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Hi! I'm totally inexperienced in this new world of clay and I have questions. I am planning on making tiny porcelain ceramics for jewelry. I have acquired a brand new kiln, some samples of colored porcelain, and a 25lb block of Suzuki white porcelain. I'm reading that I can fire the Suzuki porcelain to cone 6, which is good because the glazes I'm looking at can also fire up to cone 6. Has anyone done test pieces with this clay? My items will be very small as I plan on adding them to other pieces and adding other things to them after firing, if that makes sense. I have no idea what I'm doing. I need guidance so I don't ruin things when they arrive. How do I care for my kiln? Will kiln paper work? Kiln wash? Can I dip pieces and just lay them on a shelf that's been kiln washed or will it stick? How long and how hot for bisque, and for the next firing? These are going to be smaller than what most people do for test pieces I'd imagine. Does anyone know what happens if you put a piece of copper in a divot of clay and then fire? Would I risk a piece exploding or ruining my kiln if I tried to add any metals on top of recesses on the surface of my pieces? I'd be grateful for any advice you could give. I have lots of creative ideas and ambition but don't want to ruin my new expensive toys as a result of experiments. Blessings, Azloen

I'm a beginner potter and I've tried wood firing pottery outdoors because an electric kiln is not very accessible for me. My small kiln is about a bit bigger than 2'x2'x2' and made from regular red bricks with a regular grill grate halfway to place pottery. As you can probably tell, it has terrible insulation and I can never get it to a high enough temp to fire glazed pottery. I can bisque fire and it works but It never gets hot enough to melt glaze, even the low fire glazes I use. I really don't want to ditch this project because I've already put so much time and material into it but I don't have the time/material to build a much bigger kiln or spend days firing. I also don't have a huge budget. What fairly inexpensive materials I can use to insulate my small kiln so that it can comfortably reach cone 06 and complete a glaze firing? I've looked into getting ceramic fiber board to line the inside of the kiln with, fire bricks are very expensive and probably out of my price range. Any advise from someone with more experience in this field would be very appreciated, Thank you!

A friend of mine is firing sculptured gnomes--about 24" tall, with thick areas of up to 2", and having them explode. After thorough drying at 180 deg F, at what rate should she heat the kiln? The clay is a standard stoneware with no added grog.