shawnhar

I have tried to keep my wife out of my line of work but that said she still has done my local shows with me. I have another assistant that helps set up and down but she has helped sell. Also we have set up my Christmas s booth and knocked it down on xmas eve for many many decades (now retired for that) I only have one local show now and she will help sell-the two days . She can play in studio all she wants but I do all the studio work myself or with my assistant-priceing packing. She will ocassionall drop an order off locally. Right now she has a herniated disk so all thats ioff the table and I am doing all the heavy lifting. The garden I rototill and plant and until she heals I'm doing the whole bit. She had her own carreer (now retired ) so I have done my best to keep clay my own career . She used to do a few traveling shows but its been a decade or more on those as well now that she had done. She did do 2 my last NV show two years ago ona road trip that we saw my Nephews one year old twins. But it was the twins not the show that she came.

That depends...This time of the year, getting into the studio is difficult. Since Spring has sprung and everything is growing on our1.5 acre property with multiple lawns and a lot of trees, landscape maintenance is a given and I am the one who does most of that. Then there is also the farm. While the fruit trees and vegetable patch occupy about 1/4 acre, the rest of the 3/4 acre is open field, and with the abundance of rain we've had this winter and spring, it seems like keeping the wild grasses down is a forever task. So, with all that going on, if I say I'm going into the studio, I get a look that says "Seriously...with all the yardwork that has to be done?" However, regardless of "the look", I go anyway just to get the feel of the clay in my hands instead of the dirt from pulling weeds. Then there are the times when, going through a magazine, she comes across something that she likes made by another artist and excitedly suggests that I might make something similar. So, I would say she runs hot or cold...

This is what worked for me. I use 12 to 17 minutes based on how dense the load is. I also use an offset like Pres mentioned.

This is what worked for me. I use 12 to 17 minutes based on how dense the load is. I also use an offset like Pres mentioned.

This is what worked for me. I use 12 to 17 minutes based on how dense the load is. I also use an offset like Pres mentioned.

This is what worked for me. I use 12 to 17 minutes based on how dense the load is. I also use an offset like Pres mentioned.

Vinyl will be sticky because it doesn’t absorb any water, and canvas not only holds dust, but it keeps whatever’s under it from drying, which eventually will rot a wood table.
I switched to a concrete patio paver on my wedging table, and much prefer it to canvas. Others have recommended cement board as an alternative to that because it’s lighter. I think even just having finished plywood would give the right balance of a surface that will release clay, and without the canvas holding the water, it’ll be less prone to rot.

Canvas catches clay dust badly-the smooth cleanable surface is better for table tops

A 15-20 minute hold equals 1 cone hotter, so yet, the hold will increase heat work on the rest of the kiln, too. I would first try loading the middle of the kiln tighter and loading the top looser. Put low mass pieces up top, like wide bowls.  If that doesn't work, I would try firing a cone lower and holding for 15-20 minutes to achieve the next cone.

Favorite needle tool is a small screwdriver that my Dad had ground down to a point.
I like the handle - it's shorter than the typical pointer/needle tool - and larger in diameter. The entire tool is also rather short, which I prefer (except when a long one is needed).
It's also easy to find and doesn't roll far when dropped.
Taking inspiration from some of Hsinchuen Lin's early video clips (afore he began marketing his own line of stainless tools), I've an assortment of trimming and chattering tools made from hack saw blades. I've ground off the teeth, heated and bent the blade, then ground the profile. From there, I touch them up with a file. Some of the tools have been repurposed, as the original profile is long gone via sharpening. I don't mind the few moments it takes to resharpen them*.
My favorite (and only) cut-off wire was just the right length (it had been shortened several times!), then it was too short after the last break.
I'd tried several replacement wires, bah!
Now I'm using the core of a bike derailleur cable, which is holding out great. It's very slim, yet resilient.
Derailleur cables (the type I've been using for some time, by Jagwire) have filaments of metal wound around a core cable; I'm unwinding the outer filaments to reveal the core, boom!
Repurposed! Another use for replaced bike cabling! They're also handy for picture frame hanging wires - be sure to completely remove any grease first tho'.
A frosting spatula is so handy! At first I just used it to lever off batts, however, the small arc at the end is just right for mug lip recurve smoothing.
I'm trimming strips off the (automobile) chamois for lip smoothing.
Less often used, I've: several twist drill bits I use for making holes and dressing the holes' edges; a few small kitchen knives for cutting clay; a razor knife that's especially handy for trimming spouts; a few wooden knives/turning tools; a few wooden spoons for extending the inside hand when the hand won't fit; trimmed brushes for slip, glaze, and other stuff too.
At glazing time, there's a few soup ladles (one is a favorite), turkey baster, ear syringe, inexpensive electronic scale, masking tape**, kitchen whisks (one is fitted with a rod, which chucks up to the drill), blade tools for mixing in that bottom bucket edge ...and more, I'll have to take a look, it's been a long slog with no Studio time since October last!
 
*It's easier to keep them sharp then to re-sharpen when totally blunted.
Side note, dressing off the sharpened edges of frequently used metal ribs also doesn't take long; a square-ish edge can also cut, however, the honed razor thin/sharp by clay edge is so much more dangerous!
**plain half or three quarter inch tape makes a sharp clean straight line.
For curvy, I cut the tape into strips.
The pinstriping tape is nice, however, heh, masking tape is inexpensive, and works just fine, given it is cut with a sharp tool.

Yeah I ordered 4000 lbs back in November and didn't get until February.     They were out of something ... I want to think they said Magnesium?    Funny, I was like Mark and had just around 1000 pounds when it came in.   However, this year I have ZERO employees in the back.   Plus I'm supplementing with slip casted wares (like mugs and vases).     I'm going to make do with this 5000 pounds for the year.   I will be cutting back but have raised prices.   Not running a "production" side business now, it's more supply based.   Customers are willing to pay more and I continually remind them I am 65 now, and won't be doing this forever.     And they are buying "extra".   I tell them "if you see something you really want, get it now."
Oh I use Laguna stoneware #65, hard mixed to 7.5.   I think normal is 6.2.  Really have enjoyed my Laguna clay and glazes over the years.  Cheers to that company!  Really excellent service.
 

I know it's off topic but I just love this statement.  

I know it's off topic but I just love this statement.  

Taught HS for years, even though in the end we had six wheels, I only had one student per wheel, and six on at a time. I wandered from wheel to wheel hands on correcting positions, explaining pressure points on clay and hand, would hand in hand use their fingers for a pull inside and outside so that they would understand it isn't about pulling up, but pinching together. So one wheel good pre demo, correct poor posture, hand positions and make certain they understand the steps in progression. Always demonstrate the 3 forms separately, but make certain they master the cylinder first.
 
best,
Pres

That is how I do it. I demonstrate then let them drive the wheel. I sit next to them coaching for the first 2-3 times they do it. If they need more demonstrating then we switch seats. Then its back to coaching them from the sidelines. Works out well so far. Been doing it this way for 3 years.
 

Depends on what is being made.
Something like sponge holders I can push 40 at a time, but I no longer have drying issues. I can take pots off the bat still pretty wet, wrap a dozen items on a drywall wareboard, wrap it in cheap trash bag, put a towel over it, and it's good for 5 days. 
I wrap my mugs like this too, and the handles, so nothing dries out as I am working on it. 
I throw as much as I can, then work on a dozen or so at a time, but I like to cut all my sponge holders at once, or handles on all the mugs in one go, so I will limit the number to the amount of time I can give in the next few days after throwing. 

Depends on what is being made.
Something like sponge holders I can push 40 at a time, but I no longer have drying issues. I can take pots off the bat still pretty wet, wrap a dozen items on a drywall wareboard, wrap it in cheap trash bag, put a towel over it, and it's good for 5 days. 
I wrap my mugs like this too, and the handles, so nothing dries out as I am working on it. 
I throw as much as I can, then work on a dozen or so at a time, but I like to cut all my sponge holders at once, or handles on all the mugs in one go, so I will limit the number to the amount of time I can give in the next few days after throwing. 

For firing and glazing, driven by what fits in the kiln, which, happy accident, I had just enough counterspace for a kiln load with leaving room for a glaze bucket, some tools, a cleanup water bucket and sponge, and splash room*.
In making, from one up to forty or so. When in a flow, there's just thrown, ready or almost ready to trim, and another batch in between.
The weather makes a difference in how fast things move along.
Controlling and/or suspending drying is key, as Shawnhar points out.
*The new Studio space will have to have the same or more counterspace!
...while seven cubic feet of kiln space seemed much too big, starting out, I'm used to it now, so looking forward to getting back to it.

Depends on what is being made.
Something like sponge holders I can push 40 at a time, but I no longer have drying issues. I can take pots off the bat still pretty wet, wrap a dozen items on a drywall wareboard, wrap it in cheap trash bag, put a towel over it, and it's good for 5 days. 
I wrap my mugs like this too, and the handles, so nothing dries out as I am working on it. 
I throw as much as I can, then work on a dozen or so at a time, but I like to cut all my sponge holders at once, or handles on all the mugs in one go, so I will limit the number to the amount of time I can give in the next few days after throwing. 

If it’s bone dry and you try to re-wet it, any water applied will work pretty rapidly to dissolve the clay. So surface texture will be altered somewhat. Readsorption may also cause small matrix cracks. 
If the piece is dear to you and you really feel like it can’t be re-made better, hollowing it out as Pres suggests is an option. The only thing I’d add to that would be to make sure you’re using a drill with low speed. Going too fast can cause structural issues from vibration. You will still have to leave the piece on the thick side to avoid damage, so you’ll have to go really, really slow on the bisque. Allow lots of time for the piece to absorb heat energy evenly. If the piece is truly bone dry and has been for months, explosions from water vapour expanding too rapidly aren’t a big possibility, but breakage  due to uneven heating is. 

Ok so I have a bit more time in ceramics . Clay is not all equal . Some clays are better for bending than others. We produce some slab baking dishes (like 12x 16 rectangles). The clay rolled out with a slab roller . Then pushed into a plater mold-the sides are just under 3 inches deep (or about 7 centimeters). We use a blend of open fine groged porcealin mixed with my throwing porcelain about 50/50 mix. Most clays will crack with type of bending. The fine grog is the key to this-that clay is 1/2 porcealin 1/2 fine groged white clay and then I mix it with my other porcealin to get ot so slab bend and form wear most porcealin will not do any of this.. The grog also helps with thermo shock .
The wetness of the clay matters and does how it rolled out. My power slab roller is two rollers compressing each side as it goes thru.
There are many factors here
if your clay is to short meaning it will not throw tall or cracks at bending then slab bending will not work. Short clay comes from many factors but aging helps and the right clay helps. Most earthenwares are not great as they are pretty tight bodies (not loose say with sand or grog) Stonewares are usually better for slab work depending on makeup of ingredients
A bit more info on how you are rolling and what type of clay body would help
Since you are in India your additives will be different than say what have access to. I think of clay there as red  and white earthenware and maybe stoneware as well. but the closest I have been is Cambodia and it was just about all red clay.

^ I had 2 responses to this:   LOL (out loud) and secondly agree.   This question is ALWAYS on the board.       I'm agreeing with GEP that you have to be assured the "advisor" has actually reached financial viability in a pottery business.   
My experience (going into my 13th year) is that there seems to be very little middle ground.   Either people are successful commercially or they are not.    I've seen quite a few get started and even talked to some people in my area.   Most people don't stay  in this for the long haul.  I use a format that I see less often.   I do 2 shows a year and have a free standing location.   I have had up to 8 employees, and am now down to only 1 plus myself.     Actually I make about the same profit.   One thing I did three years ago was adding slip casted wares to my hand building pottery line.     I buy these slip cast wares from an outside source and it decreased my clay production needs.   It's a nice supplement.   Also, I have a full jewelry line that I have 1 full time employee that stays in sales area and makes jewelry and waits on customers for pottery and jewelry sales (and a small hand crafted fragrance line that I make as my "hobby").
I like this business 200x more with no employees in the production process except myself.  just got in a 4K pound drop of clay from Laguna  and will use all of it this year.   In previous years have used more than 10K pounds.   Not sure how much I will use this year ... probably will get one more 4k drop.
In answer to your question, I don't do any online.    But I've had other businesses before this and was pretty comfortable in the mechanics of establishing a destination retail business.   I am a firm believer in capturing 4th quarter gift sales.   Half my yearly sales are in Nov/Dec.  I'm not sure I'm the best example for recommending channels.    I do some consulting  but could  easily have enough clients to do retail consulting full time.   I am always going to say "retail".   But I'm not 100% sure this is a good strategy for most potters and I turn down any consulting offers for any arts and crafts businesses.    Social media, at the current time, makes it easier to drive customers to a retail location than it used to be.  (however, FB and Instagram have implemented changes and may well introduce more that limit the cost effectiveness of this promotion).  I've written an extensive analysis of channels somewhere in these forums.     I am very pleased with the financial viability and profitability of my business.   I will say the ROI (return on investment i.e. equipment, materials, location set up), is exceptionally high.    The biggest draw back is the ease and consistency  of duplication.    I see duplication more successful in slip casting than in hand building.    I've had less experience with wheel work, as I dropped it years ago to keep up with the demand for my hand built wares.     Avoid hiring employees until you have your process and sales channels worked out.  I am also going to suggest that you approach wholesaling very cautiously.   I've always thought one should choose between wholesaling and retailing.    I have done wholesale in my jewelry line but have stopped because it was pulling me in 2 directions.
Cheers.   Hope I get to see the survy.
Sharon Grimes/Dirt Roads Pottery
 

Hi Linda,
Welcome to the Forum.
Good question!
I'm sure it's proper for major appliances like heat pumps and ceramic kilns to run on their own dedicated circuits.
We were able to free up some space on both our subpanels by taking out some full width circuit breakers and replacing them with half width/duplex breakers (aka slimline, twin, half, wafer, double - lots of names for the same thing). We didn't add enough to worry about exceeding the overall capacity...
Would that work for your panel?
Is it a main or subpanel in question?
What's the rating on the panel, is it a 200 or 100 amp panel?
What's the load on the panel before the heat pump - the existing load (current load, heh, err, current current load)? 

Posibly thought " topless potters."....

As someone who learned patience very much against their will, moaning about it the ENTIRE time: this will only get you so far.
At some point someone’s going to make a nasty comment, and the good feelings of cranking stuff out will vanish very abruptly. There is a happy medium between waiting 4 days for leather hard and speed drying in your oven in a matter of hours. It leads to better pots, and all the good feelings about having learned a skill/accomplished what you set out to do on purpose, rather than accepting “happy accidents” all the time.