Hulk

Bill's pic, above Here's a red clay pot that's been polished. The pot's interior is poured in and out, the outside is dipped, the foot ring interior is brushed (however, want to try using an ear bulb to put just enough to cover, as Hsin-Chuen Lin demos in his videos...). I'm looking to make the part that touches the table smooth, so it doesn't catch or scratch, and also put a small radius on the outside edge - a polished corner is too sharp, imo. You can see where the glaze ends on the inside part of the foot ring - the outside of the foot ring is bare clay all the way to the corner where the wall starts. Doesn't take long - keep it wet, keep it moving, tip up and round off the corner last. I'd recommend the larger discs and medium grit, perhaps 600, which may be "too smooth" but still cuts fast enough. I bought a six inch 1200 grit, which is a bit slow - the disc was cheap. Next one bigger, courser. The medium moves faster - at the outside edge - on a bigger disc. Also there's more material to wear out - lasts longer.

it depends? I do run our cordless stick vac in the studio - it doesn't blow dust around as much as the shop vac, works well, and filters well (hepa exhaust, yep) - to pick up food crumbs, dirt I just tracked in, etc. That said, I run a wet mop over the floor to keep clay under control, so I'm vacuuming between work sessions stuff off a clean floor, not clay, as I'm really trying to limit any dry clay to workpieces and scrap bin, particularly the floor, for the walking on stirs the dust up. I run a wet mop after every clay session.

That's the one we use as well, comes in medium, small, large; here's the small'n 3M™ Half Facepiece Reusable Respirator Assembly 6191/07001(AAD) https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/3M-Half-Facepiece-Reusable-Respirator-Assembly-6191-07001-AAD-P100-Small-24-EA-Case/?N=5002385+3294759262&rt=rud The pink fabric discs breathe well, imo (spent a significant portion of my working life wearing a respirator). Good tips, thanks - have tried spraying work with a mister, which does work, however, a bit too much too fast is to be avoided, haha; a light, fine mist, wait for it to be absorbed, wait, a bit more mist, etc. Hence, looking forward to trying the wax resist.

Hey PD, Bein' curious (and a touch of insomnia this a.m.), did some looking; Moltonborough Historical Society article* excerpts: "Thomas Beal reports that much of the house materials were prepared at the Bath Iron Works where an outbuilding was used to fabricate the door and window frames as well as the decorative beams and rafters. He believes the stones were shaped there also. The workmen were, according to Thomas Beal, of French lineage, coming from an island near Sable Island and Halifax, Nova Scotia. However, his brother Philip Beal is sure that all building materials came from the property. The five point building stones for the mansion and its stable were quarried and shaped on site by Italian immigrant workers, some of the material having been blasted from the house site and the rest from a quarry on the property. Philip Beal also believes that all the timber was cut and processed on site, and remembers a sawmill operating there. He definitely remembers his father John W. Beal talking about the quarry. ... “Lucknow” was undoubtedly one of their finest. Only the best materials were used. The colored granite stone was quarried locally and shaped into five sided pieces. The oak beams were reportedly fashioned and decorated by shipwrights in Maine and shipped by rail to Laconia, by boat to Moultonborough, and then by horse drawn wagon up the mountain. The roof tiles were from Spain, the fireplace marble from Italy, the leaded casement windows from England. The best artisans from New York and Boston worked on the interior, including glass decorations by Tiffany Studios. No expense was spared and when the project was complete it was reputed to have cost over $1,000,000, an extraordinary amount at that time. " I'm not seeing the author credited in the link below (looks like Ann Hackl); perhaps the Historical Society can help you. * http://www.moultonboroughhistory.org/MHS Articles & Tidbits/Articles/NEW INSIGHTS ON THE HISTORY OF CASTLE IN THE CLOUDS.html See also: Moltonborough library "Vertical File Finding Aids to Moultonborough History" https://www.moultonboroughlibrary.org/mpl/documents/mboro vf synopsis.pdf Cristina Ashjian's "Plant's Castle Revisited: Country life at Lucknow" and "New England Arts & Crafts Architecture: Living in Harmony with Nature" My guess is she and Ann Hackl are the authorities; I'd suggest reaching out to them.. from A Castle in the Clouds: Tom Plant and the American Dream "The Italian stonemasons came from Boston - despite a tale that Plant brought them from Europe." "The roof tiles were underlaid with copper sheathing." https://issuu.com/altrescot/docs/castle_in_the_clouds There's more, however, the sky's alight, time to get moving! Please give me a "like" - ok? article: https://issuu.com/thelaker/docs/laker_8_28l article: http://www.moultonboroughhistory.org/MHS Newsletters/Newsletter Archive/2004/Apr 2004 NewsLetter.pdf

Hearst brought a few tons of building materials to California from across the pond. The black clay here in Los Osos is quite sticky and plastic. There are places where the cracks are over thirty feet deep by early Fall, when the shrinkage peaks (a few miles from here - our house is on sand) ...wonder if the San Luis Obispo mission adobe is from here? Being curious, "Roofing tiles, called tejas, were made from the same materials as the adobe bricks. A flat rectangle of clay was formed. It was then carefully placed over the round piece of a log which had been sanded so the clay wouldn’t stick to the wood. Some stories tell that the roof tiles were molded over the legs of the Indian workers, but other sources say that is just a legend. After the clay was molded into the curved shape, it was dried in the sun for several days. Then the tile was baked in a kiln for many days. The baking at a high temperature caused the adobe clay to turn red. Mission San Luis Obispo has been credited with the development of roofing tiles. Father Serra’s diaries, however, say that the first roofing tiles were made at Mission San Antonio de Padua. Mission San Luis Obispo then perfected the process. They made the tiles in large quantities and supplied them to other nearby missions. At San Luis Obispo, horses were kept walking in circles to mix the adobe clay with their hooves. Some mission buildings had tiles on the floor. These floor tiles, called ladrillos, were made from a thicker mixture of adobe clay, straw, and water. They were molded in much the same manner as the adobe bricks, partially dried in the sun, and then baked in kilns to make them hard. Adobe tiles were also used as water pipes at many missions, to carry the water from a river or stream to the mission compound, or to the fields for irrigation. Pottery bowls and pots were made at the missions, though not in great quantities. Clay pots were not commonly made by the California Indians, who instead made excellent baskets which served their needs for storing food. However, in later years some missions had pottery wheels for making bowls." "Because of flaming arrows, the mission was built with tiles; the first roof tiles made in California." "To Mission San Luís Obispo goes credit for establishing the use of red tile roofs that became a symbol of the California missions. Though first used at Mission San Antonio de Padua, roofing tiles were perfected and produced on a large scale by Mission San Luís Obispo. The roofing tiles were patterned on those remembered by the padres from their days in Spain. Water and local clay was mixed by having horses walk around in circles through the clay, which was then formed over curved wooden molds of tree trunks, dried in the sun and baked in a kiln. The tiles were about 22 inches in length and tapered from 12 to 20 inches in width. Water came from a nearby stream, and was used to power a gristmill. ... 1769 Governor Portolá, on his way from San Diego north to Monterey, crossed a valley where grizzly bears were eating the tule roots in the marshy ground; named it La Cañada de los Osos (Valley of the Bears) and returned to the valley to get meat for the soldiers and missions. 1772 Father Serra founded the mission; left the next day to return to San Diego, leaving Father José Cavaller in charge of building a chapel, barracks, priests' house and workshops of logs and tules. 1773 Group of Spanish emigrants, including four families, arrived. 1776 Tule thatched roofs set on fire by flaming arrows; many buildings destroyed. 1792-1794 Construction of present church with help from master Mexican craftsmen; made of adobe with tile roof." Here's a detailed article (written 110 years ago): http://web.nationalbuildingarts.org/collections/clay-products/clay-tile-roofing/brief-history-of-roofing-tile/ One could read about tile roofing all day. :| To the op, the answer is likely somewhere between maybe and yes. That's more than enough from me!

Last bisque load, about every third piece went to reclaim instead of the kiln; previous was about half. Next, likely back to half or more - time to get throwin'! Repeating the moves necessary for repeat ware is worthwhile. "...right hand." Clockwise turn, hence, no.

Spend time touring schools, look, listen, with particular attention to students that have a few years in.

Aye that! All symptoms disappear when you center up some clay on the bare wheel head - no bats (careful the pins don't catch your hands there...)?

Hot and cold, large laundry/utility sink is next door to the studio, hence water in the studio is by bucket. Settled throwing water is separated - slop to slop bucket, clear water back to throwing bucket. Settled cleanup water is separated - slop to landscape watering, clear water back to cleanup. When either get all nasty, when a fresh load of water is in order - to the landscape! Since installing 133 gallon tank to capture RO "waste" water and whole house gac backwash, I'm getting throwing and cleanup water from there (using RO water for glazes). Full five gallon buckets are heavier these days - about half full is enough.

Hi Susan! Looks like that model heats to cone 02, hence should be capable of firing low fire clays and glazes to maturity. As for double duty, looks like it's designed for that - perhaps not both at the same time though. The program for glass runs the element in the lid; the ceramics program does not.

Proximity may be a factor, particularly for wet clay - shipping costs. Looks like there are several supply outfits in Maine. I'd like to pop into Portland Pottery and have a salmon blt or grilled tofu! That said, I've been happy with U.S. Pigment (Illinois - competitive pricing and reasonable shipping) and Aardvark Clay (California - "local" for me). Proximity - less of a factor for shipping a usps flat rate box, e.g. two bags of clay, however, could make a big difference for your pallet of dry materials and half a ton of wet clay ...quick check, difference on half a ton from Portland, Maine to my house vs. Los Angeles to my house - shipping on the former is well over twice as much. We picked up just over a thousand pounds of supplies at Aardvark's Santa Ana location a while back; shipping to our door for that order would have been a bit over two hundred dollars.

Hi Min! Looking into ordering up some spodumene, thank you for the revision! I like the potassium and sodium lower, however, might tweak the talc to get the manganese a bit higher. I've a clear that's working well for the red clay, just tried the v4 on it for fun. The glaze might be a bit thicker on the inside, true.

Hi Min, Thanks again for the recipe! ...have fired two glaze loads since, forgot to load the test tiles first time, heh. Second load, several tiles and a few pieces glazed with g1215u sub v4, low coe clear, above. The Sedona, Café and bmix test tiles look good - clear, shiny, no crazing; over the redder clay there's some microbubble clouding (expected), and frothy over the black clay. The pieces, however - a few Café and Sedona mugs - have crazed liner glaze, no crazing on the outside (where the clear was used; the colours all look good). The pattern is definitely bigger than that of other low coe clears I've tried. My guess is the interior is more prone to craze than the exterior, perhaps due to being "pushed" as opposed to stretched? Any road, getting closer! Have yet to try v4 on a bmix cylinder; looking forward to that, as the bmix test tiles came out great - the other clears all crazed on it. Remedy from here for the other two clays, hmm, lower that coe number another .5, more boron and magnesium, add a few % zircon...

Tony Hansen has several clear recipes on his site as well, along with detailed discussion on materials, behavior, development, etc. https://digitalfire.com/4sight/recipes/index.html Hesselberth has some glazes listed on his site (colours only, no clears); see the notes - some he recommends, some not so much. http://www.frogpondpottery.com/tested-glazes/mid-fire-stonewareporcelain/

Hi Andy! Looks like your antique materials are in great shape! ...however, lead (and a few other materials used in ceramics) are viewed differently now vs. then; proceed with utmost caution would be my advice. https://digitalfire.com/4sight/glossary/glossary_lead_in_ceramic_glazes.html "...the CDC has now published its statement that there is no level of lead that is "safe", and it has lowered its "reference" level which it wants people to get upset about if they discover their children testing higher than to a fraction of what it was when we were children. Lead is so widespread that reducing human exposure to anything close to pre industrial levels may not be economically feasible, especially given all the other problems civilization is faced with, however, all authorities are setting policy to encourage people to reduce whatever chances of exposure they are causing, then to reduce that again."