this sweet wet /dry climate. I keep about a 1/2 ton inside suitor to work as its warm clay then..My clay shed outside on Northside of studio on road holds 99% of my clay (right now about 4 tons) it has a canvas front but it does not freeze here enough to ever freeze the clay.I also have about a ton of stoneware in another covered area also open to cold but no freezing either. We gat some cold snaps-today was 35 this early am warming to 60 today. I'm almost done with production for the year-as I finish making things next Wednesday-that clay will sit until February as thats when I will get back to working clay again. I still have firing and glazing to do but this year its done on the 12th. Pottery sale goes thru the 24th so its selling time -starts on the 8th.
I was glazing in studio yesterday with heater blasting to dry some pots and it was 79 in there-like the tropics-outside it was in the 40s.No freezing in studio ever-its insulated and even when shut down a month or two it never gets that cold here.
QotW: What matters the most to you when throwing?
in Int'l Ceramic Artists Network (ICAN) Operations and Benefits
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Yes they have wimpy cord and restrains-of course it very quiet when it cannot run-wisper quiet I bet.
I used a few of thoise doing some demos a few years ago-great for talking over.