Biggest screwup lately

[CactusPots 93]

Just dropped a 25 lb thrown pot while flipping it over leather dry.  So annoying.

Is that the record or does anyone have a bigger dropped pot?

[JohnnyK 463]

Mine wasn't a bigger pot...it was about 20 smaller finished glazed pieces, cups and bowls, etc. that were in a box  on a shelf in my studio and were knocked to the floor and destroyed when I inadvertently hit the box with a new tall cabinet that I was trying to work into place. Needless to say, all the pottery will be moved from those cabinets to the other side of the room while I remove the existing cabinets and install a new, larger capacity shelving system...

[LeeU 1,058]

Sorry for your loss! Both of you.  Me, I dropped a full bin of some very unique & wonderful pieces and watched them turn into smithereens.  I never could replicate a single precious one, either. Oh well! 

[Callie Beller Diesel 1,694]

It’s been a while, but my biggest mishap was knocking over about 8 5 lb jars with lids, which was my entire day’s efforts at the time. Just to put the icing on the cake, the instructor I respected the most and who happened to take a very dim view of swearing, came into the room just as I screeched out a creatively embellished F bomb at the top of my lungs. 

(He was very gracious, and told me I needed to go home and have one drink. Just one.)

It was not my most shining moment ever.

I have broken more and larger things  since, but that one made me cringe the hardest.

[Mark C. 3,712]

How about a 35 cubic foot car kiln load falling over with green ware been there done that hey how about a 35 cubic car kiln glaze fire at cone 10 when 7 on the Richter scale earthquake hits and the load falls over

been the done that 

[Hulk 344]

Hand building was prereq for wheel at the local JC 44 years ago; the instructor pointed out that all pottery breaks, hence there will always be a need for new pots - not bad for a 2d guy (pencils mainly, also pen and ink), rip.

Where an alternatives to "like" could be handy, e.g. 

Edited November 24 by Hulk
err

[CactusPots 93]

Mark gets my vote.  

Are these 2 separate incidents?  If so, how does a car kiln fall over?  The dolly falls over off the tracks outside the kiln?

The other one would scare me to death.  I guess the only thing to do would be to turn off the gas and walk away.

[GEP 1,723]

Not a huge disaster, but still an embarrassing brain fart. I was unloading a bisque kiln and had picked up two pots, one in each hand. One of the pots slipped out of my hand, For some reason, I let go of the other pot in an attempt to catch the first one with both hands. Failed. 

Edited November 24 by GEP

[Rae Reich 395]

On the whole, I would rather that any breakage be done by me, rather than a friend or customer. I feel so bad for them feeling bad. 

I lost a whole box of finished pots consigned to a friend who didn't understand well enough how to pack ceramics. Do you know people who pack their glassware for moving by stuffing it with newspaper?

[Mark C. 3,712]

Yes two separate events

The kiln is 3 12x 24 shelves deep (the 12 inch width going front to bach plus a littlke space and stacks about 5.5 feet tall on each stack off the floor which is about a foot off the tracks .. The posts are just 3 sided 2 inch posts( nothing lager-(See my photos for a look)

The car was rooling in with green ware and it just wobbled over and it was a domano effect 

the glaze fire was alsomst done when the quake it-I looke in the top spy plug and normally there are 3 feet of shelves with pots before the backl wall-this time all I could see was the cak wall-I shut it off. big mess later to grnd out

[Jhon 10]

We had fired a load of large vases that were for a client and the middle shelf support gave out when pulling the car out of the kiln.  We had 1 vase that looked OK at first, but somehow I dropped it with in seconds of picking it up.  I think my daughter dropped the first F bomb.  She had just turned 21 and the first thing that popped into my head was to take her to the bar for lunch and a shoot.

[CactusPots 93]

My problem is that my problem isn't one off, it's probably going to happen again.  With my wheel finally fixed and the new slab roller, I want to make bigger pots.  The 25 lb er that I dropped was thrown in 2 sections and that technique worked pretty well.  I hadn't tried that before.  I'm just finding it really difficult to flip the pot over between 2 bats.  It's one of those totally committed actions.  I basically throw it up in the air and catch it.  I just don't have the strength especially in my right shoulder to do this easily. 

Anybody solve this for big pots?

[GEP 1,723]

19 minutes ago, CactusPots said:

My problem is that my problem isn't one off, it's probably going to happen again.  With my wheel finally fixed and the new slab roller, I want to make bigger pots.  The 25 lb er that I dropped was thrown in 2 sections and that technique worked pretty well.  I hadn't tried that before.  I'm just finding it really difficult to flip the pot over between 2 bats.  It's one of those totally committed actions.  I basically throw it up in the air and catch it.  I just don't have the strength especially in my right shoulder to do this easily. 

Anybody solve this for big pots?

Are you flipping it over in order to trim it? If so, then design a pot that can be trimmed in the right-side-up position. You can trim from the side around the base of the wall, but design it and throw it so the bottom doesn’t have to be trimmed. 

[Hulk 344]

Have seen video where potter uses a gimbaled gizmo to flip large pots - pots too big for flip without several pairs of hands.

...ah, Bill Powell, see starting minute nineteen, "...enables the potter to invert a platter of up to one meter in diameter without fear of loss or damage."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUKxuG9SyRI

I like wearing flip flops around the house and in the studio  - one pair for inside, one for outside and the studio - however, turns out that "mad toe" can be avoided, err, at least minimized, by keeping feet toasty warm alla time; no more flip flops, excepting when it's "hot" out...

 

 

[Callie Beller Diesel 1,694]

The flipping can also be seen at the 14 minute mark. That is a genius piece of equipment. 

[CactusPots 93]

4 hours ago, Hulk said:

Have seen video where potter uses a gimbaled gizmo to flip large pots - pots too big for flip without several pairs of hands.

...ah, Bill Powell, see starting minute nineteen, "...enables the potter to invert a platter of up to one meter in diameter without fear of loss or damage."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUKxuG9SyRI

I like wearing flip flops around the house and in the studio  - one pair for inside, one for outside and the studio - however, turns out that "mad toe" can be avoided, err, at least minimized, by keeping feet toasty warm alla time; no more flip flops, excepting when it's "hot" out...

 

 

It will be in the 90s at my house from June to October.  Flip flops are required.  Now I'm in lined Crocs.  For studio use only, never in public.

[CactusPots 93]

I did build a pot flipper something like that.  Didn't use it this time, will have to consider some modifications along the lines of the video.  Thanks