Pres

So it depends on what I'm doing.  For forms I make repeats of, I have a master for each form.  It says on the bottom the weight of clay that is used to make it.  I put it on the wheel, set a gauge, and then I am up and away making them.
For plates it's easy.  12 inch bat, open to the edge, pull the edge in to the pins and then pull the wall and lay it down.  It always ends in a 12 inch plate.  I use 4lbs for a 12 inch plate.
 

the size of the kiln shelf is a real help.   i have traced the shelf onto my white slab roller top.   making something too long to fit is not a good idea.   it also allows me to trial fit the forms i use for slab work on a shelf so i can tell if a new shape is profitable.   and it gives me an idea of what odd corners might be available for small fast sellers.  

Steriod shot can help but its a temporary solution. See a hand only surgeon -tahts one who only doies hands that all they do.
I'm looking at a January  or Feb. deal myself. No fun. I see my second hand only suregon is SF in two days for a second opinion .
The wax does speed up healing as well as the ice water to hot water baths that you plunge your hand into a few times a day. It all helps with blood flow and inflammation reduction.
Same with water soaked microwave washcloth wraps on wrist. All good stuff.Any top notch rehab person will suggest all the se treatments .

Pres
I to have bumps on finger joints and as far as the hooked or curvered fingers that do not straighten . That can be a simple surgery procedure with no ill side effects if done with a hand surgeon. I had a friend do 3 fingers and no ill effects long term.Only one of my fingers is hooked at end and its thge one I cut off at age 12 and was reattached .So thats a special case and I'm fine with it looking curved when I point.

Tough decisions as we get older @Dottie. Most o f this is personal decision, but I will let you know what I have been doing. Retired 2009, do part time pottery mostly in the non Winter months. I have had cysts, with bone spurs, one operated on, and it killed the joint on the rt thumb. I recycle all my clay with wedging, and throw most of my pieces. I used to pull handles with my rt hand, but now use an extruder to make handles for mugs and other pieces that require handles. I used to take NSAID for pain, mostly just before bowling, as I am an avid bowler at 3 times a week. I have found that the pain of the hands goes away when I am using them. The more I use them the longer the pain seems to stay away. However. as I used to teach most handbuilding techniques in HS, I know how much the pinch pot forms can affect the hands, especially as you get older. Maybe you could resort to a hybrid form with coils, or extruded forms working on the sculptural pieces that way. I think if you love what you do you will find ways to adapt.
 
best,
Pres

Yikes!  I hope stem cell joint therapy is finally FDA approved by the time I get arthritis.  I know I can't afford it now, but there's a chance in the future I could if insurance covered part!  Amazing how you can regrow cartridge with those therapies, and despicable how they are keeping it unapproved to make money.
 

Recently succumbed to teaching  pottery longtime ago student . Not the pat bit, this means I cleaned mny shed, pat, pat ,and pat and am throwing out, organising resources, weedingbout buckets of glazes And labelling stuff very clearly, memory not what it was.
Thank you S for asking the old bat for lessons. She asks great questions, makes teaching oh so easy.

Wedding jar completed except for cleanup a little after it sets up some more.
 
best,
Pres

Glazing today, bisque is just turned off. Glaze load goes in tomorrow, then another on Tuesday. This is today load that I have finished glazing though the pic was taken this morning before.
 
 
best,
Pres
 
 
 
 
 
 

Busy glazing once again, Honey Jars this time to be out on Thursday for trip Friday.
best,
Pres

I had a great time last weekend glazing a full 8 piece dinnerware set.  Opened the kiln a few days later to crawling on 75% of it.  I had a feeling something awful would happen when I saw a few cracks in the glaze; smoothed the cracks in and fired anyway.  
So this weekend I'm throwing another 8 piece dinnerware set and defloccing the glaze this time.
 
 

I dropped a needle tool in my lap yesterday. To keep it from falling on the floor, I closed my legs real fast.
Now there is a hole in my leg!
But I the tool didn't hit the floor!
Sorce

I think it's awesome!
I've actually thought about doing that in my classroom with students.  I'd probably start by making one myself, and then have a volunteer make one for each subsequent firing.

@JohnnyKThat is not a little pat on your back, take a bow! Major applause!
 
best,
Pres

Hi folks, there has not been a new question occuring in the QotW pool so I will bring forth a new one.  I have been getting back into the shop of late as I have started bowling again and time is limited. However, I was assembling chalices, both pouring and regular, for communion sets, and found them going together very well, with the use of the a slight change in  plumbing chuck on the GG. My original chuck had a taller rise of @10". I decided I did not need that height for the stem to fit into when trimming them, so I cut off 4" to make the pipe section 6" tall. Much more stable, and easier to use. Still have  longer 8" section if needed. Big improvement with a little tweaking has made trimming the stems easier, and thus the whole assembly process is easier. My pat on the back!
So what have you done of late, small or large that you can say "Well Done" or as a QotW: What have you done of late that makes you think "Done well" or pat yourself on the back?
 
best,
Pres

The recent PBS Juror's Award for my Horsehair Raku submission and the follow up interview with a local news source has been my recent pat on the back!

From Labor Day's glaze firing
Clockwise, top left,
  Test tiles for "waste" glaze (retained, settled, sieved and adjusted cleanup, wipe off, etc. - just over 1.5 gallons; it's "free!"), crazes over these clays, may fit buff and red clays better, tbd
  New lower expansion liner glaze (per recent entry to https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/19922-clay-composition-and-crazing), goes on well, looking good so far - more testing required. I'm not minding the specks, which may be from petalite, as all the other ingredients have been used in previous low expansion trials...
  Am still liking the Lakeside Clear Blue, here over white clay; the lower part is BVG Rutile Green, which mutes the carved red slip - will be trying this again.
  Really liking this tin chrome red, here over Cassius. This firing, no bloating in the black clay pieces, likely due to extended bisque (longer holds at critical temps).
  Selsor Faux Celedon (with some minor coe adjustment) over buff clay - really like this look.
 

More from Labor Day glaze fire,
Clockwise, from top left
  Tortilla warmer in Cassius. I took a closer look (with magnification), see now that the clear glaze that "clears" the bubbles fairly well over the black clay also crazes (my vision ain' great); have finished the one bag, may not buy more...
  Storage jar, ~7.5 inches tall, same Rutile Green
  The two mugs are same Selsor Faux Celedon, same white clay - the seven o'clock one is from previous bisque and glaze firing, the five o'clock one appears similar (the colours are actually about the same - camera settings, not), but very little crazing, just a few spots! Hard to believe that firing  (more thorough bisque and a bit cooler glaze with slower initial cooldown) could make that much difference!? Same clay, same glaze. ...more testing...

More from Labor Day glaze fire,
  Clockwise, from top left
  Covered dish, just over a quart.
  Same  Rutile Green.
  Five of fifteen small bowls in red clay (SRF).
 
Overall, am happy with this load! Still working on tossing pieces to reclaim that don't look and feel "right" - making progress there. Detailed notes are definitely helping! Looks like a longer bisque and a bit lower glaze fire target temp (plus slower cool to ~1850) has cleared up a few issues. Also looks like lower expansion clear is working on the cafe as well as the two white clays. Not decided yet on continuing to work in the red clay, perhaps just thin layer of slip over the better behavin' buff, and white (and somewhat behavin' cafe) clays. Can definitely see where calculated coe numbers could be deceptive - as a comparison/guide, where making limited adjustment to a glaze, helpful; for comparing glazes that have very different recipes, not as helpful.
 

continued from above.     sorry, cannot find the next photo, got hundreds and though i had it yesterday, i cannot find it now.   
will edit this when i find it.
found one that will continue though it is not of the birds.  can't work it in edit, see below.

Funny--this is what I did today with some slab trimming scraps---I'll make hundreds and they will be gifts for the staffs of my favorite local non-profits

Sorce

Hi folks, no new questions in the question pool, so I will pose one for you hand builders. 
QotW: When slab building, do you use a form , work from a template, or from scratch?  I used to teach all ages of children during my career, either HS when in the regular year, or middle school and elementary in Summers and after regular school hours. During this time I taught using slump molds, hump molds, rock forms, and other ways of creating pottery over a form with a slab. I also taught my HS students to do front, side and top projections to base measurements on to create geometric forms like fairy houses and other things. I never taught my favorite way of constructing with slabs which was to do a planning sketch of what I wanted to build and then roll out a few slabs and start working to create the sketch. These usually ended up quite detailed, and at the same time took hours, but as a side project when teaching the kids, it got them to be a little more innovative in their own forms. 
Once again, I will ask  When slab building, do you use a form , work from a template, or from scratch?  

best,
Pres

All three...depending on what it is that I'm fabricating.