liambesaw
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Posts posted by liambesaw
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So I've been doing glaze combo tests on glazes that I use but didn't think would be any good together. Got a few surprisers anyway. But what I've been doing for a bit is making carafes. Lots of them. I'm sending my first shipment of 10 with matching mugs next week. That is, weather permitting... It's been 50 degrees at 98% humidity here for a week, so things are NOT drying. Very frustrating, even when I have them on the tables next to the kiln, it's very slow drying.
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19 minutes ago, Benzine said:
@Marcia Selsor Nope, that's too early for that weather!...
@liambesaw Love the form and glazing. My Dad has a "birdbath" shape he made in college, where he sprayed some oxides, similar to that. He still has it, though it probably has some damage from the dang kids!...
What is the exact function and usage of that form? Is it like a pour over coffee carafe?
Yep, it's a pour over carafe ala chemex: https://www.chemexcoffeemaker.com/
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26 minutes ago, shawnhar said:
2 feet of snow... ya'll are crazy!
Feels good to have something on the bench, life's been busy, wife sold her store, we opened a new one in a nearby small town and I've actually sold a few things there already, tried a booth at a local shop that rents booths but it's not done much better than the rent. We had to practice like 30 hours for a gig at a friend's party, that was awesome, made people cry, felt good to nail it for a change.
Anyway, uggg, you don't throw for a while and for me anyway, let's just say the first few mugs will have carving around the bottoms, a couple might not make it due to thin bottoms, and I felt a bit rusty, lol. Sure does feel good to spin some mud though, nothin' like it.
Good to see you back @shawnhar
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14 hours ago, Marcia Selsor said:
I like that exhaust filter. I could use one. I use a vapor mask for the chlorides and sulphates I am using.
Marcia
Works really well, I was working with toluene (really volatile paint thinner) and I couldn't smell it at all. Really happy with that, it allows me to work inside as it gets colder and wetter. (Although it rapidly sucks all the heat outside)
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Wow those are awesome, @Min!
Today I mixed glaze (folk art guild white) and made soaps of metal salts for lustre experiments.
While I was mixing glaze, I grabbed a bag of spodumene, unrolled it, measured out the spodumene, and while I was rolling the bag back up, OUCH WHAT THE #&%@!
Got stung by a hornet that decided to hibernate in the folds of my spodumene bag. So that was fun! The hazards of mixing glaze that no one talks about. Now my middle finger is swollen up, which could be advantageous if I run into someone particularly disagreeable.
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From what I remember I was introduced to wheel throwing in 3rd grade, and had ceramics class for part of the year for every year from 3rd to 7th grade, and then took 2 years (6 courses) at community college. But I pretty much forgot everything between then and when I bought my wheel 2 years ago. Been slowly reteaching myself with the help of you guys here and YouTube since. I'm fairly autodidact so when I am interested in something i am driven to learn everything about it. Doesn't always translate to skill though.
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Here's what it ended up looking like. Just a rough mockup to see if they're interested.
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1 hour ago, Babs said:
Good luck Liam!
Do the have to contain an exact amount of fluid?
Friend was making 1litre port bottles with elaborate label...clay sprigged on. She nailed it for years. Hot summer temps sent her crszy though
I was sent exact dimensions and product photos. If they like the prototypes they'll send some finished examples so I can see more closely. I've already thrown 4, have thrown spouts and pulled handles so I should have some finished by tonight.
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I have been glazing and firing bowls all weekend, no surprise.
But today I am making a few carafes for a company on the east coast to see if they'd like to do business with me. Just a little commission gig to get some money flowing. Supposedly 20 a month at 40 a piece, that's at least enough spending cash to buy more clay and feed my real addiction lol.
- Babs, Bill Kielb, Hulk and 1 other
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6 hours ago, Mark C. said:
Back from big successful show and takling 12 days off to finish remodel -siding up on last wall-need to paint it soon before the weather changes. Hook up hot and cold water copper lines and waste lines for 1/2 bath and also hook up 3 forced air heat vents and trim out one closest and hang a wall hung toto toilet and hook up sink facuet and drian and supply lines-also drain line for mini split need installing -I should get this all done in next 12 days.then its back to gallery orders for fall-and a larger wholesale order as well.I only have one local private sale left this year at xmas
Holy cow mark, you never stop do you?
I spent this weekend building a work table / fume hood for my work with soluble salts and lustres. Sulphur, and mercaptans (thiols) are part of synthesizing a lustre overglaze and these are some of the smelliest compounds on earth. I did an open air run of some palladium mercaptan a few weeks ago and you could smell it from blocks away. I decided instead of subjecting my neighborhood to a somewhat regular barrage of rotting smells that I'd go ahead and do it proper. A 350 cu ft per minute fan pulled through an activated carbon filter rated to match. It won't get rid of the smell entirely but will trap a lot of it.
At least that's the hope. This combined with an acid gas face mask will hopefully keep me better protected from hydrogen sulfide and other byproducts that are unhealthy to breathe as well.
I know it's pretty janky as far as lab equipment is concerned but it actually works so I consider it a win!
- Benzine, Hulk and Marcia Selsor
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17 minutes ago, Hulk said:
Like your adjustable pointer, also the inverted for drying choice, which slows drying at the vulnerable rim, and exposes the thickest part - da footring - to speed drying there, whilst capturing atmosphere within, to temper/slow the overall rate (haven't watched the vid yet :O )...
Yeah as soon as they are stiff enough to support being flipped over they get flipped over. I did speed dry them outdoors with a fan so I could wire them off and reuse the bats (I only have 36 bats). Worked out pretty good and I only killed 3 of them while trimming heh.
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43 minutes ago, oldlady said:
hulk, may i suggest a simple replacement for the cutting wire?? i have always hated the ones with wooden toggle handles because they are too long and i have never gotten one out of its package without crimping it. years ago i got some leader wires from walmart's fishing gear section. i think at that time there were 6 of various sizes for about $1. they have ends that fit on a key ring. one without keys, of course. the round rings are sold lots of places, walmart wants too much for the ones in the automotive section. hardware stores are better value.
i can use the longer ones but find i really like the 9 inch size and the 12 inch one is perfect for slicing slabs from a new bag of clay. AND THEY DO NOT TANGLE UP!
If I did put my keys on it I might stop losing my cutoff wires (and my keys)
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2 hours ago, oldlady said:
liam, i use a bowl much like yours but with a handle much like callie's. it is my second favorite bowl and is chosen often. maybe a handle would help bowl sales?
Ooo fancy!
I have trimmed all but the last 20, which hopefully won't be too hard by the time I get to them tonight.
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Much like @Callie Beller Diesel, I have a full plate tonight. In celebration of my youtube channel reaching 100 subscribers I decided it was a good idea to throw 100 bowls. Now that they're all drying at a rapid rate, I'm having second thoughts on how great of an idea it was! Haha
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10 hours ago, Mark C. said:
I used to dig clay and add things to it to make it work-what a hassel for crappy clay. I also used to reclaim all my trimmings-what a hassel-I started in clay in last year of high school(1971) I was full time in 1976- after graduation -drying my scrap in large plaster forms and wedging it all then pugging it at facilities at collage for trade like class tours of studio .
I gave that all up in tyhe 80s and trew dred trimmings away-still do. I bought a second hand peter pugger in 2013 if I recall after hand/wrist surgery(PRC -3 bones removed)
I wish I had done that 35 year earlier-and I could have If i chose to.
I will add that making your own clay gives you insight to clays and the same is true making your own glazes. I like having atht background as a full timer when issues pop up yuou have the skills to guide you. Clay is cheap and making it costs more time than its worth money wise at least for me. Its a young mans fancy as its also a back killer-I reall that part well.
With ceramics knowing as much as you can gives you a edge as the rest of your life you will add to it and never get it all-its about 3 lifetimes worth of stuff to learn
How do you dispose of clay? I'm picturing a porcelain mountain next to your studio.
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14 minutes ago, i beDon said:
i do not know a thing i found a old dead wheel in the woods
i got it working but i was given a Sitter Kiln it is 120v
and thats all i know I will be taking a potter class
they told me they do not do any thing other there own kiln
so I looking for a dvd or youtube or any info on how to use this thanks Don
You'll need to make sure the wiring and circuit can handle the amperage it's going to draw. You should be able to find a nameplate on it with the specifications of the kiln. After that you should be able to type in "how to fire a manual kiln with kilnsitter" in YouTube and get a bunch of videos showing the process.
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5 minutes ago, Callie Beller Diesel said:
I use so very little cobalt, I'm not even sure anyone would care if I gave it up or not. I use it in increments of 1% or less, so I'm still working on the 250g package of carbonate I bought two years ago.
I don't work in oranges or reds because I don't want to expose myself to cadmium, never mind anyone else. I don't care if they're stable enough for my use, someone had to expose themselves to keep me safe. To me, it's not worth it for a few pots. I bought the smallest package of red stain I could 5 years ago, and I can't bring myself to use it much.
The yellow stain I do have is praseodymium based. Not sure how rare earth mining practices compare those of cadmium or cobalt.
Rare earth refining is where you would draw concern I think. I think all the lanthanides are mined together and separated via chemical process. Since China is the dominant (only) producer of rare earth elements I'm sure they do it all safely and ethically. But once again, the pottery world draws almost zero demand, so you aren't the driving force behind the mining and processing of the ore, you're a side concern of a side concern when it comes to praseodymium.
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1 minute ago, Min said:
I have contacted both Mason and Ferro (includes Cerdac, Degussa and Drakenfeld stains) requesting info on their stewardship practices in regards to cadmium inclusion stain manufacturing. If I hear back from them I'll post their replies here. Does anybody have any literature on the processing practices of cadmium inclusion stains? From this link at Digitalfire:
"... stain is further rendered safer-to-use by washing with water or weak acid to remove any soluble uncombined compounds (e.g. cadmium or soluble impurities). This washing process does produce toxic byproducts that can only be tolerated in certain countries (e.g. India, China)."
Considering the toxicity of Cd this is an ethical issue for me, if Mason or Ferro do corroborate what Tony Hansen is saying on Digitalfire then I will no longer be buying underglazes that use Cd stains.
I do hope you are correct Pres in that the mining practices will be changing and child labour will no longer be part of the equation. I will gladly pay more for it if I know it's ethically sourced. BTW @liambesaw, even at $50 lb that's still about 1/2 of what it costs if I buy it from my local ceramic supply place (which I don't). From my local place's catalogue
"Cobalt Carbonate .................. 500 grams 92.10
Cobalt Oxide ...............500 grams 102.00 "
Hey if you ever need me to smuggle you some I've got your back that's a lot of dough (even if it's funny money)
QotW: When do you decide?
in Int'l Ceramic Artists Network (ICAN) Operations and Benefits
Posted
I'm a wheel man myself, and i don't think I really started developing actual skill until I started planning ahead of time what i was going to make and how.
I generally sketch at least rough dimensions and then set about throwing something to those dimensions and shape. If I enjoy the way it looks, I will set my gauge and make a series of the same form. My goal is always to throw 2 dozen of the same form, I feel like it not only gives me a nice amount of stock on that item, but it also really hones that form and sears it into the gray matter. There is nothing like repetition to really explore yourself and a form. People ask me often what they can do to get past a hump or get on to the next level and for me it's repeating a form, it's like performance enhancing drugs for wheel throwing.
So when do I decide? I decide long before i sit down at the wheel.