Pres

I find it interesting that no one mentions a wheel, but then we all assume that would be provided! best, Pres

I have been thinking about getting back into the shop. . . . that is really hard to get into now as the garage door had a large snow pile in front of it, that was soaked with ice that melted under the door and refroze all over the floor. No damage, as everything is on shelves, but really not good to walk on yet. However, I was thinking of what tools to get together for working in the house. This brings me to ask, , , ,what tools are essential? So QotW: What 5 tools are essential for throwers? For handbuilders? I'm not going to put my two cents in yet, why spoil the fun, besides it will be interesting to see what folks think are "essential". best, Pres

@Chilly have it, like it, has alternative information not in some others. As to resources on Cone 6, I have most of them, and find good material in all of them. best, Pres

Last QotW I asked about types of glazers. I have been thinking lately about the abundance of resources for the wide variety of firing temps and atmospheres. When I first started doing cone 6 there were few formulations available for the temperature. Internet was not there, it was before the M^6 by John Hesselberth, Ron Roy . It was also before the Bill Van Gilder Wheel Thrown Pottery book. However one could carefully peruse issues of CM, PMI, and others to find some of the cone 6 glazes being used by potters. I started a small notebook of hand written glaze formulas in college, and kept with it off and on, but I was not very religious about it until I started setting up a spread sheet with all of the recipes/formulas that I used or might use. Now with the internet out there with Pinterest, Glazy and so many others, there is little reason not to mix your own glazes. My personal spread sheet has become more extensive as I put in formulas from books and these other resources, and yet even now I have gotten behind. I guess at times when you find a set up that works you stay with it not making changes unless you have to or force yourself to. QotW: Mixers: where do you get your recipes/formulas for glazing? best, Pres

Looks yummy @Hulk. I usually add pepper mash and tomatillo to my guac. The Tomatillo brings out the lime, and adds another layer of flavor. The pepper mash. . . . . Yeah I love spicy. Usually made with wide range of peppers from green bell to habanero all peeled, with garlic, onion, and a little olive oil. Freeze in ice cube tray and add to anything that you want to add a little heat to. Great for chili and soups also. best, Pres

Hi folks, no new questions in the pool, so I'll pose another. Over the years, I have evolved in my use of glazes. In the beginning, college years, I was a user of glazes in the studio. I used what was there, and learned how to combine/overlap/decorate with what was mixed. When I graduated and got the job at the HS in Altoona, I did much the same. Ceramics had been started by another teacher using an old electric kiln and buying clay and glazes from Amaco firing at ^06. Its what he knew. Over the next few years I took over the classes, and started building a program by developing a better list of suppliers than the one the district used for all things, and buying better materials at better prices and moving to ^6. We still used Amaco liquid glazes, but on SC clays. Then I realized that I could get the glazes cheaper if I bought bulk and dry as the shipping also came out of our budgets. I searched for a year and found Minnesota clay, and A. R. T.. I purchased some glazes that seemed to be good fits and started to build up a selection of glazes that would replace the old amaco liquid and dry. I had moved from being a user to a mixer. This worked for quite a few years, and then they froze our budgets for several years, using up my inventory, and making the budget very tight all around. So I moved on putting all of the glaze budget into materials after reading M^6 several times That and other things made me a me more of a raw mixer. Mixing up the chemical compounds with the addition of some additives to have 2 & 5 gallon buckets of glaze for the students. This usually was 15-20 glazes for the class, along with some commercial underglazes. As time went on though, I have become more of a re-formulator where I use existing recipes of glazes, and modify them for either color or surface by manipulating the raw compounds within the glazes by changing the clays, fluxes opacifiers and other oxides. I still start with a base recipe, put it into a glaze program to tweak the glaze, do testing, and go from there. Glazes at home now are around 6-7 in number, with the use of oxide washes as inglaze. QotW: When it comes to glazing, are you a User, Mixer, Re-formulator, or a true Formulator? Please excuse my choice of terminology, but I am trying to keep terms simple. best, Pres

@Mark C., I know what you mean when you talk about the Brent cable system. First slab roller I bought for the school was a 14. It would roll out slabs well, but the maintenance and the whacky cable system to have to replace when cables shredded was a beast. I really hated the spray grease bit, but eventually came up with butcher paper system to keep that to a minimum. The Walker was also a beast, but didn't take a lot of maintenance, and would run forever. The HS is still using the one I bought many years ago after the district bought an old Amaco extruder. Bet not many out there have had one, and it is best left aside. Good run down on the equipment from a pro's standpoint! best, Pres

Hi folks, little late here, but then again no new questions in the QotW pool. I am getting a little older in the years, but still in pretty good shape for any age. However, I have a sister in law that has been looking for a better solution than a shovel for snow work. She would be too intimidated by a big snow blower, and over the years I have seen little use for that much here in central PA. We have been looking at powered snow shovels that use a battery set up for power. It looks a bit like a snow blower on a stick! I purchased one on line, had the best rating, and as the concept is new of the last few years, thought I would try one for her. It works well for light 3-6" of snow. push it along and direct the snow everywhere. However, as it is a new company, new machine it really doesn't have a brand name reputation, other than the ratings on line. This got me to thinking about whether brand name matters in pottery. Years ago, probably in the 80's I bought two belt driven wheels from a company that was brand new. Saw the wheel ad in CM magazine. I tried to find out as much as I could about them, but this was before internet. I needed wheels, but had a very small budget. Purchased one with a full horse, and one with a 1/2 horse. They are still running today in the HS studio. These wheels really were of great value for the price as they allowed me to get 2 for the price of one full horse Brent. They were Creative Industries HP and MP. Later on, I purchased a Brent CXC for my self, as I had always liked Brents, and they were proven work horses. I later bought a Bailey extruder for the school as it had a great reputation for well built large barrel extruders. That quality led me to take a chance on their new wheels, and I ended up with 4 of the various Bailey wheels in the studio. The point here is QotW: Do brand names matter to you when buying pottery equipment? best, Pres

Hi folks, no new questions in the pool for the QotW, sooo. . . .once again- I have been thinking about my use of a liner glaze, and how things change with the amount of opacifier, and the quality of the opacifier in the liner glaze. Presently I am using a liner glaze from Mastering Cone 6 Glazes that I have added Zircopax, tin oxide and rutile to. This gives me a nice light buttery glaze that works well with my clays and other glazes. It is very resilient and moves very little. I started using it when I left SC 112 and started working with SC 630 and the SC Hazelnut. The main reason for it was the Hazelnut as my other glazes came out very poorly on the darker body. I decided the easiest correction was a base liner glaze. That also opened up other possibilities as wet wiping to expose some of the hazelnut and even sgraffito through the base glaze gave me more decorating options. So just wondering, , QotW: Do you rework all of your glazes or do you use a liner glaze or some other fix after changing clay bodies? best, Pres

Once again, a little late with the QotW, no new suggestions. Lately, I have been considering working in the house during the Winter months, handbuilding. I have done some things with slabs over the years, mostly combinations of wheel and slab, however some all slab. I prefer slab work, as it in some ways approaches the time/refinement as throwing. The slabs don't require a lot of refinements, and the joins are usually simple and clean. Time to construct a piece can be a few hours, or several days depending on the intricacy of the form. I love creating imaginary buildings, castles, mountain cliffs and such . . .also easy to do. All of this makes me wonder what types of handbuilding others are doing: Slab, coil, pinch, extrusion, or other? QotW: Handbuilders: What is your preferred method of construction. best, Pres

During the holidays, I have been looking for some repair parts for things around the house, and usually find them at our local hardware store 1 block over and 3 blocks down. Just a walk. However, lately I have had a harder time finding just the right part, even when looking at the big box hardware twenty mile down the road. Makes me wonder. . . .when buying parts for the studio, kilns, wheels, extruders and others, do you try to buy local or do you just jump to the internet? I prefer to have a store, really with almost everything, I am one of those touchy, feely types that are more convinced the item is right by seeing it in person, and often being able to feel it. I haven't bought some things because of a sharp edge, a weak connection or other flaws. Lately though the internet has been the place to go. QotW: When making repairs for the studio, do you try to buy local or do you just jump to the internet? best, Pres

This last week I received a PM from @JohnnyKabout having a QotW question that I replied that I would wait until Sunday to post it. Not quite Sunday, but. . . QotW: What are some of the best places to inquire about and buy used pottery equipment? I really don't know where to search for used equipment, I have looked for things on various sites, but never bought. I have always been very good with once I have it, I take good care of it for lifetime use. Most of my equipment has been purchased new, with the exception of my first wheel that was an Amaco kick wheel with motor, and a few used kilns that I either resold or scrapped to rebuild my own kiln. Recently the ICAN Forum added the Community Marketplace, and so I watch there. Once again, QotW: What are some of the best places to inquire about and buy used pottery equipment? best, Pres

I dealt with back issues for years after a seatbelt fracture of two vertebrae when 19. Years of pain and rough morning starts, then around 50 they just disappeared as if they were never there! Hands and wrists seem to be good, and other than cramps at times things are going well. I follow the use it or lose it principle, in close connection to pain is a warning, not to be ignored, as so many popular guru's would have you believe. best, Pres

Health problems are major, so call it a shortage of health/movement. I really sympathize with those of you having joint problems. I have dealt with the aftermath of my rt thumb surgery over the years. First my bowling thumb would swell up so much that it would not fit in the thumb hole, needing a larger thumb hole, and then a new system came out with replaceable thumb holes-BIG help! Then the joint died, and I have limited movement for gripping so handles had to be pulled with left hand, poorly or pulled a little better with the right. Best solution is the caulk gun extruder still working well. I have noticed that my pulling fingers have begun to curve to fit naturally together for better bracing. I use a hand exerciser everyday for grip, and a wrist gyro ball to strengthen the wrist. All in all the Golden Years turn out to be highly tarnished. best, Pres

Hi folks, I have been thinking about a few strands here on the forum that concern shortages. Most of the shortages are due to the Covid situation which has made some major changes in the supply chain. Thinking about this made me wonder. . . what would it take for a potter, either a full timer or a hobbyist, to give up on pottery? In my own situation, I usually make pots when I feel like it, which is not in the cold, but otherwise whenever I can get the time in the studio. I love to throw, and at times handbuild. Working with the clay is therapeutic and satisfying, just as opening a kiln for me is like Christmas still. I imagine that if things stayed cold all year round, I would probably find a better way to heat the shop, and keep on keeping on. If for some reason I became disabled, I believe I would still deal with things to some degree working with the clay as so many others on the forum have. Shortage of electric, I would probably change clays and go to pit firing, and bring the kick wheel out of the basement to work that way, or buy a treadle wheel. I know that I am getting older, and that I take longer to throw a bat of mugs, but they are better mugs and more creative than the ones before, so time is not an issue. The only thing I can think of stopping me from making pots is the shortage of clay. . . Heaven forbid! I could probably turn Pioneer Potter, and dig/process the clay on my own, but then by the time I was done, too much time and energy has been exhausted leaving me the same! QotW: What sort of shortage would make you "give up the ghost" ? best, Pres

@graybeard, I keep tools in a metal anodized silver ware rack. . one section has a sponge where needle tools are kept to protect me from the same. I used to use the pipe insulation, but it would often interfere with large bats and pulling plate/platter rims. best, Pres

Yes it is a coloring oxide. . yellow iron oxide. It is cheap, and weak. It appears yellow, but fires red by itself. I use it in Richard's Nutmeg, a recipe I think I got from the Van Gilder book. best, Pres

Safe travels, @oldlady! best, Pres

Still stand by my previous above, and it is good to have one to educate others about chemistry. Did I ever mention here that I used to be a Chemistry major in the early college years, working as a lab assistant for all of the compounds needed for experiments the prof assigned. Left me with a healthy respect for chemicals, and an extreme dislike for equations! best, Pres

Getting more varied answers than I had figured, as my question was about coloring oxides, but what the heck, I'm tolerant, and and answer is an answer! I'm way past test grading days! best, Pres

No new questions in the pool, folks! QotW: All things considered, What coloring oxide would you not be able to work without? My favorite oxide over the years has been the most simple. . . iron oxide. I like so many other oxides and their uses, but nearly everything I do has some bit of iron in it. It softens so many other oxides, and works well in washes over and under glazes, and I find it versatile in so many ways that I can not imagine being without it. best, Pres

Late this week, or early next week folks, but no new questions in the QotW pool, so I will pose another question. When I started glazing in college, I had usually about 8 different cone 9-10 glazes to choose from in a studio that had a gas burning kiln that I believe may have been around 30 cu ft. The glazing was done with dipping, pouring and brushing with some splattering, but not much else. I continued much with this form of glazing while teaching, but added some atomizers to the work especially when working with ^6 in the HS I taught at. I still used the other techiques at PSU when doing grad school work. Then when I started my own studio at home with the purchase of a kiln and a motorized kick wheel I did much more glazing with the atomizer over a base matt white glaze and finished with calligraphic brush work. These pieces were one offs, and worked well with a few base glazes, and underglazes used as inglaze. However I changed direction as the glaze I used for a base proved to be unstable in my firings, and I found the zinc often dulled much of the color. I moved to a glaze with tin as an opacifier, and played with tin/chromium flashing for a while. Somewhere along the way I lost the feel for the previous work, as the glossy glazes moved too much and the colors were not the same. Of late I have been moving towards more texture in the piece allowing the glaze to break the thin and thicken as it breaks over the clay textured surface. I still am not happy with the results, but everything is a work in progress. The atomizer has been replaced by a spray gun, the inglaze replaced by glaze colors over the base glaze that is buttery white with the addition of 1-3% rutile. All of my firing for the last 30 years have been electric oxidation at ^6. QothW: What is your favorite technique of glazing and decorating? Does texture of the piece play into your choice of glazing and decorating? What atmosphere and cone do you fire to? best, Pres

@Hulk, I cut my hands up pretty bad in the very early days, when practice throwing. Took a pug @3# off of the Walker output, slapped it on the table a few times then started centering it. Big mistake, someone had thrown a metal rib into the slop bucket evidently. Went through the pugmill, and came out in pieces. I had several cuts that made throwing the next few weeks very painful, but I learned a good lesson. . . .wedge well to remove any gifts from prior clay use and abuse by myself or others. Sounds like you have had a good time organizing things to your liking! best, Pres

Hi folks, no new topics for the QotW in the pool, so I will pose one once again. I have been renovating the family farmhouse with my sisters and their families. Right now I have a car full of tools that will need to be stored away, but with the rain last night and this morning I am reluctant to get started. However, it got me to thinking about the way I organize tools. I usually have boxes/bags for tools. Small electrical tools go in a red box with a latch, circular saw is in a bag with blades, wrenches, sockets screw drivers in a trifold box, drills, bits, and impact drivers in a bag and so on. This got me to thinking about how I store my ceramic tools. I have cups for brushes, my wheel has a silverware wire basket with dividers where everything is arranged from needle tools in a sponge to ribs in slot, and other tools in slots. This allows me to take all of the tools out and spray them out while still in the container. . cutting down on dust. I also have magnetic strips I use for trimming tools when trimming mounted on the side of my trim splash pan. I used to hang tools with silhouettes painted where the tool went below the hooks. Some handles had to be drilled for that, but most of the wire end tools or the ribbon end tools would just hang easily. Now I have a cabinet of multiple drawers where the ceramics tools, stamps, and others are stored until use. QotW: How do you organize/hang/store your ceramic tools in the shop when using them or storing them? best, Pres