Hulk

Hi Kalyssa, welcome to the Forum! A few of my bats clunk; the fit on the pins isn't tight. The clunking goes away once the clay is closer to being centered - that's been my experience; once the force on the clay is constant and even, the bats don't move. You might need a few more bats? Compare/contrast your problem bat against one that fits snugly to confirm?

Hi tman! Can you elaborate on what you are aiming for? I'm not clear on the bottom - are you leaving it bare? Are the glazes you are using fluid - do they sag and run? Are you aiming for a thinner glaze application at the bottom to "catch" running glaze? Almost all my work is functional and rests on a bare clay foot ring. I use masking tape for a clean sharp line. Pulling the tape while the glaze layer is still moist minimizes dust... Dipping upside down, the glaze is thickest at the rim, thinnest near the foot. Wiping away glaze - seems easier when the glaze is still moist, especially if the point is to wipe some, but not all of the glaze layer away. When the glaze if fully dry, wetting it, then waiting a few moments for the moisture to penetrate is almost same...

Hi B.H., Welcome to the Forum! Good questions. Excepting small/test kilns, expect your kiln to be rated for 240v, single phase*. Also expect to run a dedicated circuit for your kiln. Firing clays and glazes produces fumes. Adequate ventilation is a must, in my opinion. To fire cone 8, a kiln rated to at least cone 10 will last better than a lower rated kiln. There are several archived threads here where some of your questions are discussed at length; I'll look later today, have to run just now! *Not sure what the electric standard/convention is in Southampton. Here in California (USA) we have 240v single phase at our home. Three phase is typically only found in commercial buildings...

The clays I like from "nearby" vendor (about a hundred miles) have been reformulated. The whitish stoneware seems about the same, the red behaves a bit differently. My intent was (still is!) to look into alternatives this year; I've enough Gerstley, Custer, and Texas Talc to last a few years, however, years go quickly...

Totally take the 5 to 805, then East on the 8, 94 or surface street, like the Imperial, but toootally go Lisbon to Skyline dude, check out the Encanto Open Space. ...aye, San Diego, CA

When looking for glaze recipes (cone 5/6), I chose from sources that included notes (results, application, and test results an extra plus!). If starting over, would definitely consider refining a (one, just one!) base glaze first, then coloring it. For example, This Forum digitalfire.com John Hesselberth's FrogpondPottery.com* (There are three low fire glaze recipes, with notes). Susan Peterson's book The Craft and Art of Clay Lakeside Pottery's website includes some glaze recipes** Another book I'm not remembering just now, will look for it ...not finding it, will try again later Bill van Gilder's book (I use two or three from his book) Wheel-Thrown Pottery I was looking for recipes from a known source, where there are usage and/or testing notes included (pictures are nice too) A well behaved clear liner (there's enough white in mine to show over dark clays) glaze took some time, testing, trial, start-overs, some help, and then aaah. It has significant MgO, small amounts of Sodium and Potassium, a dose of Lithium (a little bit makes a difference!), and there's Boron - it melts well - for I work cone 5/6; there's enough Silica and Alumina to make a tough glaze that doesn't run or sag much. *archived here Tested Glazes | Frog Pond Pottery (archive.org) **Cone 6 Glaze Recipes | Great Mid Range Pottery Glazes (lakesidepottery.com)

An image of the piece, err, pieces could help - character of the break, how thick/thin the ware, etc. What clay(s) are you using? About how long does it take to achieve 1240C? From peak, how long does it take to cool to room temperature?

Hi Brian_Ire, welcome to the Forum! We did a pit firing in Wheel I and Wheel II classes, no ferric chloride was used - just pit fire with some smelly biscuits added to the fire*. The wares came out interesting black, orange, yellow, and baked brown colors... This article has a long paragraph on ferric chloride safety, and another paragraph on Raku safety: Natured Inspired Firing (ceramicartsnetwork.org) Check back, perhaps others with ferric chloride experience will respond... *horses having passed since the last high tide!

Still using "SE 13 1/4 Inch Stackable Classifier Gold Prospecting Pan" for sieving glazes. I'd bought an 80 and 100 mesh. They fit a five-gallon bucket. Looks like the price has almost doubled since 2018 (I'm seeing just over $30 each now). I'm encouraging flow with my rubber gloved hand. The sieve rinses clean easily. For small/test batches, I'm still using this smaller unit, which I'd put together for screening glaze at the JC Ceramic Lab (when I was taking classes there) using 100 mesh stainless steel screen (I still have a few square feet of screen!), a plumbing collar, a section of black pipe that fits in the collar, and some glue. Almost as easy to make several, so I did, and gave the extras away... Still using US Balance 2000g (it will go a bit over 2000g before erroring out) scale (~$26, today, about the same as six years ago). I thought it a reasonable compromise between inexpensive and sufficient to the tasks. The 2000 gram limit means more than one step for some glaze ingredients.

Posting a reply to push this (newly split?) thread to the top of "Topics" and "All Activity" lists...

I used my one-gallon bucket for tools to/from Wheel I&II classes. The throwing buckets available in the Ceramics Lab were all two gallon size (and encrusted); I prefer the smaller size, so, double duty. Full sponge, half sponge, sponge bits, pointer, metal rib, wood rib, wood knife, sandpaper, wire/cutoff, a few brushes, small glaze sieve, tape, scissors, razor knife, and somewhat I'm not remembering, surely. For other stuff - snacks, glasses, drinks, notebooks, more snacks - I'd repurposed my "tool bag" from last ~fifteen years of work life, somewhat like this, err, exactly like this: BUCKET BOSS 12 in. Gatemouth Tool Bag with zippered top and 16 Total Pockets 60012 - The Home Depot ...but well worn and faded.

Didn't see anything in the news a few weeks ago; I'd missed this, "The EPA says the smells near the Reilly Tar & Chemical Co. Superfund site matched benzene, pyridines and ammonia." from Neighbors concerned over years of bad smell prompts action from EPA (wrtv.com) The article includes a photo of Tibbs Ave/Minnesota St intersection, which is... 105 miles away, perhaps not related. Best wishes for identifying the problem(s) asap.

Some of the two piece pans, the join is raised up enough such that some liquid may accumulate afore the leakage begins - a pint or more.

I'm seeing Evenheat model 1210 described thus (where the volts, amps, and watts values line up): "The RM II 1210 is the ultimate personal ceramic studio design. The RM II 1210 is designed to fire china paints and clay materials up to 1800°F (982°C), cone 07 on a daily basis." Note, the 2280 value stamped on the depicted plate is labelled "watts"... ...looks like the low fire model there SierraRed18! The 1210B Evenheat model, however, is 240v, 3120 watts, rated cone 10, 2350°F ("High Fire")

"I'd like to monitor my temperature next time..." I'd used a portable pyrometer to monitor my first kiln (fully manual); at the time, this TPI dual input unit (sold by Skutt, and others...) was on sale. Using it, I was able to keep firing notes that included times, temperatures, observations, results, et cetera. The notes can be handy. Over time, monitoring element decay, for example; how much longer a firing takes with two more shelves and the posts - mass matters! - and how much longer it takes to cool to opening; reference for programming ramps and holds for the new kiln, priceless? Maybe not, but useful? Yep! The new kiln has three thermocouples. I've been using the portable as well, however, to get an idea how the readings compare. Now that I've completed a few firings, the portable may be regulated to backup...