liambesaw
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Posts posted by liambesaw
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Everything is hosed right now. We just got the news today that essentially the only stores allowed to be open are grocery and drug stores.
I'm in the dental lab business and so far the 3 largest labs in the state have closed voluntarily and we are having so many dentist's call and cancel cases now too. So I predict we will be temporarily laid off for a few weeks coming up.
Other than that. It's nice and sunny here and I have enough clay to last me a few months. I went to Seattle pottery supply on Saturday for more slip ingredients and apparently that was their last day, they're closed for the upcoming week at least.
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3 minutes ago, douglas said:
I use a cone six red clay and it comes right off. However when I use it in cone 10 that sometimes happens. I think your clay may be over firing if the alumina gets embedded in the clay. I still use it in cone 10 but I know I will have more clean up and finishing later when I do.
My red body is very fluxy, it plucks on the shelves too
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36 minutes ago, Jstevens04 said:
I bought a used clay boss hp potters wheel. No Manuel or splash pan came with it. Does anyone know where I can get these.
thank you,jackie
From speedball, the manufacturer
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I like to tinker so I always try to reverse engineer anything I use. Doesn't always turn out well, but I feel like I understand what I'm doing a lot better once I've tinkered with it. In my head, everything can be fixed and companies do not invent things. That means anything can be fixed if it's not some kind of structural deficit.
When I tell people that, so many people say yeah you can fix anything yourself but it's not worth the time. Well I guess that depends on your definition of worth? If knowledge is worthless then I agree! In that case ignorance is bliss. But if you find value in knowledge then any experience repairing or maintaining your equipment is priceless.
So this is sort of in the same vein as last week... If I can see a path, I will take it!
- Pres, JohnnyK and Bill Kielb
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Oh I forgot my other honorable mention is Euclid's, I shop there for tools usually because they have a good cheap selection and 2 day shipping from Canada is about half of what places on the East coast of the US charge.
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Seattle pottery supply is 14 miles away from me, although it routinely takes me 45-60 minutes to get there on the freeway due to our lovely traffic. They're also only open 9-5 on weekdays and reduced hours on Saturday, so I have to plan my weekend around going there. I try to avoid driving into Seattle as much as possible.
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7 minutes ago, Min said:
Hi Amanda and welcome to the forum
Alumina hydrate is not known for being difficult to remove, it just dusts right off. I'm wondering if you're getting a bit of glaze on it, where are you using it, on lid galleries or ? Also, you're 100% sure it's alumina hydrate and not something else?
Eh it seems to stain my red clay with a dusty white that doesn't come off, I have to use sandpaper.
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2 hours ago, oldlady said:
i did make clay with that simple formula that got folks on this forum into a tizzy. unfortunately, it was red and my hands and everything in the studio looked bloody awful. so i stopped using it. it was exceptionally cheap to make. if anyone wants to try it, get a bag of Redart and a bag of XX saggar. mix with water. it used to cost about $20 but i am sure that cost is higher now. 2 bags, 50pounds each equalled a lot more clay when the water was added. it is a cone 6 clay.
40 dollars now
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13 minutes ago, LeeU said:
The short answer is that I use commercial bodies and commercial glazes. But being a bit of a Chatty Cathy, here's the rest of it. I do not have the physical space to mix my own, nor the energy or motivation, tho I cringe and wince and grind my teeth every time I pay to get the commercial materials that I like. New Hampshire has no ceramics supply store and the drive to ME or MA costs almost as much as shipping and pretty much kills most of a day. So I pay (and pay a lot...since I use such small quantities). I don't go in on other potters' large orders because they rarely use the kinds of clay I prefer. For cone 6, I am real happy with glazes from Coyote/Amoco/Laguna/Spectrum etc. I don't get a lot of opportunity for wood fire and raku, but with my small quantity, people are real generous with sharing their glazes. For high fire bodies I use Troy wood, Sheffield's Z, and T3. I use Highwater's raku.
That said, I have to 'fess up that I truly miss making clay bodies and formulating glazes. I spent several years saturated in the learning and doing based on Daniel Rhodes and D.G. Lawrence (clay/glazes/ceramic science) plus an excellent education in potters/clay artists and the history. I was enraptured with the making of the materials that were at the heart of my final work. I got my degree but that was just barely a taste. Then I took an economically-driven detour of 30 years. When I retired and went back to clay, I found that the minor brain injury I have pretty much obliterated everything I learned, including much of the physical processes needed to function with reasonable skill as a craftsman. It took a while to integrate the sense of loss/frustration with the thrill of being back at it, however limited the effort. So, long story long, I use commercial bodies and glazes, and they are just fine--pretty sweet actually!
It really takes so much space to store raw materials. I'm at my limit right now, but I have a full spectrum of materials for cone 6. If you ever feel like flying across the country we can have a glaze mixing party just for you
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16 minutes ago, Callie Beller Diesel said:
I have mixed clay in the past, but I don’t have time anymore and I’d like to save my body a bit, so I happily pay Plainsman for their fine product.
Even in high school, we mixed our own glazes, so I never really learned different. When I went through college, the focus was on making your own, whatever temperature you were working at. I didn’t start using any kind of commercial products until the high fire gas kiln I was using wasn’t going to be available for a couple of months for shed repairs. I decided to “just try” some red clay at cone six, and because I “wasn’t going to have time to learn the chemistry” I bought some powdered clear and some underglazes.
5 years later, I am still working with the red clay, and I have some glazes I mix after having put in the time to learn the chemistry. I still buy the clear glaze because it fits the clay, but it makes a better base glaze with colourants than a clear. I do regular testing to find new glazes though.
Edited to add: I also buy decals, both overglaze and tissue transfers. I’m looking at some ez screens to maybe make some of my own tissue transfers though. The shipping is getting out of hand.
CALLIE!
This is a much better option I think. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Silk-screen-w-custom-image-on-16-X-12-frame-You-will-provide-your-own-image/223558103087 They'll burn anything into a screen and mail it to you. I think you'll get way better results, ez screen is a cool idea but I found it to be very uncool to use.
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11 minutes ago, Pres said:
Haven't used lustres in years, fun when I did, but did not enjoy the smell. At the HS they were more of a novelty, and too out of reach for most things. If I had a student that needed a little extra zing for something that deserved the effort and extra firing, I did it. Otherwise have not gotten into them on my own.
best,
Pres
They require extra work for sure, and with a larger kiln I doubt I'll be using them much anymore, but I like them because they're translucent and metallic, it's a very cool combination that adds a TON of depth on an otherwise flat surface.
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I use a local commercial clay body for throwing. But I recently had to make the decision whether or not to mix my own casting slip. I ended up deciding to make it myself, using a recipe from Indiana University, they had the slip recipe and also clay body recipe (for adding handles, attachments, etc).
So far so good, the purchase price for the raw materials was 90 dollars, and it's enough to mix 15 gallons of slip, and if I add another 50 dollars (grolleg) i will still have enough of the other ingredients to mix another 15 gallons. The price of a porcelain slip from the store was 120 dollars for the same 15 gallons. So it was an easy decision for me. I'd have to mix the slip either way, might as well weigh out the ingredients myself!
I make all my glazes as well, that price break is a LOT bigger, you will pay a huge premium to buy commercial glazes.
I made my own studio furniture and ware boards and all that, because wow have you seen what they want for that stuff? Wowzer!
I did buy my wheels and kilns though, I buy my trim tools and ribs as well. I know a lot of other people who make their own tools but buy their glazes.
I have been making my own lustre overglazes, although the price would be a wash if we had access to colored lustres here in the states. I made my own titanium lustre for a while, but mother of pearl lustre is so cheap it's not even worth the time it takes to make it.
So I guess it's always a balance of time vs. money, some things like making glazes have a huge payoff, other things like making lustres or equipment have a very low payoff (but are still fun). If you hAve a lot of time and no money, do it yourself, you have a lot of money and no time, buy it?
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1 hour ago, Min said:
@liambesaw, those molds for your coffee pots?
Yeah, wanted a specific detail that took me like an hour to do by hand, and didn't want to spend that kind of time on every one. This is the detail:
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6 minutes ago, Denice said:
I am going to try throwing again today, I tried a couple of days ago and it did not go well. My hand doctor told me it could be a couple of months before I get completely healed. I hope my hand will cooperate today if it doesn't I think I will start coiling again. Tried using my slab roller and couldn't turn the wheel with my right hand had to use my left hand and arm. Wish me luck! Denice
Good luck, don't push yourself too hard!
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4 minutes ago, Min said:
It's been quiet on this workbench thread so I thought I'ld show my mussels.
^10 porcelain, heading for a soda firing if they make it through drying without cracking.
Wow, very musscular! I just saw a thread on Reddit where someone added barnacles to everything, must be one of those days
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To me, if I can understand a system, I can make it whole. So as someone who is curious and skeptical, I don't accept that things work by magic, or that the way they work is unaccessible to the common person. Everything can be understood, at least on a general level, which can be used to deduce a possible issue.
So I try to understand and fix everything, even if it's more expensive.
- Pres, JohnnyK and Bill Kielb
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43 minutes ago, Callie Beller Diesel said:
I don’t spray big bowls. I pour the inside and outside separately, and usually add a little water to the glaze to thin it. Go to the dollar store and get some large diameter plastic tubs: it makes life waaay easier. When setting them up in the kiln, place other items evenly around the rim to create a heat sink. Test tiles, shot glasses, mugs, even extra kiln posts. It took my cracking rate down to nothing.
If you have a Korean supermarket somewhere near you, I found kimchi mixing tubs to be very cheap and very awesome for glazing. It's like halfway between a laundry tub and a kiddie pool, I can put my big banding wheel inside and harvest all the drippies.
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10 minutes ago, shawnhar said:
I DESPISE making big bowls, the throwing part is great, the glaze failure rate for me is heartbreaking. I can fit 24 mugs in my little 818, if 1 or 2 fail, no biggie. The kiln will only hold 2 big bowls and at least one always fails, they don't fit in the glaze bucket, I suck at the pouring method, crawling, pinholes, too thin, drips if I try to mix colors, it's always something. We did sell a bunch during the holidays and I am down to 2 left, and I have 2 bisqued that haven't been glazed because I dread the failure.
Secret to glazing big bowls is spraying, everything else causes too much glaze to pool in the bottom which can break the bowl or bubble or all sorts of nastiness.
I've been really into doing big 2 piece vases and stuff, trying to feather my nest by covering my front garden areas in big pots
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I like making those pots most so even though they don't sell, I still like making them. I had a big bowl that I would bring to the farmers market just as a marketing gimmick. People don't see big bowls, so it was like "whoa look at this big bowl". I mean they never bought anything but maybe some day I'll see them again and theyll be like "hey. Big bowl guy!"
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Pretty much everything, heh. I make videos about making things and it's been beneficial for other potters, but detrimental for selling things at a price. It looks easy, and I can't really blame people for thinking so. I think only people who took ceramics in school or who have tried it themselves can really appreciate the time and energy it takes to get a form the way you want it. It's not even easy to make something really crappy. But just watching someone do it, is like... Oh yeah of course, you just make the clay into whatever you want, easy premise.
I think the 3D arts are especially prone to this bias because HELLO you just make what you see. Most people have drawn something, and realise how difficult it is to draw something the way you see it. But most people have not tried to sculpt or do something in three dimensions because it's less accessible. They have no frame of reference.
I've gone back and forth with people on this and the jury is out, but as far as the amount of skill and time that goes into a given form, it's lost on a lot of people.
Luckily I've found that most people seeking ceramics are people who have at least tried it and are appreciative of the skill and effort.
As a footnote, I really appreciate the experience of sitting at a booth and hearing the things that we usually consider negative or condescending about our craft. For me it brings to light a lot of things I'd never have considered and I feel like I understand better what it is that impresses people who don't have a frame of reference. It's not comfortable at the time, but in retrospect it's something I feel is important to think about.
- Hulk, Bill Kielb and Pres
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I don't eat in my studio, but I'll bring a coffee or beer in. I put it in a little cupboard in my shed and sip on it while I get everything ready for whatever I'm out there to do. Not when I'm throwing. Usually if I'm filming a video it'll take me about half an hour to set up lights and cameras, get the microphone set up and queued, adjust white balance and exposure, etc etc.
I think drinking the dregs of your coffee and then spitting out a bunch of grit is probably enough to cure most people of drinking while claying. Not a pleasant experience!
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12 minutes ago, Callie Beller Diesel said:
My basement studio has access to a sink with hot water, but I’m careful to use bucket siphon systems for disposal, as I don’t have a clay trap. 12 years in the same house, and so far so good.
You can buy one for the dental industry for pretty cheap. Under 50 bucks. Just search Amazon or whatever for "plaster trap". You just replace your sink trap (the U shaped piece) with the plaster trap, it just plugs in. We use them at work and they work great for both plaster and gypsum, so they'll work for clay too.
Assuming you'll ever want one, much cheaper than the clay ones
QotW: What are your concerns about the coronovirus impact on your health and your livelihood and passion?
in Int'l Ceramic Artists Network (ICAN) Operations and Benefits
Posted · Edited by liambesaw
That's a surgical mask, which is a lot different than an n95 mask.
I have to use both types at work, and neither work on me because I have a beard. Technically my beard is an OSHA violation, so sad.