Pres

wheels under everything you will move, and you will move things if but to wash that floor.   Harbor Freight stores have lots of types.  avoid plastic wheels that are inexpensive.   buy full bags of the commonly used glaze ingredients.  the best containers i have used are the Rubbermaid totes but they do not seem to be in the big box stores anymore.  Sterilite is very brittle for holding large quantities of heavy ingredients.  rubbermaid might sag but sterilite cracks.   do not leave your purchases in the original bag!  store them in something strong enough and easy to open, preferably on wheels.  bags become dusty and there is no way to open them repeatedly that will not cause a dust storm under your nose.   buy a respirator first thing.
second purchase is a decent cut off wire that you can control.   fishing leader lines come in different lengths, i find a 12 inch very useful and a 9 inch is always in use.   attach round metal key rings to the ends.    take your key rings to a fishing supply place that is not too big so there will be an employee who can advise you.  these wires are already braided so they cut clay the first time and last for years.
label everything.  not on paper that is taped to a container, tape will  dry up and fall off.   use a sharpie directly on the container.  you can remove a label if you change things.  just use hairspray and a cotton ball to wipe all the sharpie off.   hairspray works better than acetone and smells better.
there are a number of posts about setting up a studio, i do not know how to retrieve them from this website but if you search, you will find some really great ideas.   i do have strong opinions on most things because my education has been the school of hard knocks.   trying to save you some pain.

Ergonomics. In other words, take care of your back. Make everything in your studio fit YOU. 

Hi folks, nothing new in the pool for QotW, so once again, I will pose a question.
A while back we asked: What studio habits do you have that others have warned against?  Asking just the opposite- QotW: What best habit would you recommend to a beginner setting up their studio?  My best suggestion would be to look at your storage, surfaces and flooring, in order to control dust. I would suggest sealed rubbermaid type bins for chemicals, sealed buckets for glazes, work surface easily cleaned, without dust gathering canvas or other materials. I would try to stay away from containers with deep recesses in their lids, as they gather dust, Stay away from low shelving as they will gather underneath. Use dolly's to move larger containers out from under shelving to be easier to clean areas. Then clean once a week at least. Limit your ceramics space to ceramics, no household tools, or other storage in the studio. Most of my mistakes are listed here! 
Asking once again! QotW: What best habit would you recommend to a beginner setting up their studio?
 
best,
Pres
 

When doing lighting, go LED, brighter, less shadows, easier to pay attention to detail.
 
best,
Pres

When doing lighting, go LED, brighter, less shadows, easier to pay attention to detail.
 
best,
Pres

When doing lighting, go LED, brighter, less shadows, easier to pay attention to detail.
 
best,
Pres

Make sure you have enough lighting, everything looks good in the dark.    Denice

Hi folks, nothing new in the pool for QotW, so once again, I will pose a question.
A while back we asked: What studio habits do you have that others have warned against?  Asking just the opposite- QotW: What best habit would you recommend to a beginner setting up their studio?  My best suggestion would be to look at your storage, surfaces and flooring, in order to control dust. I would suggest sealed rubbermaid type bins for chemicals, sealed buckets for glazes, work surface easily cleaned, without dust gathering canvas or other materials. I would try to stay away from containers with deep recesses in their lids, as they gather dust, Stay away from low shelving as they will gather underneath. Use dolly's to move larger containers out from under shelving to be easier to clean areas. Then clean once a week at least. Limit your ceramics space to ceramics, no household tools, or other storage in the studio. Most of my mistakes are listed here! 
Asking once again! QotW: What best habit would you recommend to a beginner setting up their studio?
 
best,
Pres
 

Hi folks, nothing new in the pool for QotW, so once again, I will pose a question.
A while back we asked: What studio habits do you have that others have warned against?  Asking just the opposite- QotW: What best habit would you recommend to a beginner setting up their studio?  My best suggestion would be to look at your storage, surfaces and flooring, in order to control dust. I would suggest sealed rubbermaid type bins for chemicals, sealed buckets for glazes, work surface easily cleaned, without dust gathering canvas or other materials. I would try to stay away from containers with deep recesses in their lids, as they gather dust, Stay away from low shelving as they will gather underneath. Use dolly's to move larger containers out from under shelving to be easier to clean areas. Then clean once a week at least. Limit your ceramics space to ceramics, no household tools, or other storage in the studio. Most of my mistakes are listed here! 
Asking once again! QotW: What best habit would you recommend to a beginner setting up their studio?
 
best,
Pres
 

Hi folks, nothing new in the pool for QotW, so once again, I will pose a question.
A while back we asked: What studio habits do you have that others have warned against?  Asking just the opposite- QotW: What best habit would you recommend to a beginner setting up their studio?  My best suggestion would be to look at your storage, surfaces and flooring, in order to control dust. I would suggest sealed rubbermaid type bins for chemicals, sealed buckets for glazes, work surface easily cleaned, without dust gathering canvas or other materials. I would try to stay away from containers with deep recesses in their lids, as they gather dust, Stay away from low shelving as they will gather underneath. Use dolly's to move larger containers out from under shelving to be easier to clean areas. Then clean once a week at least. Limit your ceramics space to ceramics, no household tools, or other storage in the studio. Most of my mistakes are listed here! 
Asking once again! QotW: What best habit would you recommend to a beginner setting up their studio?
 
best,
Pres
 

Hi folks, nothing new in the pool for QotW, so once again, I will pose a question.
A while back we asked: What studio habits do you have that others have warned against?  Asking just the opposite- QotW: What best habit would you recommend to a beginner setting up their studio?  My best suggestion would be to look at your storage, surfaces and flooring, in order to control dust. I would suggest sealed rubbermaid type bins for chemicals, sealed buckets for glazes, work surface easily cleaned, without dust gathering canvas or other materials. I would try to stay away from containers with deep recesses in their lids, as they gather dust, Stay away from low shelving as they will gather underneath. Use dolly's to move larger containers out from under shelving to be easier to clean areas. Then clean once a week at least. Limit your ceramics space to ceramics, no household tools, or other storage in the studio. Most of my mistakes are listed here! 
Asking once again! QotW: What best habit would you recommend to a beginner setting up their studio?
 
best,
Pres
 

Invest in a good mop and mop bucket and use it frequently. Your lungs will thank you.

@Pres Thank you very much for creating this post! it is so inspiring and educational to go through everyone's list and discover these masters. 

A friend of mine is having a rough day today, and wanted me to pass on some information that might not be as widely known as it ought to be.
She sells a round, dome style butter dish as part of her regular offerings on Etsy. This morning she was given a trademark infringement notice and had the listing pulled because she had tagged it as a butter bell.
A little research turned up that the name “Butter Bell” is trademarked, and if I’m reading things right, has been since the late 90’s. It got renewed in the last couple of years. They even sued Paula Deen in 2010 for intellectual property infringement when both entities were selling on QVC. It’s a trademark name, not a patent, so it doesn’t appear to apply to a specific form, although Butter Bell sells what I would have called a French butter dish under that name. The upside down kind you’re supposed to put the water in. The ads in my browser for this search showed similar forms from assorted retailers and Etsy, but all called “butter keepers” or some other name.
So if anyone has similar listing names or tags on websites or online marketplaces, you might want to edit your names to save yourself this hassle. This company is obviously willing to use a lawyer. Any of us selling in person might want to educate our customers on the names if there’s the opportunity, because I’m sure lots of people are using butter bell as a search term online.

French butterdish is what I call them-no lawyers yet after 40 years. But wait there is still time  for them to line up out front.  Well they have to see them at a show or a shop. No online sales for me.
 

Hi folks, not much in the way of activity in the QotW pool of late so I am STUCK once again. Not to give away any trade secrets as I am sure that some of you know or guess that there is communication between moderators on their own forum category. Put this together with a posting in the marketplace of late targeting a web site or app  for renting out kiln space. There was a bit of back and forth over whether to post it, and where. As you can see, the issue is resolved and it is posted. However, is it really resolved? My response from in the moderators "dungeon" was: 
Interesting concept, not that I would join, but interesting. I would not want to be responsible for a "precious object" being ruined some way, either perceived or actual, as I would  not want to be privy to a piece that would damage my kiln either by wrong clay, glaze, or application. Too many uncontrollable factors for me. Much different than in a classroom where everything was controlled by me.
To put this into a question: QotW: Would you be willing to participate in a kiln space rental that would bring in a little extra cash, and supply a service to potters without a kiln in your area, and if so why?  If you would not want to participate also tell us why.
You can thank @Min for this question as she saw my response and thought it would be a good QotW,
 
best,
Pres
 

@neilestrick, I get it, respected friends, those who know, I wouldn't mind. I'm lucky in that there are very few around me involved in Ceramics of any sort, that do not have a kiln.
 
best,
Pres

Not as a side business, no. You’d have to be able to vet someone’s capabilities somehow.  A bunch of that leads to me doing teaching, even if it’s only about kiln firing, and I don’t have the time or physical space for that. If someone I already know needs a firing, (emergency bisque or whatever) and I don’t have something scheduled myself for that timeframe, I have no problem helping out.
Honestly, electricity costs in my area are pretty reasonable, and there’s 2 privately run clay studios that do beginner classes, 2 city run facilities that teach beginner and intermediate courses, and a handful of paint your own places that you can fire the odd piece at. There *could* have been some room for me to do some kiln for hire stuff during the pandemic, but I did NOT have the emotional wherewithal to be able to put a system together for that at the time. 

Hi folks, not much in the way of activity in the QotW pool of late so I am STUCK once again. Not to give away any trade secrets as I am sure that some of you know or guess that there is communication between moderators on their own forum category. Put this together with a posting in the marketplace of late targeting a web site or app  for renting out kiln space. There was a bit of back and forth over whether to post it, and where. As you can see, the issue is resolved and it is posted. However, is it really resolved? My response from in the moderators "dungeon" was: 
Interesting concept, not that I would join, but interesting. I would not want to be responsible for a "precious object" being ruined some way, either perceived or actual, as I would  not want to be privy to a piece that would damage my kiln either by wrong clay, glaze, or application. Too many uncontrollable factors for me. Much different than in a classroom where everything was controlled by me.
To put this into a question: QotW: Would you be willing to participate in a kiln space rental that would bring in a little extra cash, and supply a service to potters without a kiln in your area, and if so why?  If you would not want to participate also tell us why.
You can thank @Min for this question as she saw my response and thought it would be a good QotW,
 
best,
Pres
 

No no no no no no no no no no. In addition to all the issues for potential damage to my kilns and kiln furniture, there are the problems of storing the work before and after it's fired, and conflicts over the results of the firing. It's too easy for people to blame the kiln owner for something not coming out like they expected- "it didn't look like that when I had it fired at another studio"- or to blame the firing for the glaze running and damaging a shelf/kiln- "it never ran like that at the other studio". Chances are if they don't have a kiln they don't understand the variation that exists from kiln to kiln. Too much potential for arguments and unhappy people and unpaid invoices. My opinion is that if you want to work in clay then you need to either invest in being part of a community studio or invest in your own equipment. Both are costly, but most hobbies are.
That said, I do have two people for whom I fire. One is a very good sculptor I have known for years who makes unglazed figurative forms, so no firing trouble there. The other is a former student whom I totally trust, and who understands that she has to work around my schedule. She brings stuff in on the day I can load the kiln, and picks it up on the day it comes out.

I would have to say no,  I have seen to many disasters where a low fire piece was stuck in a high fire.  The person swore it was high fire clay,  I have fired a few pots made with my clay  by friends and neighbors,  but I am usually unhappy with glaze applications and do some clean up before I fire them.   Denice

No.  I have fired for friends but they are interrogated and vetted fully.  I have to know exactly what clay and glaze they are using.  No exceptions.  Everyone will get in a pinch at times and I am glad to help, but the maintenance and upkeep on a kiln is expensive.  And as mentioned if something doesn't turn out or if someone doesn't know the difference between low fire and mid fire, disaster could ensue.  
Roberta

No
I have fired a few items for people over my 47 years. I stopped doing it about 20 yaers ago. No much risk. The last person said clay was high fire but it was cone 6 and bloated badly and made a mess.Never again.
That said I also have fired the local elementry school kids work twice using my clay and my glaze (onece was unglazed planters)

My answer is “no” as well, for the exact reasons that you explained so clearly. 
I’ve had a few people approach me about firing their work at my house. In every case, the person was trying to avoid the expense of using a community studio. Community studios need to charge what they charge for a reason. A person who doesn’t see those reasons is generally going to be difficult to work with. In one case, a neighbor got angry with me when I said no. Very entitled person. Imagine how she would have complained if a firing didn’t turn out the way she was expecting!

My attitude about raw materials is that it's good to be aware of rising costs, but the cost per pot is so low that it's fairly easy to make up the difference with a very small price increase across a lot of pots. Plus we're all in the same boat when it comes to prices- nobody has a super secret source of cheap Neph Sye, so the competition is fair in that sense, at least with people in your same country.
I just looked up Skutt element prices to see how much they've changed (they put out a PDF list every year). 2016 price was $53 per element, currently they are $58 per element. So a $5 increase over 5 years. However the 2014 and 2015 price was $50. We typically see a change of $1-2 each year, however sometimes there is no change for a couple of years, then a bigger jump. This last year has been difficult for kiln companies to set prices because raw material prices are fluctuating so much. They don't want to raise prices if they don't have to, so they're trying to wait until the market settles down in order to get an accurate assessment of their costs, but at some point they'll just have to do it regardless of what's happening.