liambesaw
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Posts posted by liambesaw
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56 minutes ago, Min said:
I bought one in January for my workroom. I like that it is voice controlled but would really recommend syncing a bluetooth speaker to it. The Echo speaker is okay for listening to the news or talk radio etc but for music I find the sound quality is pretty bad, worse when you crank up the volume.
@Hulk, I don't think my wheel is ever that clean!
I dont think mine was that clean when it was brand new
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23 minutes ago, LeeU said:
A rat took up residence in my studio (a converted bedroom in my old-ish mobil home) while I was out of town for a couple of weeks. He ate--completely destroyed--the good welder's gloves with the extended cuffs for stoking the big anagama kiln. He ate my leather studeo shoes. He ate all things cardboard. He ate my foam core and one dry wall shelf board. He ate a plasaic texture roller. He ate through the old semi-crumbling cement foundation (!) to get in and out. He did not eat any food. I did not have a cat. I highly recommend that you add a second cat.
Well my shed is 10 feet by 10 feet and I haven't seen him, so I think he might have just stopped by, I'll set out some rat traps just in case though
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I have a nice Bluetooth speaker setup in my shed that I blast tunes on. But most of the time I'm throwing alone in silence.
There are also a few camcorders for recording what I'm doing so I can watch it back and/or make YouTube videos. That's kind of like having a companion, I feel like the cameras are a person and talk to them too. I also talk to myself while I'm throwing even if the cameras are off though, so I guess the voices in my head are another companion haha.
Recently I found a rat or squirrel had visited my studio, so I wonder if they have taken up residence. I don't think so because there's no food and my cat is in and out all day, but there was evidence!
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1 minute ago, Pres said:
Working on a bird bath 18" diameter, a long loaf paten for double chalice set, and first four of a series of floor vases for Christmas. Pictures to follow.
best,
Pres
Busy guy! I thought you were retired
I just went through 150 lbs of porcelain trying to find one that I can throw with. I found one that I think I like, but need to see how it does firing. I made a bunch of bowls, bottles and flower pots with it.
I need to make a lamp for my mom, and I need to get back to bowls, plates and mugs soon. This week I am going to do a lot of work, hopefully get a bisque and 3 glaze firings in this weekend.
I contacted a new farmers market in my town and I have a list of things I need to borrow or buy in order to do the market. A square reader, a canopy, business cards and a sign at the very minimum for this one, and hopefully will start to be able to build up enough show things to sign up for a few holiday shows. Fingers crossed anyway.
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Assorted diamond discs, that's about it! And of course all of the black Costco bins with yellow lids that are packed full of mugs and bowls and plates. I have I think 6 completely full now, I can't really pick them up and move them around because they're too big and heavy, but when I end up doing a show I will repack into more manageable loads.
One other thing I like to do after firing is to take pictures of the work, so I will pile it up inside and then wait for a cloudy morning to bring it all outside for pictures on my rotting deck. For that it's an ancient Canon DSLR with a really really nice 100mm f2.8 macro lens and adobe Lightroom for editing.
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5 minutes ago, neilestrick said:
The Skutt 181 usually has the old, old, old style kiln sitter, which does not have the large black cover plate. The box is much narrower than models with the modern Sitter. There may not be room to fit a controller, and the relays and controls will be subject to a lot of heat.
I bought a mounting box for mine, it was 50 dollars from a local kiln manufacturer, but better than what I was going to do which was mount it in a large metal junction box.
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27 minutes ago, Kammymckenna said:
I'm new to this forum, and have a Skutt 181 kiln as well. Does anyone know if you can upgrade the manual controls to digital? And if so, is there an option other than the Skutt KilnMaster? My husband is an IT professional, so he's convinced there's a way to do it.
Any suggestions?
You can buy a Bartlett v6cf, a thermocouple, a transformer and some relays and convert it. It's a bit more involved than buying a kilnmaster. Well a lot more involved. But you'll be have a lot more intimate knowledge about how a kiln and controller work afterwards. It just will take some research.
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Mine is a drill with blunger, a giant whisk, a pouring measuring cup from the dollar store, a turkey baster and a large tiling sponge. I also occasionally use wax! No brushes or tongs though, I should probably get some sometime lol
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Got to open the kiln last night, almost everything came out great, which is a blessing for sure. Started another glaze load last night and hope it's just as dope.
- Callie Beller Diesel, Min, shawnhar and 5 others
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40 minutes ago, spiffypix said:
Yikes, Neil. didn’t realize I could have too large of a breaker. even though it’s not within code, can I have a serious issue if I use the 50amp?
It may fail to trip and you could have an issue.
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Well, I'm out of clay... So I'm going to get some tomorrow! A half ton this time, my tahoe is rated for 1480lbs of weight, and that explains why my February order felt so wrong driving home haha. Trying out some different porcelains and then getting mostly my red stoneware.
I need to do a few firings this weekend so I'm going to go ahead and load and bisque tonight, 30 mugs, 8 dinner plates, 8 small plates, bunch of condiment dishes, spoon rests, vases, etc. It's gonna be a full load.
I also have a few videos I need to record this weekend. Going to do a teapot video and I think some citrus juicers. Haven't sketched the juicers out yet but should have time tonight for that.
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2 hours ago, Chilly said:
Which "newbie question" has most confused/confounded you? For example, today, I was asked: Why do you always tell me to do a glaze test before I use it on something real?
I'm all for testing on something real, but when I say test a glaze first, I mean before mixing up more than a test batch. I'm sure in a school setting where every piece is precious it has a different connotation.
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My basic throwing kit, after buying and making all sorts of tools:
1) pointy asian style trim tool
2) small wooden kidney
3) whatever junky sponge is around
4) chamois
And last but most important and versatile......
5) metal rib
And here's what I use them for:
1) trim tool - I use it to clean up the "buttress" or skirt on mugs'n'jugs and to pull my bats off. Thing is a champ and that's why it's on my bench. Cost me 99 cents at the ole pottery shoppe
2) kemper small hardwood kidney rib - it has a flat side, it has a curved side, what's not to like. But really I use this for compressing the bottoms of plates and as an inside compressing rib when doing a tall form (with the metal rib on the outside).
3) junky sponge - now I don't want to name any names, but after trying some fancy name brand sponge pack I have to say I wore them out in short order and moved on. I use chunks of tile sponge, Hydra sponges (the cheap round ones in the kits), etc. If you're married to the mudtools ones, try the foam from a box of cones, it works great.
4) chamois - ok I'm gonna ruffle some feathers here, but you can take your paper towels and bag plastic and you can go ahead and put them in the garbage where they belong. Nothing feels as good as gripping that slimy little piece of lambskin and pulling it down over a rim. Nevermind the beautiful, perfect, compressed, strong, and incredibly smooth surface it leaves behind. That's great and all, but I mean actually just holding the thing and letting it slide in your fingers, when you wring it out, when you slap it onto the side of your water dish... It's all magical! It almost feels ethereal and lighter than air. Anyway, chamois are great.
5) metal rib - ok, metal ribs, let's be honest... They're cheating, right? No one tool should have all of this power. I use my metal rib for so many things, I will begin describing them now. I clean my bats with one, I shape pretty much everything I throw with one, I scrape slip off of clay, I decorate with one, I burnish with one while trimming, the list goes on forever! Definitely my favorite tool.
Beyond those for throwing I also now rarely use a needle tool, pretty much just for scoring, though still occasionally use one to level off the top of an uneven rim. The other occasional use tool is a large cooking chopstick from daiso. It serves as throwing stick, and general all around stick for doing stick stuff.
For trimming I pretty much use a thin dolan pear and a screw cap from a gallon milk jug. I'll tap whatever I'm trimming into center, put the milk cap in the middle and apply gentle downward pressure on the milk cap to hold whatever I'm trimming on center and just hack at it with the pear tool. I occasionally use an Asian style trim tool but I can't keep them sharp enough for them to be of any long term use whereas the dolan tools are hardened steel and the edge lasts quite a while, even on groggy stoneware.
Welp, that's about it and probably far too detailed, but you can go tool crazy if you aren't careful. For mugs I'm down to sponge, chamois, metal rib and trim tool, and I get into a pretty good rhythm can pump one out every 2-3 minutes to the gauge.
Speaking of which, I've got 30 out in the shed that need to be thumbed off and handled... Toodles!
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1 hour ago, Tumbleweed Pottery said:
The woman I’m buying from is firing it today to test. I will ask her if she is glaze firing.
I only fire to cone 6 anyway. But that does concern me about the new elements. I plan to fire using Amaco Potter’s Choice and celadons, which I know are 5/6.
She is liquidating her studio and selling me all her commercial glazes (pints), kiln furniture, kiln, like-new Shimpo RK whisper, tools, ware boards and bats for $1,400.
She has a modest little studio, but the deal seems considerable.
My husband is an electrician/technician for the FAA and works on landing equipment. He could replace the elements pretty easily. How much am I looking at for all new elements in the kiln?
Elements are usually 40-50 bucks a piece, so it depends on how many are in there
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You can fire a kiln with a kiln sitter to any cone lower than it's rating. Just have to buy the pyrometric bars of that cone number.
Curious as to why you're buying that model though, it's only rated to cone 6, which means it will only hit cone 6 with new elements, so it's really more of a low fire or bisquing kiln.
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Maybe it's just the stuff that finds me, but it's really kitschy or edgy or witty. I think a lot of the popular art right now is people feeling like they have to either make something so awful it's adorable or overly shocking/dark/depressed, and then wittiness seems to underly a lot of these themes.
Thats definitely pigeonholing an entire two decades of art into a tiny narrow beam, but from what I see as popular it is usually some depressing theme, with a witty political message or something that purposely looks like vintage kitsch.
I'm not a huge fan, but I do understand it and why it is popular. People be upset.
Maybe a name could be the period of unrest or discomfort.
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18 minutes ago, LeeU said:
And they are lookin' good! Nice and simple, no jarring distractions, conveys the info just as it should! Hope building the webite is at least a little bit fun--I loved doing mine even though I have neglected it lately.
Thanks! Unfortunately they do have jarring distractions because whenever I sit down to film, my neighbors who are NEVER out, decide to do their yard work. But it's been great kind of chronicling my journey since the start of the year, and it's a lot of fun too.
As far as the website goes, well I am not that into computers anymore so it's hard for me to sit down and concentrate on one, but I'll get through that eventually
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I've been busy filming and editing YouTube videos. Need to get back on the mugs and bowls wagon though, so will get back to normal making soon.
I also need to finish my website and get things moving on the business end, I just only have so much time in the day, someone clone me please!
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You gotta have something worth dry cleaning to use dry cleaning plastic
I have painters plastic for in the studio, but it's only really helpful if I can get to what's inside of it within a few days. The wet box just keeps everything the same moisture regardless of time, so saving up a bunch of mugs for handles day works well for me. Under plastic my mugs are too dry after just 3 days.
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Just now, neilestrick said:
There's very little reason to fire to cone 10 in an electric kiln. Your glazes won't look the same as pots fired in a gas kiln to cone 10, because you can't do reduction in an electric. You might as well fire to cone 6 and save the wear and tear on your kiln. There are really nice vitrified, translucent, cone 6 porcelain bodies available from most clay suppliers.
I cant think of a single reason, any savings in material would be offset in energy cost
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1 hour ago, Stephen said:
yeah but you are right back with the issue of firing to cone 10 with a cone 10 kiln. But I guess you could fore to 8 with long hold?
Cone 10 kilns are built to fire to cone 10
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21 minutes ago, Joseph Fireborn said:
I use a small green house for my mug handles. Works perfectly. I also use it for when something comes up and I can't get to my work to trim it.
That's what I mainly use it for. I'll throw mugs and pitchers and store them in wetbox all week, then attach handles on the weekend all at once. Works great! I don't have much room so I store these tote dryboxes outdoors, but a greenhouse thing sounds like a great idea for someone with room inside
What’s on your workbench?
in Aesthetic Approaches and Philosophy
Posted
Yeah lots of compression and when you grab a ball to start, really sticking with it for a bit before working on it. Stupid S-cracks