Beginner questions

[YuOr]

Hello all

I've been attending some pottery classes and got a kiln and a wheel for birthday+Christmas+all other holidays for the next 10 years  

I have some beginner questions, I would really appreciate your help

As I was using studio kiln before, I never fired anything myself (I just left my pieces there and picked up after they were bisqued)... So where can I read/watch some tutorials? Like do I turn on pre-dry function, should I keep at the hottest point and for how long etc? Beginner tips and tricks...How do I see if the item was properly glazed/bisqued?

I think the bat I bought is not good, it's very wobbly.. What are good bats that would be stable and pretty easy to take the pieces off? We moved, so  I can't go back  to the studio to see what equipment they  used there. 

What do you store wet pieces on? 

 

What are good clays and glazes? I bought some Amaco glazes... Are they good? Any must-have colors? 

 

thank you!!

 

[Hulk]

I'm working in "mid fire" - cone 5/6.
My kiln is rated cone 10, however, it's much more practical to work in the mid range.

I bump bisque and glaze loads up to 200F the night before, hence all is quite dry by the next day.

Use pyrometric cones on each shelf.
Keep good/accurate notes.
Read about oxygen during bisque, also for glaze firing.
Be aware of fumes and your health.

There's lots of good reading archived on this forum; see also Tony Hansen's digitalfire.com for many weeks of reading. There are many books, magazines, and websites with lots of good reading...

I have two Amaco Plasti-Bats, which are ok - I use them sometimes.
...and one Speedball bat - I use it sometimes.
The plastic-y bats don't absorb any moisture; the clay sticks to them ok (not great); they do flex a tiny bit, so taller forms can oval - flex the other way to re-round...
I also have ten bats I made from half and three quarter inch powder board, which I soaked in oil base stain then finished with sanding sealer and varnish. They are great, I use them a lot and will make more someday...
And finally, a stack of plaster bats (I made them), which are super handy for drying out bases/feet, and I do throw with them sometimes. The ware will self-release after drying some, which can be very nice. The plaster absorbs moisture - boom! The clay turns to tar almost instantly - takes some getting used to - you'll get better at centering effectively.

I leave wet ware on the bat until it is firm such that wiring off and picking it up doesn't change the shape.
From there, I'll allow the piece to dry until it's ready for trimming. Set on plaster is working well for me - helps pull moisture from the base.
When looking to slow down and/or stop drying, I'll leave the pot on the counter (my counter doesn't absorb water) and put a container over it. A few sprays from the mister can keep it from drying out - forever, although mold will likely take over at some point...

I've tried several clays. White/light clays may be less trouble - bubbles, fizzing, bloating - but may be more prone to crazing. I did find two white stoneware clays that my low expansion clear glaze fits wonderfully. I might, err, will get back to buff and red clays someday...

[YuOr]

thank you so much!!

 

I forgot to add one more question.... Can I bisque and glaze at the same time (different pieces I mean, but at the same time in the same kiln) if I need to fire both to the same cone?

[oldlady]

yu, welcome to the forum.  you are at the very beginning of a very complex subject with so many variables that without a solid background, you will find things very difficult.   the answers to your questions will not make sense without your first knowing the vocabulary and basics of clay and glazes.   did your instructor teach you all about  clay or only how to make things?

if you have moved and can find some place to learn, you will be ahead of the game.   if not, you might look at the older textbooks that will at least give you some understanding of what you need to do to make something you will be happy with.   now that you have the equipment to set up a studio, you can decide if pottery is a fun hobby you would like to just enjoy or are you really going to pursue the craft intensely.  if that is the case, there is a lot of homework to do to take advantage of having your own studio.

look for a truly old, 1972 or so book by a ceramic engineer.  the title is Getting Into Pots, the author is Wettlaufer, i think George.   do laugh at the prices mentioned but the book is not a joke, it has some valuable information.   there is another one from the same time, by Charles Counts who takes you from making a simple short cylinder to a covered container with a lid.  that one is Pottery Workshop.   both come in paperback and you can probably find both of them for under $10.

yes, there are lots of you tube videos to watch but to get a firm foundation, you need the basics.

 

 

 

 

[PeterH]

49 minutes ago, oldlady said:

Getting Into Pots, the author is Wettlaufer

https://tinyurl.com/3utz454r

Charles Counts   Pottery Workshop

https://tinyurl.com/4th2apbn

Adjust the searches if you don't want USA & $.

[YuOr]

thank you so much!

the kiln is L&L e18s-3

the wheel is SHIMPO VL-WHISPER

I will look into these books, thank you!

 

 

[oldlady]

thank you peter, looking at the Charles Counts book prices, i wonder if i could make a fortune with a signed copy?  i think it is a first edition since only one was printed.

btw, Yu, do not try to mix the glaze in the charles counts book.  he made a "mistake"  on purpose so it won't work.

[YuOr]

1 hour ago, oldlady said:

 

btw, Yu, do not try to mix the glaze in the charles counts book.  he made a "mistake"  on purpose so it won't work.

wow interesting :))

[kswan]

I love my bats. I've had them for about 10 years and love them.  No warping at all, they absorb water a bit and are easy to take care of. I use a thin Sharpie marker to make concentric circles at the size I need them. They can be used on either side since the bat pin holes go all the way through.  I have the 3/4 in thick ones in the larger sizes. 

Small Studio Equipment & Tools - Bats - Continental Hydra-Lite Bats 1/2" thick (continentalclay.com)

[Pyewackette]

I store wet pieces on Hardiebacker.  I've always used 1/2" (actually 0.42").  It does come in 1/4" (actually 1/4").  Some have suggested the thinner hardiebacker may eventually warp but the 1/4" will be way easier to score with a carbide scoring tool and snap to cut.  There is also a set of shears running about $75 that have to be attached to a good quality fairly powerful drill driver to function (stand alone shears cost over $200).  I have such a drill and plan to buy the drill attachment because I plan to use hardiebacker all over the place - for ware boards, for drying shelves, for a drying table.  I may even use it for my work table.  If dampening it doesn't keep it from drying out whatever I'm working on I'll get a slabmat to work on over the table, but the hardiebacker is cheap and impervious to water damage so I'll use it anyway. I would definitely use 1/2" for a table top, double thick for a drying table, and 1/2" for bats. It does need good support (think floor joists) when used for table tops or most shelving.  I don't think I'd try to wedge on it, seems to me the drying action would be counterproductive.

I dry all my stuff on individual ware boards sized mostly 6" square.  I'll be making some of the 6" size and a couple about 12x16 for some slab trays I'll be working on.  Size them appropriately for your work.  The Hardiebacker is commonly available in 3x5 sheets so its totally up to you how big you make your ware boards.

The 1/2" has a smooth side, put that side up.  The 1/4" has squares embossed on one side and not the other.  I'm told the "smooth" side on the 1/4" is not as smooth as the smooth side on the 1/2" so that may be a consideration when choosing what you want to use as a ware/drying board.

I'm going to make a few bats out of it and try to  use it in the studio where I'm working at the moment because they're going through ch-ch-ch-changes over there and the clay is uber wet right now and it doesn't look like that's going to improve reliably any time soon (we got 2 months of wet short stuff then one good batch that didn't even last one day then back to wetter stuff but not short).  I'm hoping such bats would let me remove my work from the bat sooner than has been possible using the plastic studio bats. 

Currently I have to schlep all my stuff back and forth to the studio (will soon be setting up at home but not quite yet). Otherwise I'd go with Hydrostone bats.  You can buy the Hydrostone in powder form (its a special sort of plaster) and make your own if you've a mind but then you have to drill bat pins.  I'm not sure a Hydrostone bat would stick to a wheel head using a clay slick, it might suck the water out and come loose?  Not sure.  I feel safer if its attached to the bat pins. You don't have to wire stuff off Hydrostone bats, just wait a little while and your pot will pop off.  If they get waterlogged stuff won't pop off - just rotate them and have enough that that won't happen.

[oldlady]

your second last sentence also describes the way Duron bats work.   i am using some i made in the 1990s at a local woodworking shop.  made my own squares and had an expert make the 12 inch circular one that the small squares fit into.  i have never wired off a pot.   never.   i tried but could not master it so i use Duron.

[Pyewackette]

@oldlady I had been contemplating getting some of those cheap masonite square bats (they're like $3 a pop) to help alleviate my wet clay that I didn't make problems at the local studio, but I was afraid they'd warp if I left pots on them that long and be ruined.  Apparently that hasn't been an issue for you if you've been leaving your stuff on such a bat until it pops off by itself?  Would leaving them in a bag so they don't overdry before I can get back to trim them potentially be a problem?  I should be able to get back every 2 or 3 days ... Might go up to a week but that's only happened once this last couple of months.

Coincidentally I just like 5 minutes ago watched a youtube video where the guy was doing exactly what you describe.  Apparently his bats don't warp either.

[oldlady]

pye,  i do not experience a lot of  problems because my aim in making pots is to make them and sell them.   i do not have or take the time to worry about all the things so many of you guys do.  i dry things as fast as possible, leaving them on drywall if they are handbuilt and leaving them uncovered  TOTALLY  unless i have added a handle on something.   that is a rare event and it is covered only for one day.   i think covering things inside plastic is only necessary if you have a weekly class and have not finished a step in time.   people leave things covered for such a long time and i just do not understand why unless there are slipped additions that need to equal out their moisture content.   and that is not necessarily weeks and weeks.

if thrown, i leave them on the masonite, Duron, bat overnight and that is usually enough time for the pot to pop off.   i might leave the pot and bat inside a plastic bag overnight if i have already brushed  slip onto the wet pot as i finished throwing and mostly trimmed it immediately after.   since i throw 8 or so at once, i want the slip to stay damp enough to carve all of them before they dry completely.  they pop off on their own once they get dry enough.

yes, you can ruin a bat by leaving it in water for a couple of days.   i did that once accidentally and the bat got thicker on the edges after it dried.   

you DO worry a lot.   i only worry about important things.   mostly.   except when i don't.

[Pyewackette]

@oldlady I don't own a car, I either have to borrow my son's or have him drive me.  Right now he only has one car due to a recent accident taking the other one out for awhile, so I'm (a) limited in how mobile I am anyway and (b) REALLY limited when there is only one car for him and his wife to schlep the both of them back and forth to work, the grandson to and fro (daycare), me to doctor's appointments, necessary errands (like getting food) - and then my pottery habit.  So yeah, it's an issue for me to get back and forth to the studio.  And while I've got a nest egg to blow on some expensive equipment like a kiln, a pugmill, and other varied and sundry pottery stufz, it doesn't exactly gladden my frugal heart to just drop even a measly $3 per item (for something I estimate I would need at least a dozen of to use as bats-come-ware-boards) on something if it is likely to be ruined by the use to which I put it.  I don't know.  So I ask.  I also tire easily so there is that as well.

Right now we are on the last legs of getting my new place tiled.  My son moved me up from the High Sierra Desert (or down I guess, I'm in Tejas now) after a health crisis last March.  I've been here since the end of July.  Hence a lot of medical related schlepping and a new house that was painted I-kid-you-not Taliban-cave-grey when I moved in.  Due to the pandemic housing/renovation crunch, it was 6 months before we could get it painted and the tiling is ongoing as mentioned.  I think that'll be done next week and I can start unpacking all my stuff that is currently stacked in boxes in the garage.  I've been camping out here with my only furniture being a recliner, an end table, and a coffee table (plus one floor lamp) for 7 months now.  That's right, no bed. The carpet was uber nasty.  Don't know about where you live, but around here workmen are backed up weeks and months.  But the end is in sight.

So maybe in a few weeks I will have the garage emptied out, the house organized, a solids trap installed (plumber required *sigh*), worktables built, and my "studio" set up.  Then I, too, can have daily access to a clay workplace.

Until then yeah, I got worries.  LOL!

Thanks for the response.

Pye