Pres

Perhaps the monkey tail could just be decorative and a separate metal piece used for a banana hook. Some forms just aren't suitable to be made from clay. 

Other option here is to use a metal rod to build the tail around, and work the tail by rolling it with the rod inside, That should make the tail a little larger with a larger hole in the tail for the rod to be reinserted after glaze firing to be glued in with epoxy.
best,
Pres

If I understand your design correctly, the monkey's tail is where the bananas hang? If that is the case or even if not, but concern comes to any weight being on the tail. If there is weight on the tail, I believe it would break as the long thin tail. As @Kelly in AKsays you need a thicker tail part where it attaches to the monkey, tapering to the curve. The attachment to the monkey body could be done by a metal pin that would allow the takil to swing. Firing separately is the only method that seems to make sense.
 
best,
Pres

If I understand your design correctly, the monkey's tail is where the bananas hang? If that is the case or even if not, but concern comes to any weight being on the tail. If there is weight on the tail, I believe it would break as the long thin tail. As @Kelly in AKsays you need a thicker tail part where it attaches to the monkey, tapering to the curve. The attachment to the monkey body could be done by a metal pin that would allow the takil to swing. Firing separately is the only method that seems to make sense.
 
best,
Pres

The clay will shrink so better make allowance when carving the grooves to attach to metal handle. Do you know the shrinkage rate of your clay body?
Can't advise on best way to fire, a lot hanging on that tail!!!!:-))

I love your monkey! The tail needs to go from thick to thin and be half as long. Long and skinny would be nice, but you’re asking far too much from the clay, if I’m understanding correctly. Especially if it’s expected to carry a load of bananas. 

Skutt Stephen Hill model (circa 2016) on base legs.
This wheel has a heavy cast built-in splash pan. The wheel head is easily removable (never got in the habit of pulling the wheel head to clean...).
I sit on a low-slung wooden chair (with a plastic covered seat pad) pulled up tight against the wheel's front leg.
Within the pan:
   on the left, a one-gallon plastic bucket, a half grout sponge tucked between the bucket and the pan, and a piece of chamois clothespinned to the bucket
   on the right, two half grout sponges stacked in the corner, where I set the pointer tool and metal kidney; next to it, a glazed cylinder with throwing or trimming tools;nearby, two small sponge pieces
Outside the pan:
   on the right, the gas pedal is on the floor; next to it, a plastic pan I toss clay bits into; just behind and to the right of the gas pedal, a plastic crate, on which rests a piece of paper, a ballpoint pen, a glazed bowl for slip collection*, a razor blade, a backup pen, the sound system remote; hanging from the chair's arm rest, a rag towel or two**
   on the left, a small three level shelf thing, where rests the other tool cylinder, an array of occasional use tools (ribs, drill bits, rounding bowl, rounding tumblers, and other stuff); an old adjustable office/desk lamp mounted on a roll around - so handy! !!
Behind the wheel, a window with an adjustable shade. The light is nice! In Summer, the afternoon light and heat is too much...
Overhead, two four foot led fixtures. On the far right, two trouble lights.
 
I sometimes keep a second water bucket nearby for rinsing hands before toweling them off - then the rag/towel doesn't get filled with dust, and the hands are "clean"er.
*Handy for fixes, handles, knobs, etc. the next day. I scrape some off my hands and plop it in the bowl, then add some water before stepping away...
**There are times when damp/wet hands won't do. These get rotated frequently, for clay dust is baaad!
 

I have a Brent half a horse powered wheel.   I have a small commercial table with wheels  on one side.  It holds a small bucket of water and a bucket of tools. not very big but it is the right height.   On the other side is a plastic shelf unit with grid shelves  I can space  them for the height I am working with.  My wheel came with a MDF square bat system with 2 dozen bats,  I haven't been able to use it the bats keep moving around.   I  just throw on the wheel and cut it off and place it onto the bat and then the shelf,  they get moved to a drying cabinet later.   I keep a 5 gal bucket near by for trimmings and throwing water.  My throwing area may be just a little too comfortable,  I have to remind myself to get up and move around.   Denice

As most of you know, I have a Brent CXC wheel. You may also know that I built a trimming box to fit on it when trimming to catch the scraps, and that this box sets upright at the front of the wheel when not in use. I have a metal tray of tools that sets on the box end over the wheel deck, with a bucket on the wheel deck for water. The tray has a sponge in it for needle tools and several compartments for wooden, metal or rubber ribs and other tools. This is pretty much all that I use for wheel set-up until it comes to trimming.
QotW:What is your set up for throwing on the wheel?
 
best,
Pres

I’ve always been a fan of using more than one opacifier in a recipe for aesthetic reasons, but the cost offset is nice too. Zircopax and tin lowers the amount of tin you need, and titanium and tin have the potential for a lot of visual depth. Zircopax and titanium give a lovely blue undertone variegation, and some nice visual depth.
The former tech at the studio I work at chose one of Joe at Old Forge Creations’s chrome tin pink recipes for some shop glazes.  The recipe cuts the tin 50/50 with titanium, and works a treat. I don’t super recommend it as a studio glaze if you’ve got mostly beginners, or inadequate glaze room supervision. You have to add epsom and darvan to keep everything dispersed enough for poor mixing to not mess up your bucket chemistry, and that’s a nuisance. But if I liked a lot of opaque bubble gum pink, I’d use it in my own practice without the additives. It’s been pretty well behaved. 

When recycling clay for the ceramics classes before summer vacation, I would add a few ounces of vinegar into the pug mill. Over the Summer months the clay would set in 50gal plastic buckets with damp towels with a water vinegar soak in them. Every Fall the recycled clay was better than the clay direct from the boxes. Students noticed the difference and I did take the time to explain that the organic material in the vinegar had chance to age the clay with organic material.
best,
Pres

I have a 28" kiln where shelves are 26" half diameter. I make plates that are about 12-14" for patens in communion sets. I can only get 3 to a layer in a regular stack, but by using a broken shelf under two, I can get 4 of these to a kiln shelf. Does not seem like much, but in a load it means a lot.
 
best,
Pres

I have a seperate trimming  station its a small Brent Model A wheel with a few Griffen Grips. One is set up for regular sliders the other is set up for arms. Back when I was really producing tons of wares  I could just snap one off and use the right one without time switching parts. Now I'm doing less and its not critical . I also have the griffen huge platter trimmer hanging on the wall but I have not used it in a few years so it may have to go up for sale. Not making mondo huge platters anymore. These are all time savers if you are in the business of pottery production

I was a horder of materials  in my mid career so I have all the tin I need back when I used a lot  and it was cheap and buying 1 ton of Gerstley was dumb luck long ago and thats what is in my white liner which we use a lot of these days . Now days I never worry about price of materials if I need it I order it.

Thank you both, Min and Pres. That is a brilliant suggestion and answer.

I have a 28" kiln where shelves are 26" half diameter. I make plates that are about 12-14" for patens in communion sets. I can only get 3 to a layer in a regular stack, but by using a broken shelf under two, I can get 4 of these to a kiln shelf. Does not seem like much, but in a load it means a lot.
 
best,
Pres

It doesn't matter.

I prefer half shelves. More flexibility, easier loading, and half shelves tend to last longer. Posting gets awkward when using both full and half, because you end up having to use 4 posts on a  full shelf and they don't always sit evenly, which puts a lot of stress on them.

I know my customer, and he's a picky gallery owner.  And, I have an exclusive contract with him, so selling it retail is not an option.  My decision is to give the higher-fire a try; and if it doesn't work, give it to one of my relatives, who won't care if it isn't perfect.   Thanks to all of you who responded; you helped me make my decision.

The problem for me is when mixing chrome-tin pinks for my students. I have 7 and 10 gallon buckets in my studio, which means anywhere from 1.3-2 pounds per bucket and that gets expensive pretty fast even with just two colors. If it was just for me I wouldn't care at all. It would take a lot for me to consider a glaze to be too expensive for my own work.

Even at $100/pound, say you put 30 grams of glaze on a mug and 3 grams of that is tin it's only 66 cent a mug in tin.
I don't let it put me off using it, I like tin  

I just talked to Stoneleaf.  Tin ox is $108/pound.  Guess I will stick with Zircopax.  They do have Gerstley.  $224/50#  I think I will get that.  It will last me a long time. 

Ouch! I've found that most of the time prices for raw materials are less expensive in the US but my local place has tin listed at $59.10 (Canadian dollars) for 500 grams which puts it at $43 US dollars for just over a pound. 

Great question, and as you see, there are reasons for different answers.  I dip all of my test tiles, so the are the same on both sides. Then I use small shot glass type testers to see if the glazes interact with each other in weird ways. . . . why the shot glasses?  Easy to throw off the hump, simulate a pot form and allows me to test inside and outside combinations. Finally if there are any weird interactions from different glazes that may cause the pot to crack, craze, shever or anything else, the shot glass shape is more stable and will keep the glaze from doing too much to the kiln. Lots of them can be fired as extras in any load.
 
best,
Pres

Great question, and as you see, there are reasons for different answers.  I dip all of my test tiles, so the are the same on both sides. Then I use small shot glass type testers to see if the glazes interact with each other in weird ways. . . . why the shot glasses?  Easy to throw off the hump, simulate a pot form and allows me to test inside and outside combinations. Finally if there are any weird interactions from different glazes that may cause the pot to crack, craze, shever or anything else, the shot glass shape is more stable and will keep the glaze from doing too much to the kiln. Lots of them can be fired as extras in any load.
 
best,
Pres