Pres

Most buyers of used studio equipment are hobby potters, and people looking for a used slab roller are looking for a deal. Unfortunately Brents are not one of the more desirable models due to the way you have to add or remove boards to adjust the thickness of the slab. It's also a very long, which can be difficult to fit in a lot of home studios, and the cable system is not fun to replace when they wear out. There are good new slab rollers with infinite dial adjustments and a smaller footprint like Shimpo or Northstar that sell for $1000-1500, so I think that realistically you need to come in under that.

I like a broad shallow bowl with room for wetting, scraping both hands at once and for pulling handles over. I throw pretty dry, using slip/slurry and a chamois. Big water bucket for more washing and rinsing of tools.
I just recently got one of those paint buckets with a handle, for painting, and then saw them being used by potters. Too narrow for me!

@HulkI just attach a fishing float to the chamois, and it gives me a handle when my fingers are slippery.
 
best,
Pres

Hi Alex,
Welcome to the Forum!
Good questions.
Moisture:
Water is driven off (as vapor/steam) during the firing process, true, however, the majority of the wet clay's water is lost via evaporation whilst waiting on the kiln.
In addition to drying raw ware in the Studio, add evaporation from clay trimmings; open throwing, cleanup, mopping buckets; just glazed wares; damp - just cleaned - surfaces; any other open containers of wet stuff.
Fumes:
Several gasses (besides water vapor) are produced when clays and glazes are fired.
Kiln fumes (digitalfire.com)
The typical powered kiln vent (that pulls a stream of superheated kiln atmosphere from a small hole in the bottom of the kiln and expels it outside via a duct) gets most, but not all the fumes. With provision for adequate make-up air*, a kiln vent may be adequate.
Better, imo, would be to open up doors and windows whilst firing and run a powered kiln vent.
Even better, a powered kiln vent and an overhead hood with a powerful fan**.
Dust:
Working with clay, some dust will be generated, however, dust can be minimized via consistent housekeeping and "low dust" practices.
Number one culprit, typically, is dry clay on the floor.
Next might be the wedging station.
A wet mop for floors and a bucket and sponge for work surfaces can make a big difference.
There are several archived threads on fumes and dust here!
*air coming in to replace what is being pushed out by the fan.
**an overhead system can help with accumulated heat - firing a kiln indoors will heat the space, a lot!

,)
My string (for "off the hump" separations) has a wine cork on one end...
I'm setting my pointer and metal kidneys on a half sponge set in the other corner of the spash pan - easier to pick up, particularly that metal rib.
The other tools, in a cylinder set next to the half sponge...

I was recently at NCECA, and notices some interesting throwing buckets at one booth selling wheels. They were paint trim buckets, hanging over the splash pan edge by their handles! Some wheels had two, some only one. I could never use that size of a bucket while throwing as I use water in the beginning to center the hump, and gradually taper off till almost dry. I see a lot of beginners with small bucket with about 3-4 inches of water in the bottom. They often have to reach in deep to even get to the water. I like a one gallon bucket that is full, so that I can get to the water easily/quickly. I usually throw with water, not slurry. In the early days I had been told to try hand cream in the water to protect chapping, and to make the water lubricate the hands against the clay. Tried it, and discarded it within a week or so. My idea about pulling is that the smaller the area of drag on the clay the easier to pull and keep from corkscrewing. When throwing larger, I pull with the rt hand pointer supported by the thumb and the second finger, on the inside the first supports the second against the third. I have tried the edge of the thumb on the left, but no more as it doesn't bend in the first joint.
QotW: Large or Small, creamed , slurry or water to lube your throwing?
best,
Pres

I use a plastic bowl for water . Its a wide open form -I keep a cut shammy on the lip and few sponges in it. I get fresh warm water every throwing day from electric tea kettle-my guess is 1/2 +gallon of water-less water the better in terms of throwing

The kiln looks to be in pretty good shape for used. There are a few bricks that are chipped, and that is problematic, but fixable. You will notice that one of the elements has been pinned due to the broken book in the one area. I would also ask the seller if it has a setter/controller to aid in firing it.
I am sure others will horn in on this, and I would pay attention to their comments as spending that amount for a student is dedication to the craft. . . .good luck.
 
best,
Pres

Small test kilns can fire incredibly fast, much faster than larger electric kilns. So yes, if the “real” pots will be fired in a larger kiln then you’ll want to approximate the same firing speed. I would suggest asking the studio where you fire your work what schedule they use plus how long the firing takes then program your test kiln to match it as close as you can. Test kilns also cool down super fast so you probably should do a slow cool down also. This wouldn’t be necessary for clear glazes though. 

i have not read this entire post but would like the original poster to consider spraying glaze to avoid disturbing the underglaze.
a very simple siphon sprayer costs about $30 and is branded EZsprayer.  it is very fast and a kiln load, big kiln, can be done in an hour or so depending on how many colors you use.
just a thought.

What have you cleaned with this? Your floors? Your walls? I'm thoroughly confused about this. Sounds to me like you have a sewer gas leak. 

What Neil said. Do you have sinks or toilets or tubs or showers that havent been used in a while?

You may not have the right foundation for your clay soil,  a pier and beam foundation is recommended for some types of clay.   Heaving of the clay can cause leaks and cracks in your foundation creating wood rot and mold in the frame of the house.   My house in built on clay soil and I am having cracking in my garage wall because of a drought the last few year.  I  don't have any odor's or moldy wood smell in my house.   Denice

Call a plumber, could be pipes cracking. Hss there been flooding or drought in your area.
Used to be a " cabbage" smell added to gas to alert folk of leakage

If no one in the family would want them @Mark C., I would look for a museum, organization, or other that would want them in their collection/s. Otherwise gift them to some young potters you have met.
 
best,
Pres

You bring up a great point Rae about our pots that we have at home either ours or made by others.Some go to family members I'm sure like my dinnerware. Though none of my family members want or know much of the more famous works I own like Otto Heino's or Tom Coleman's or Warren McKenzies work. I am on the fence about these works sell them? or what? as they are potters pots. Since I have been downsizing for over 5 years now its come up in my brain a few times.My wife does not care about these objects its all me on them .Of course I knew these potters and we traded pots with most  but with Coleman it was a small fee. Warren was such a nice real person and Otto had the best stories. So the pots mean more to me than say just paying for them.Its a conundrum for sure as to what to do with them.

I’m not too worried about “the youth,” @Pres. I saw a young potter on the Great Canadian Throwdown describe the coil-building technique as “like a 3D printer.” .
Clay adapts to people and our needs.
I’m starting to look for inheritors for my stuff. There are also our collections of significant (to us) pots - I’ve begun to redistribute some.
 
 

The cone you fire to doesn't really make a difference, because things start burning out as low as 500F degrees and is pretty well complete by 1900F degrees. Bare minimum you want a fan in the window pulling air out, and sufficient makeup air. If you find that doesn't work, then I recommend getting a downdraft kiln vent.

I know that a lot of us are getting older. . . . slightly! However these disappearances to our living circles bring about times of uncertainty and concern that everything will not be alright when it comes to us.  Worrisome is it not?
Then again, I come to wonder after @Mark C.'s post will there still be a need or interest in pottery in the future?  It does me well however to see NCECA this year, with all of the vendors, and I did a bunch of galleries today within walking distance and saw a lot of nice pots/sculptures/Objects.
 
best,
Pres

I added to my plan above. 

We have everything taken care of with the help of our financial planner.  The only thing we have left is my studio and my husband has a lot of cars and tools.  If my son doesn't want to handle it I will find a charity like the Goodwill or DAV that will empty the house out and sell everything.  When my son moved to Costa Rica he said we need to clear everything out before we die he doesn't want to handle it.   I am hoping when I sell my equipment I might find a real potter who could use my chemicals,  they will go to hazardous waste otherwise.    We plan to move into a nice senior apartment when it is too hard to maintain our house.  Hoping we can handle the disbursement of our life.  Denice

Our lifes big  stuff is in a trust-Property etc. autos .boats etc are in  both names and we havea plan with all that . The trust outlines our wishes . The ceramic part of my life is not in that plan so I need to have a plan and it should be soon . The schools here ( two collages no longer have good ceramic programs)  one is not working now in my temp range so my high fire kilns would be of zero interest .My 5 wheels and the electrcic are easy low hanging fruit to sell. The shear volume of materials may be another thing . The property would be best for a working potter but these days that a pie in the sky idea. I need to work on a plan and a plan B.
If you are a full timer and on the west coast send me a pm if your are willing to take it all when that day comes . It includes gas kilns,two that move as  units , two that are a pile of bricks.more bricks fiber, much in new boxes ,more bricks and a few tons of dry materils-you need to be much younger that I by the way and have a great back and a large lift gate truck.
I have gone thru this death deal a lot already with my family  so I know this path and we have no children only nephews who are in the loop with the trust so that part is done.
I once was going to give it all to the local  state collage but that plan went to heck when they plan on tearing down the ceramics lab and no longer have anyone but temperory lectures teaching. Longevity is not on my side of the family as I'm the oldest male in over 100 years to have lived this long. I think clay has a lot to do with that for me.

Hi folks, Some of you may know that I recently lost my father. He had all of his ducks lined up and as executor, I had little to do other than notify banks. His wife notified the SS, military ret., and others. It got me to thinking about what I should be doing. . . Oh, I have the will and living will etc. However, that does not cover the pottery equipment. I have thought to leave my pottery equipment to the HS I taught at, if no one in the family wants it, along with my library of art books.
So once again, the QotW: What are your plans for passing it on when you pass on?
 
best,
Pres

If your basement is a finished area with no studs or joists exposed, I would think that a window fan would be the best option, along with a door open to the basement so that you have air moving through the basement out the window. I am assuming that you are following the precautions needed for a kiln, including distance from walls and ceilings, proper wiring, and general safety. I you still have the odor issue you may want to look into a fan with duct for a hood that is over the kiln and ducts out the window.
 
best,
Pres

Hi folks, Some of you may know that I recently lost my father. He had all of his ducks lined up and as executor, I had little to do other than notify banks. His wife notified the SS, military ret., and others. It got me to thinking about what I should be doing. . . Oh, I have the will and living will etc. However, that does not cover the pottery equipment. I have thought to leave my pottery equipment to the HS I taught at, if no one in the family wants it, along with my library of art books.
So once again, the QotW: What are your plans for passing it on when you pass on?
 
best,
Pres