Pres

I was looking around in the shop the other day, and noticed that the GFCI on my outlets was popped. Checked around and could not find the cause, but the circuit was working fine. Made me wonder how many folks have GFCI's, and then I wondered how many of you have fire extinguishers in your shop areas? I have both. Got the fire extinguisher after a little grinding fire while sharpening some trimming tools. Easy to put out, just an oily rag, but a ceramic canister with lid was nearby. However, could have been worse so in came a fire extinguisher. QotW: Do you have a fire extinguisher or a GFCI protector in your shop areas? best, Pres

Yes the 211 is a brown clay, one of the reasons I like it. It works well with my white glaze with finger swipes and other options then I spray glazes over top. These move over the base glaze. best, Pres

I didn't realize that the 563 is over 2%, as that is what is still listed on their website. As for the 630, I am still using it, but as to the grey appearance I have come to use a single dip of my white liner glaze and then work over that. I have a line of glazes that work very well on that and the 211. I have been buying from SC in Pittsburgh since 1975 when I started buying clay for the Altoona Area High school. best, Pres

Hi folks, I have recently gone through some cleanup in the shop, and remembered how my first set up of shelving was done. When I first set up the garage as the pot shop I had nothing but bare walls, electric came from the house on an overhead wire, and all of the inside wiring was 110v, and even plugging in a heater would flip a breaker in the house. I did not have a wedging table, and the first few years wedged on the concrete floor! First I had an electrician put in a separate line to the garage. . . meter and all. Then I put in the wiring for the various boxes and areas I envisioned, keeping a space for the electrician to put the kiln in near the circuit box. First L &L arrived and was wired in with a 12 foot cable allowing me a little leeway in positioning it. I decided I needed some shelving for in progress pieces, greenware, and bisqueware. So I built a series of 2X10's with grooves cut in both sides that had notches at the top, and deadbolt latches at the bottom. These were attached to the garage door 2X8 that went across from wall to wall for the door rails and springs. Then a series of 4'X8'X3/8" were cut to make 18"X24" ware boards to slide into the slots of the uprights for shelving. Over the years having this shelving setup let me a adjust shelving for taller and shorter pots, allowed the shelves to come out to set next to the wheel for wet work and then on the rack to dry. It turned out to be very versatile and held up for many years until my needs changed and the space was needed for other things. QotW: How do you have your shelving setup in your studio, is it hand built, bought, wood, metal or plastic? Particular please, even pictures if you can. best, Pres

@Sara KelleyFiring the pot the second time vitrified the clay body a little more, and caused more shrinkage of the clay thus enlarging the crack. When I have had issues with cracks of this sort in student pottery, I would have the student enlarge the crack by scraping out the area with a pointed tool like a can opener. Then clean it out well leaving no dust dampen the area and force the repair agent deep into the crack, and not have much over the clay surface around the crack by scraping the surface smooth. Fire to the normal temperature which in your case was 04. You have to realize the your clay body and your repair material probably have different shrinkage rates due to the firings - very difficult to repair after bisque. best, Pres

Geraldine, Welcome to the forum. Could you go in and change the title to something about glaze firing issues and repair? This will make responses to your question easier, and allow search engines in the future to find your post along with others of the same problem. best, Pres

@Russ, I understand your concerns about the aggressiveness of a wood firing, and agree that not many shelf clays would handle that firing.. I live not far from a wood firer who is quite old now, but I am pretty certain in the day he did much of his own clays. I believe now that his clays are manufactured by SC. which gives his name away. On another part of your posting, if you look through the last few years of posts about clay there are several times that material suppliers have disappeared or changed mines or some other thing that has disrupted the quality of the clay manufacturers just as it has yours. best, Pres

@NanS, I had the same problem as you a few years ago when firing my new L&L. I followed Neil's instructions after some back and forth and now my firings are consistent at ^6. Not hard to do, and as I came from an all manual kiln. . . .I get more sleep at night! best, Pres

Hi folks, this last week @Pyewackette posted a question in the pool. Even though I think we have covered this sometime this year, it never hurts to approach from a different angle. @Pyewackette posted: QoW: What clay body or bodies do you work with and what do you like about it/them? What is the impetus for working with one or multiple clay bodies? Corollary: do you make your own clay, and why My thoughts on this are pretty simple. I use two clays for the last several years, a white clay SC630 that is quite nice to throw and takes my glazes that have used for years quite well. I also use a SC Hazelnut Brown to give me a different set of colors when working. No change in glazes as they look different but darker on the Hazelnut. As far as mixing my own clay. . . not enough space, too much dust, too much mess, more equipment, and too much work! i'll order mine premixed and ready to go! best, Pres

@GeniumI added a prefix to your post title. If you would edit the post and change the title to something other than your name, you would get more traffic on the post, and the search engines would be able to pick up the post when someone in the future needs help with the same topic. Welcome to the forum, hope you find your answers! best, Pres

I pour outside, finger swipe, spray through stencils. . . weeds, found objects. . . .lace, artificial branches etc, all over textured surfaces that break the glaze even more. best, Pres

@Min I also had an electrician put in my kiln line as there is a gray area in the local code about 220 line installation. When we set up the garage to be separate from the house kiln line was put in as part of the job. I also had the line for the heat put in by an electrician. However all of the repairs on the old kiln including replacement of coils, insulators, switches etc had been done by me. The new kiln, who knows if I get to the point of repairing it. best, Pres

@Mark C.Amen to "Potter for me means the whole of an all-arounder. " and everything else you said. best, Pres

Hi folks, I have seen a LOT of kilns having problems of late on the forum. Many folks asking for help/advice on whether a kiln is worth fixing, or if they should buy a certain questionable kiln. Makes me wonder how many people know enough about kilns to repair them by their self or if they will hire a tech for their problems. I can remember back when I first started firing an old Amaco kiln that there were all sorts of problems with the coils falling down, and bricks breaking because I jammed a shelf against it. Then we got a new kiln, and had an electrician come in to wire it to the wall, and set it up. He knew wiring, but didn't know much about kilns. . . relied on me, which by then I had gotten a little more savvy about what I fired. When the first element burned out a few years later, I reported it, and waited and waited, ordered new ones, and waited. Then I had an afternoon where there was a pep rally and teachers were in-servicing. I asked for the time, and an hour after everyone left I had replaced the elements. Next week the electrician arrived checking on the kiln came to me asking what was wrong. I explained everything and asked him to check over the work. He pulled the box checked the leads ran a few tests with a multimeter, came back and said it was all good. Said there was a kiln up at the Jr high that was having problems and asked if I would go up and look at it with him. . .said sure! SOooooo ! QotW: Do you repair your kiln, or hire an electrician/specialist to do the job? best, Pres

Yes, 2024 in Richmond VA. best, Pres

I slice and slam my bags of recycle often with part of a freshly opened bag. I use a wiggle wire to do this, and spray water between layers. After cutting through the blocks once to combine I slam and re-block to cut from another direction until all sides have been cut and slammed. Then the clay gets wedged using the cone method. I started doing the same as her putting the point down when I found that large plates would seem to survive better in that manner. My biggest complaint of the video. . . as much as she explains the process and demonstrates it well, her wedging table is very inefficient! The table should be lower so that the wedging motion uses more of the shoulder and body to move the clay. When I wedge, the motion of the wedging lifts the shoulders and stretches the spine. . . that is why I have said so often that I wedging relieves the pain in my back. The rocking and stretching helps a lot, especially on days when the weather change causes those old aches from old injuries to flair up. IMHO best, Pres

I believe that you could set up a live feed with most any older camcorder or a recent digital using ports in the TV connected to the USB post in the camera. Does the TV have a model make and model # where you could look up the manual online if you don't have it? best, Pres

@April Lemadter, sorry to hear that. I used the 112 for years at the HS where I taught. Always had good luck with it and the kids seemed to think well of it. We often would have recycled batches at the beginning of the year and when they were done the new stuff. Maybe the sitting in the warm room helped with the shortness as SC makes a lot of clay in the Summer for new school years. I recycled everything at the close of the school year mostly kept the clay in 50gal. buckets with wet towels over top and tight lids. best, Pres

Nice pictorial, great way to make a strap handle that matches the surfaces/fluidity of a casserole or other piece. best, Pres

I just finished up reservations for NCECA this year and was wondering if anyone else is going. I do know of a friend of mine that I have watched her work for years, worked on committees, and attended a few NCECA's when she was there. She will be there this year. I hope to see her. Anyone else going? If so I hope you get your paper work in now as things are filling up. QotW: Is anyone going to NCECA this year? best, Pres

I would thin that any sort of vinyl flooring over concrete would act as a moisture barrier of sorts, Interesting, as I set over an underground river. best, Pres

Looks like there is something goofy going on with the 3rd row of elements. . . as the elements are not setting in the bottom channel, or there is no front wall to the bottom channel of the bricks under the lid hinge area. Also the area where the lid hinge is will need to be completely replaced. All IMHO of course! best, Pres

Several years ago, I built a deck attached to the garage and house. 2 layers, no help building the framing at all. Used one corded hammer drill and two different cordless drills. Charged over night batteries lasted all day. Dad helped me put on composite decking. Don't know how I would have done it using corded drills with cords all over the place. The only electric putty gun out there was by Ryobi at the time. Easy to make a fake putty tube out of cvc pipe. used regular pipe fittings to finish up. Had to modify the plunger head to fit the cvc inside diameter. Great idea suggested by @Minthat has been used for handles ever since. best, Pres

I have had some success with firing vitrified pieces in a glaze firing. 1) Heat up the piece 2) Dip or pour quickly as there will be more thick drips if too slow. Fire as normally. The pieces I have fired in this manner do not look like the rest of my ware, but are more transparent in glaze, have color but also more of the color of the clay. stain decoration over top is excellent, but again it does not look like my work at all. best, Pres

Before I transitioned to mixing my own from scratch, I used to order ART and Minnesota Clay glazes in 25# bags. This allowed me to mix what I needed from year to year, and not have problems with the glazes drying out or getting had in the bottom of a jar. This was long before Amaco came out with their Potters Choice line of glazes. I noticed that they offer these premixed and bulk bags also. If I were still using premixed glazes they would be a good option. best, Pres