Hulk

The Sentry FTH error is similar to the Bartlett E1, in that both are in response to the controller detecting the temperature not rising as expected according to the program. The difference is that the Sentry continues to fire, albeit slowly, until the target temperature is finally reached, whereas the Bartlett error will terminate the firing.

Letting the kiln cool at its normal rate will not affect the the shelves. Doing something extreme like cracking the lid to increase the cooling rate could be an issue. Like Hulk said, use the heavier shelves in the middle to help even out firings.

Hi and welcome to the forum.
From Standard's website and their  Lowfire Slip page there is a link with glaze recommendations. Duncan IN1001 "slightly yellow, may blur crisp underglaze lines". There are four other Mayco glaze result descriptions there also. It seems the least yellowing recommendation is Spectrum 700. Standard recommends doing both bisque and glaze to cone 04.
Link here: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0039/8177/0841/files/105-LFW_Glaze_Rec.pdf?v=1674848426

New clay in their bags, in their boxes, wrapped in moving film*

stacked on cardboard, under a heavy tarp, in the Studio.
Changes in temperature seems to accelerate the drying out process.
To be reclaimed clay, in bins or buckets. I'm setting the clay portion out in the sun to thoroughly dry afore starting the reclaim process. The slop portion, if it's dried to a disc it gets set out as well, else just slop it in there at the re-wetting stage.
Reclaimed clay, in clay bags (washed, dried, checked for holes); wrapped in the same moving film, if the clay is being stored for "a while" - where a while is a few months in the damp/cool part of the year, a few weeks otherwise.
 
*Some vendors' clay bags seem to breathe more water than others.
Wrapping the box with moving film equalizes that, in my experience.
We have two partial rolls of the moving film left over from last year's moving, enough to last several years...

New clay in their bags, in their boxes, wrapped in moving film*

stacked on cardboard, under a heavy tarp, in the Studio.
Changes in temperature seems to accelerate the drying out process.
To be reclaimed clay, in bins or buckets. I'm setting the clay portion out in the sun to thoroughly dry afore starting the reclaim process. The slop portion, if it's dried to a disc it gets set out as well, else just slop it in there at the re-wetting stage.
Reclaimed clay, in clay bags (washed, dried, checked for holes); wrapped in the same moving film, if the clay is being stored for "a while" - where a while is a few months in the damp/cool part of the year, a few weeks otherwise.
 
*Some vendors' clay bags seem to breathe more water than others.
Wrapping the box with moving film equalizes that, in my experience.
We have two partial rolls of the moving film left over from last year's moving, enough to last several years...

Hi folks, we have asked this question before, but it has been a while.  Some of you may remember that I store my clay outside under my kayaks under a tarp. I have a platform that sits 4" off the ground and is 14'X2'. This allows me to stack a double row of 50# clay boxes 3 rows high that will hold almost 2000#. Obviously though, with PA weather often getting into the single digits this means the clay will freeze in the Winter to thaw in the Spring. I have tendency of wedging everything, and use the recycle clay in with the fresh clay.
QotW: Where and how do you store your clay?
best,
Pres

Thanks for your reply Callie.  I do like the clay but a defect free surface tops that.  My current testing is to establish the best possible results for the Laguna 613 dinnerware set before committing to either refiring it to get a smooth white surface, or to glazing it with Rutile Green or Variegated Blue and using it in my own kitchen.   I will add your suggestions to my list of firings as I continue to add to my knowledge base.  
With regard to the M390 glaze,  I accidentally calcined the Ravenscrag instead of roasting  it -- but from what I read it shouldn't affect the glaze -- it broke up fairly easily.  Thanks for the heads up on the temporary change in texture of the M390.  I did find it coarser than the Laguna 613 so hope it is smooth enough to allow rims to be unglazed -- if that is the chosen design.  I purchased the box of  M390 this month,  so not sure if it is a minus 80 mesh sieve batch or not. I'll see what my absorbency tests reveal.  
Thanks again for generously sharing your ideas.  
 

This. 100000X this. If your clay body is giving pinholes of some kind with several glazes, it’s the clay body, not the glaze or the assorted firing cycles. It may well be that an ingredient in the Laguna body just doesn’t want to play nice, whatever is done with it. You have to weigh wether you like using this clay more than you want a perfectly defect free surface.
If you need a good red clay/white glaze combo, M390 and Ravenscrag slip 80/20  with frit 3134, and 2 opacifiers of your choice. (I recommend a tin and zircopax combo if you don’t want any titanium variegation). Reasoning: they give different qualities of white. Tin by itself is very soft, and can be grey-ish or even drift towards a violet in certain light when used on M390 in particular. It’s also expensive. Zircopax by itself is very stark, and gives a very “bathroom fixture” white that resists breaking or pooling. The 2 together give a soft white without weird tonal casts, gives a little more visual interest and offsets the end price of the glaze. I use a max of 10% opacifier, but judging from the look of your photos, you might want a slightly more translucent version, so you could see what happens with 7 or 8%. 
I fire with a very analog kiln at home, so I can’t give specific numbers on ramps and speed. I slow my kiln down around the carbon burnout stages mentioned in the Steve Davis article, and I judge that through the colour of the kiln. I’ve recently started working at a place that has brand new Bartlett 2 touchscreens though. I feel spoiled! They are to be preferred over my methods.
I think speed of bisque is more important than end temperature, so slow through the appropriate zones. I think the Naomi Clement one is a bit of overkill.  The 12-14 hours of Davis’s cycle (assuming no drying soak at the beginning) is plenty long. Note the pauses around 1500F that both Clement and Hulk have suggested.
The glaze cycle I use to get what is effectively cone 7 is a drop and hold, similar to what you’ve already worked out. I go to cone 6 with a 20 minute hold after the drop.
Note that there will be upcoming changes to M390: according to my supplier, Plainsman demand has gone through the roof lately, and they’re struggling to keep up. They have one clay mixer that they have to cycle all their different clay bodies through from lightest to darkest. While another one has been ordered, it’s not expected in until next year. In the meantime, they’ve made the decision to remove the 80 mesh sieve from the machinery in order to get the clay to go through faster. This will affect M390’s texture starting this year. So we’ll all have to revise some porosity testing until they get the new machinery in place.
 
The last suggestion I would have is another bisque cycle. But this time, only go to 010. There have been a few reliable potters in various internet spaces lately speaking about this (For Flux Sake podcast in particular). I believe the argument is that the application a more porous clay body gives a dipped glaze results in fewer defects. I haven’t experimented with this personally though, so that one is a shot in the dark if nothing else works.

Be sure to carefully check for application defects!
This may be what was nagging at my memory?
During yesterday's glaze session, while checking for tiny bubble marks and pinholes, an "ooh yeaa" moment:
microtips - Studio Operations and Making Work - Ceramic Arts Daily Community
Where any air can be trapped in the clay, or at the edge of applied underglaze, or at the edge of wax resist, et cetera, as the glaze dries, then the bubble pops - there's a pinhole!
I'm checking the glaze layers more carefully than ever!
 

Years ago I found a book about Belleek porcelain. (I had never heard of the company before finding the book. Apparently, it's an old Irish pottery.)
In the book they showed beautiful porcelain figurines. To allow for variety each appendage, arms and legs, were made with a ball end. The ball end fit into a socket on the main torso form. That way the arms and legs could be arranged in different ways. A huge pain to mold but I did this for the Akita mold. Each leg had a ball like end that fit into sockets on the main torso. As the piece was small there wasn't much room, to move each appendage, but it did allow the artist to play with it as he saw fit. 
 
 

Here's a quick shot of one of my wet boxes.  It's just a plastic box with a lid that I happened to pour a little left over plaster into.  I keep it wet with distilled water with a few drops of bleach in it so things won't mold.  A layer of paper towel helps keep the plaster clean should I want to use it with different kinds of clay pieces.
You can see I have already attached Portho's head to his neck, then his neck to his body.  Due to the angle of the head and neck with the shoulder, and the muscling of the neck swelling in and out in the curve, it would be difficult (but not impossible) to mold that area to pour as a single piece.  It would require multiple internal small mold pieces. So much easier to simply cut his head and neck off and mold them separately.  It only takes a few minutes to score and slip stick all of his various pieces together once I have cleaned off the seams.  I do this when he's firmed up nearly leather hard.
Once he is leather hard and actually starting to dry I can remove him from the box and burnish his seams properly and do final detailing.

I recently sold some Brent parts in the classified here. It was a complete motor controller foot pedal setup. It just needed the wheel frame and wheelhead and large pulley .(This sold with days o posting.)
I also listed it on a few of the ceramic sales sites on facebook for national coverage.
Long story short is a fellow full timer had been lugging a Early Brent frame around for decades with everything on it but what I was selling.
I shipped it to him in the SF Bay Area and within days it looked like this and is again a fuctional wheel.
This is the same very early 1969-1972 flat top formica Brent wheel that I to own-Mine looks justslike this one except the formica is a bit more worn from use. Its got a 14 inch wheelhead
These wheels do not have the flange that holds the splash pan down. ( I put an new wheelhead with flange on mine two or three decades ago) but this one is still orginal.
These wheels are built with thicker metal parts (the deck) and ground flat with grinders to the formican situation s flat and are a bit heavier than the modern ones from the mid 70s on except for the CXCs which for some  early years was also made with theis extra steel (my 1982 CXC is really heavy.
Just seeing this wheel takes me back as a kid to 1970 when I went to a converted 3 bedroom house in Santa Monica to buy my wheel from Robert Brent.. The garage was full of guys weilding stands and grinding them flat  outside..
Robert Brent had a small bedroom as an office and did my paperwork-in one converted bedroom was a room full of motors and the other rooms had the electronics and an assembly bedroom. No one lived in this house as it was all manufacturing.. From there they moved North to Healdsburg Ca. in Sonmoa County. Since I moved north myself to Humboldt county in 71 I used to stop all the time at that facility to buy clay as they expanded to clay making as I drove north and south  many times every year.. They fixed my wheel for free or low coast as well. I have some great stories as well about that place but they are or another time. When Brent sold out to Amaco some of the folks moved with them and I knew them for decades until they retired. Those folks sent me a  replacement motor or example to test out for free (still using it) as they where trying it out and needed it tested . They did not use it on any production wheels it turns out. Its now a new day and all the old timers are gone.I miss those folks and how they ran a great business and took care of customers like me.
 

Now, to give you a sense of what 'curio' scale means here is the same bisque shown in my hand.  Here I have airbrushed on underglaze in greys and black and I am now dappling him.  Once fired with a clear glaze over this underglaze, he will be a dappled grey!  This is a sales piece that I will be offering at auction probably next weekend while I'm at a live show event.  But for now there's a lot of work to do to him to get him ready to be the new sample of my sculpture in ceramic!  I'll post more photos as I go so you all can see the finished boy when he's done.  I work in many layers, fire a number of times, and will also work in over glazes.  The upright mane ribbons will be added later after he's completed and are going to be enameled metal but I haven't finished making them yet.  They each fit down into little  holes I have drilled down his neck.
I am also making mold pieces for a larger 'traditional' scale version of this boy that stands about 8 inches tall.  I hope to have that one casting by June in time for a huge international event I'm attending in July at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.

This is Porths, my first version of this sculpture I started way back about 2007, almost completed in 2009 before illness derailed my studio for a while.  At any rate, I FINALLY finished this boy last year and released him in a resin edition.  I've since gone on to do a 'hairy' Pasture Porthos who's a bit chunkier, and with more feather, thicker legs, long mane and swishy Fabio tail who's casting in a resin edition this year.
Anyway, I've been busting butt to make MOLDS for these two versions of my Porthos sculpture.  Currently I am having the hairy Pasture Porthos molded and cast in England in fine bone china, though I'm also about to start testing slip and settlers for fine bone china pieces here in my studio later this year.  Meanwhile I'm focusing first on using finely ball milled earthenware with talc to cast some pieces.  This first one I've molded right here in studio is what we call Curio scale, a large mini in size.  He's my test cast to see if my mold worked (it did first try!) and to help me figure out how I want to rework and clean up my mold pieces to work even better.  Then I'll be making rubber molds starting next week of each plaster mold piece so I'll have a master from which to cast as many plaster replacement molds as I ever will want, later.
So here's my first ceramic bisque of Porthos with his original docked tail version (mane flights to be added later), an American Percheron with tail bows.

@HulkHahahaha the reward part made me laugh, thank yoh for that

Be sure to carefully check for application defects!
This may be what was nagging at my memory?
During yesterday's glaze session, while checking for tiny bubble marks and pinholes, an "ooh yeaa" moment:
microtips - Studio Operations and Making Work - Ceramic Arts Daily Community
Where any air can be trapped in the clay, or at the edge of applied underglaze, or at the edge of wax resist, et cetera, as the glaze dries, then the bubble pops - there's a pinhole!
I'm checking the glaze layers more carefully than ever!
 

Thanks so much, yes that's the one. I'm not with the wheel right now but will send pics tomorrow. The problem is I can't access the bearings to get them out. As the large pulley (under the wheel head) is in the way. I assume this should pull off once the bolt is removed (which it is) . The instructions in the manual say remove the 'main spindle assembly' then replace the bearings. Perhaps this means I need to remove more than just the pulley.  No wheel maintenance people our way but I will hunt out a second pair or mechanical eyes on this one!! 

Reflecting on Alex's questions, again, how does one assess dust generation?
Given that one is mopping the floor and wiping down work surfaces daily, and wiping storage and secondary work surfaces regularly, and opening the area to air movement only after cleaning - to minimize dust blowing around - how to gauge, how to quantify the dust situation?
How much dust accumulates on horizontal surfaces in the area? How quickly?
How does the dust compare to other areas? Typically, one's dressing area, and where shoes and socks go on and off gather dust quickly.
Depending on cooking preferences/methods, kitchens can get dusty quickly as well.
Monitoring and comparison may help with sharing workspace, particularly if the evidence indicates that clay dust is well controlled, as in look, the Studio is less dusty that the closet!
When I'm keeping up, most of the Studio's dust comes from having the rollup door open and what the cars bring in.
When I'm lax, the wedging station and the floor are main culprits.

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!

Hi Alice,
Welcome to the Forum!
Please post an image of the wheel's nameplate (if any, particularly the model number), and images depicting the parts in question?
Is it this one?
cowley_wheel_manual.pdf (bathpotters.co.uk)
Glancing over that ^ manual...
...the bearings specified for the wheel shaft and pulley assembly, 6203 and 6201 (respectively) are fairly common.
My bikes definitely use the same bearings, also with the double seal, "2RS"
Typically the are press fit, which takes some careful doing.
  Removing the old ones, important that they come out straight, for if they take a slant, they bind up.
  Installing the new ones, also important that they go in straight, and, force applied to the outer race edge only.
  There are tools for pressing in/out bearings.
  Getting help from someone familiar and with the tools may a good choice?
Removing the wheel head, "To remove the wheelhead lift upwards..."
Likely it's stuck? Perhaps start with some Liquid Wrench, PB Blaster or somewhat similar...

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!

Reflecting on Alex's questions, again, how does one assess dust generation?
Given that one is mopping the floor and wiping down work surfaces daily, and wiping storage and secondary work surfaces regularly, and opening the area to air movement only after cleaning - to minimize dust blowing around - how to gauge, how to quantify the dust situation?
How much dust accumulates on horizontal surfaces in the area? How quickly?
How does the dust compare to other areas? Typically, one's dressing area, and where shoes and socks go on and off gather dust quickly.
Depending on cooking preferences/methods, kitchens can get dusty quickly as well.
Monitoring and comparison may help with sharing workspace, particularly if the evidence indicates that clay dust is well controlled, as in look, the Studio is less dusty that the closet!
When I'm keeping up, most of the Studio's dust comes from having the rollup door open and what the cars bring in.
When I'm lax, the wedging station and the floor are main culprits.

Update # 2 for anyone following this thread:  Results on Wollastonite Clear adapted  glaze.
Application:  Varying the SG from 1.40 - 1.46 did not eliminate or make the problem better.  I like the look of the lower SG and it has the added advantage of making it easier for the gases to escape.  The addition of epsom salts to increase the thixotropy also didn't result in an improvement.  
Defect:  more pinholes but smaller.  (see photo 2X).  I put India ink on the ware and viewed it through a jewellers loupe, because at first glance  it didn't look too bad (no glasses; bad lighting)   
Causes of defect: (my theory)
 gases from body have not been fully expelled due to early melting of glaze which seals the surface (starts at 1800F);  clay vitrifies >2150 before all the feldspars are expelled (2044-2192).    oversupply of Calcium which has high surface tension (fluxes at 2012) and results in a glaze that is not fluid enough to fill the pinholes.   Next steps:
1.   try a glaze that has later melters and fluxes which lower surface tension.    I will be trying the Studio White adapted recipe that Min sent me, as well as a similar recipe G3806 C and 3806 E from Digitalfire.  They have lower B2O3 (0.10 to 0.15)  and use Zinc oxide.  (Zn limit 0. - 0.2 and the recipes call  for 0.12 - 0.14 so shouldn't cause pinholes).  
All comments/suggestions/recipes welcome.
Next update in a couple of weeks when I've finished testing the Studio white glaze.   

I like using a small shallow bowl and have a 5 gal bucket near by to wipe scraped clay into.  I was also taught to throw dry and like to use a thin slurry starting with warm water.    Denice

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!