overnight warm up?

[Claire Innes]

I have never done ceramics seriously but for my architecture course I am designing a pottery workshop.

I've read up about bisque firing schedules, and there's mention of monitoring the kiln at regular intervals. If the low-heat warm up is happening overnight as I've seen recommended, does that mean you essentially sleep by the kiln as it were? Or would you be able to go home and sleep in your bed safe in the knowledge that things are as they should be? If it's any help, I will probably design around using an electric kiln. 

Basically I want to know if I would have to include a bed in my workshop design! Space is limited as it is, so I would really need to justify it.

[liambesaw]

Overnight candling is like running a big space heater, I wouldn't sit around and hang out with it.

[Denice]

No need to sleep with your kiln,  since I am a hand builder I have done a lot of candling.   Start the kiln late night and begin turning it up early in the morning,  snuggled in bed while it cooks.   Denice

[Benzine]

Candling a kiln overnight, is safer than running  a dryer unattended.  Kilns don't produce combustible material, that they can eventually ignite!

 

[LeeU]

Personally, if I were designing a studio space that is not attached to a home, I would absolutely include space for a cot, or a Murphy-type bed. A place to lay down & sleep/rest comes in very handy when putting in hours of sustained work with clay.  I would also not leave an unattended kiln that is firing, nor leave the premises if there are students involved. Be sure to have appropriate insurance. 

[oldlady]

there is a good reason not to include sleeping space.  the dust in a studio contains toxic materials, silica primarily.  candling may be done by some potters but not everyone.   

try the search at the beginning of the forums for photos of studios in use by some members here.   it is a few years old but available if you have computer skills.  GEP, or mea rhee, has a studio that has been featured here several times.  marcia selsor has a beauty out in montana with enviable space for lots of things that would not fit in mea's basement.  or in Lee U's converted bedroom.

pottery studios are pretty individual.  my setup would not suit others at all.   there is a book  written on how to set up studios for your own special needs, cannot remember the author at the moment, but it has photos of many working studios in north carolina.   it includes one owned by a very successful potter from a long line of potters.  his copper roof and duplicate equipment in each corner for different colored clay work would be financially out of reach and  not be common for most individual potters.

check out your local library for ideas as well as the usual youtube stuff.   some copies of ceramic arts daily magazine show potters working in various places from barns in the country to converted city factory spaces and everything in between.  

sounds like my kind of project, good luck with it.    do not put kilns too close to the walls and leave space for loading and unloading heavy work into and out of them.  wheels on heavy things for daily mopping of the floors would be a good touch.

visit as many studios as you can.   this time of year in the US there are studio tours in many parts of the country.  you can enjoy a weekend in the country and meet real potters that way.

 

[Callie Beller Diesel]

Many clay people and artists in general can work odd hours, and some people who are blessed with enough space to do so will incorporate a couch somewhere away from the dust. Sleeping there isn’t usually the primary or even secondary intended purpose of the space, but it could be done in a pinch. It’s a nice-to-have, not a must-have. 

[Babs]

Must be an app  which allows you to listen to the click of switches and gas flame music from your cosy bed:-))))