Pres

Bing I am going to move this thread to the Clay and Glaze Chemistry section as it is more appropriate. best, Pres

Hi folks, no new questions in the pool. Recently there have been folks speaking of buying a wheel, and waiting to buy the kiln until later. At other times I have heard of folks buying the kiln or being given one, and later getting a wheel or slab roller or extruder. Makes me wonder how things came about for others out there. I bought a used wheel from a private school, an Amaco powered kick wheel first, and the same year I ordered my first kiln, an L&L J23. The kiln had 4 sections and was larger than any electric I was used to. I was teaching at the HS already, and had ordered an L&L for the kiln in the newly renovated art department. Liked it so well I bought one for myself. QotW: Which came first? best, Pres

While teaching at the HS I had a handout for teapots. . . .as my advanced classes had to make one for a MP benchmark. I had it posted on my blog best, Pres

I have also used bakers spray for forms to separate especially if using heavy texture also in the mold. best, Pres

I understand your concerns with bakeware, but you should not be overly concerned as most ceramic will do well for baking. I have made, used, sold bakeware as casseroles, egg dishes and other items using a cone 6 mid range stoneware clay. My glazes are made to be fully vitrified, thus durable one the ware. However, bakeware like other non metallic ware needs to be brought to temp slowly, not loaded into a hot oven from a refrigerator, Corning made much of its from glassware for baking and the rules were slow heating, and slow cooling, thus no thermal shock. I believe these rules hold for most work that is made of ceramic for baking. The clays that I have used are SC 112, 211, and 630. I use those because they seem to fit the way I throw, and like to work. They hold up well in firings and do what I want them to without surprises. best, Pres

@Hulk, that reminds me of several years ago at my Dad's home the drier wouldn't dry the clothes. It would run, but not dry them on their automatic settings. Checked the vent to outside, no air coming through. Went to the basement and yanked the drier exhaust, found a mouse nest with 3 mice drowned in it. The duct had become blocked and moisture kept going in to fill with water, the weight of the water caused a pocket that trapped the mice in the nest and drowned them. Cleared it all out, re-supported the duct work, and replaced the outside flapper that kept the duct from getting visitors and things worked well. best, Pres

Hi folks, no new questions in the pool today so I will take a swing at it. I have been thinking about tools in the shop that get used often or that if they weren't there I would be inconvenienced. One such tool is the bar stick, or hand held blender. I use it when mixing up slips from dried clay and slip, I use it to remix small amounts of glaze when using the airbrush as it fits the container and quickly does the job. I have even used it in a container of dry clay broken into inch size chunks to get to sandy chunks before adding water. I mix underglazes and stains with it, along with glazes in small amounts, QotW: Do you have a favorite tool that you use with a lot of different materials? best, Pres

Yeah CI's original splash pans did not hold up well. Their attempt at a replacement model was pretty poor also, as it used springs to hold it one the wheel. JohnnyK's solution is the best one I have seen IMHO. Loved the wheels, and the HS I taught in still has the MP and HP wheels. best, Pres

@Bam2015 when you start your glaze search you may find M^6 Clear liner glaze of interest. I am using this with the addition of zircopax, tin and rutile for a pale buttery white. remove the rutile for a pure white. best, Pres

While the science is quite interesting, the best physical evidence that the kiln is done water smoking is the feel of dryness from the peep, If there is still a dam feel from the peep, do not begin the firing. I know that in this day of programmable kilns that one would like to set all of the parameters up to have a program for wet ware, leather hard ware, bone dry ware, and clunky ware, but in the long run checking before the kiln goes to full firing will save a bit of worry about whether the ware was ready for the program. Sometimes the characteristics of the ware being fired is beyond programming, especially when dealing with student pottery hand built or thrown. best, Pres

Sounds like to me she needs some visuals showing the steps to throwing. Poster used to do the trick in the old school days, but in this day and age there are several videos out the that should help you out. This would work especially if you can find some with Korean speakers in them. Posters and diagrams, handouts and process step materials would also be helpful to all as a step by step organization of the throwing process. Easy enough to do with pictures and Word. best, Pres

@Swen, You may find that epoxy putty will work a little better, as it works like a putty, has more body to it, and hardens quite hard. I would use 2 positions as with the epoxy, but I believe it will hold up better. best, Pres

@Min recently posed a question in the QotW pool concerning supply chain issues. Question of the Week would be have you had to change any recipes or purchases because of supply chain issues. I recently had to change the recipes for my glazes to use different frits. Glaze recipe I use the most used Ferro 3249 which is very expensive, I've redone the recipe using other frits because of the pandemic and supply chain issues and rising costs. I (Pres) have not gotten into the pricing or availability of my glaze materials as I have supplies to last, other than talc which I am worried about. I am looking to buy some new shelves, as on my last trip to Pittsburg they did not have any 1/2 shelves for my kiln size. I figure it I can make a tip to Bailey I may pick some up. QotW: have you had to change any recipes or purchases because of supply chain issues? best, Pres

In answer to your question about changing the recipe. . . April of 2022, Laguna says they had to change the talc used in Bmix. They state that the only change should be a slight change of color from grayish to more cream. Link is here: https://www.lagunaclay.com/_files/ugd/e5330f_3caae3bfde7b4456a33ea0b74f0890fc.pdf best, Pres

After firing my fully manual kiln for years, I find that I have a slight bit of macular degeneration. Even though I tried to use kiln goggles while firing and peeking in at the cones or the color temperature. Now when I go out anywhere I use clip on sun glasses on my glasses. I heartily recommend either a welders shield or goggles. best, Pres

I have done wall tiles with some adult students, and extruded molding. However, to make floor tile that requires so much strength to take abuse I will leave to the commercial/professional folks. My house has ceramic floor tile in the dining room and the adjacent bathroom. These are 14X14 and have been in the house now for over 20 years, no breaks or replacement. best, Pres

@ARTeacher, Welcome to the forum, hope we can help you along your path in ceramics and your classroom. Yeah, had to love the Walkers, we had one in my HS that I had purchased in the 80's, it is still running today with all of the safety equipment in working order. As to you problems with the Nidec, as I am not really that familiar with them, do I assume you have checked to make certain the blades are turning? Sometimes a gear or other works loose, and will not drive the screw mechanism. If that is not the case, I would recommend the housing apart and make certain all is cleared out. best, Pres

@Emma Potter, years ago, when teaching HS, I had several different lusters that I would allow the students to use sparingly on their pieces. It was one of the things that stayed locked away until a situation would make me take them out. It may have been a particular pot needed an accent of gold trim, or a gem stone on a pot decoration needed to look richer with a mother of pearl finish, or the obvious the inside of a clam shell pot. When doing this, it was a controlled atmosphere for me, rubber gloves, masks when working with the material. I would get the students to know that working with it had to follow my rules, and in order to drive home the idea I would have them take a distant sniff of the luster to understand that it wasn't something to play with. The luster glaze was applied by brush over areas of gloss white or Black glaze, with one exception where we fired it over an Iron Red glaze with very interesting but beautiful results. All of the firings were done with restricted access to the kiln area as I did not have a hood or downdraft, just a large vent fan in the wall over the the kiln and still the room would have a slight odor. I mention these things to get your to understand that it is not something to do lightly. I shudder to think of someone airbrushing lusters in a naïve manner. best, Pres

@cafedunier, Welcome to the forum. What you are describing is a long arduous process. Firstly is the harvesting of the clay, and testing to see if it has the possibility of being vitrified. This will probably take tests to fire it in the pit firing and to discover if there are possible fluxes or additives that would be used to make it more acceptable. These pieces are usually one fired, with not pre-fired bisque. As to whether you can use them for cooking in you oven, that to would involve testing. I do know that some folks have used low fired bodies for bakeware, that are often seasoned by the cooking, and some that are soaked in water for cooking with a steam type process. However, it requires time, patience and dedication to accomplish what you ask. best of luck on your journey, Pres

Great tip @oldlady! best, Pres

There is labor, and labor of love. . . . with the one you never have to work a day of your life!

Just using the nomenclature of @M.A. Handpainted, but I do agree with you, they are probably glazes. best, Pres

Bisqueware should be good indefinitely, as for the Mayco paints, they may be dried or caked, but should be able to be reconstituted with the aid of a bar blender, and some hard work. best, Pres

Marvelous, what they mean when science fails and art keeps on (paraphrased). best, Pres

Firing by the seat of your pants is tough. Even with a cone pack at cone 6 if something happened to the pack I could estimate the heat color/temperature. However the further the kiln got above 5 to 6 the colors are so bright beyond yellow white that you can't really gauge by color. Tough without cones! Good luck with the firing, I would expect a few slumps if nothing else. best, Pres