Do I have to fire it to cone 10? Is cone 6 ok? Less durable im sure but what do you think? Is there a particular clay body or clay body line that would work better than others? Is making my own hump mold the way to go, or is that just overkill? (Not sure how many I would want to make, but would want to see how the first goes I suppose, then jump from there).
Photo just for reference
Love it or love to hate it, trimming increases the amount of time we spend with a pot by at least double, takes off some dead weight, and makes the bottom look awfully clean and nice. Beyond aesthetics, trimming can add to a pot's function. So let's talk about it.
Personally, I like a foot ring big enough that I can hold the bowl by it while I dip it in glaze.
I seem to remember being taught something about how you want the bottom of a pot to be concave because if flat it could potentially hydroplane on a wet surface. Not sure how much of a concern that is, but sure.
I also love having a nice foot to protect my hand when carrying hot liquids.
What are your favorite characteristics and/or functions of a nicely trimmed foot?
Hello! I’m new to pottery so I’m unsure about the drying process after leather hard. Today I used colored slip/wax and then carved into these leather hard pieces. Neither of them have a base, they’re just hollow cylinders (going to be lamp bases!)
So, should I leave them uncovered until they’re bone dry? How long until bone dry so they can be bisque fired? They’re stored in a temp controlled studio with no direct fan. I didn’t expect the drying process to be
I tried many different colors and textures of glazes, and finally I found the one that suits my heart best. Personally, I am quite satisfied with the effect of the finished product. I would also like to hear everyone's opinions, whether it's about the shape or color matching.
Looking forward to communicating and exchanging ideas with you all.
created this chawan as a gift for my partner, with the drawing of his favorite kitty! got so excited when it got fired today, its translucent and weighs nothing! its a huge win for me
(灬º‿º灬)♡
(clay: porcelain. glaze: amaco celadon succulent 2 *very* thin layers)
I just picked up my second ever glaze fired pieces and I’m so happy with some of them I just wanted to share😅 I did have some small cracking and pin-holing issues on a couple of them, but for my second attempt I’m pretty content!
I would love to hear any thoughts and opinions, (constructive but pleasant) advice is always welcome too since I’m so new to the pottery world!!
I'm not sure this belongs here, but I wanted to gift my bf a pottery class. Unfortunately I can't find anything near where I am, especially during this time of the year. The only thing I found is a 3 hour session where clay and instruments are already provided and you can experiment using clay on your own to create something. The website states it's suitable for everyone, both beginners and experts, but obviously you have to be comfortable with being unguided.
So what I'm asking is, how difficult is it to create a small simple object for first-timers? Like a mug or a plate, obviously by hand. There's the option to have it fired afterwards for a small supplement and then you can cone back for glazing if you like the piece. I mean, I can picture myself a fun experience together, or is it a bad idea?
Edit: I found this on the website too: A brief introduction about the medium will be given to new participants. They will be encouraged to explore the process.
I’m noticing that my floor gets this dent on the bottom on the sides after I pull (and then I have to re-compress and flatten). I have a suspicion that my inner finger is pushing down when I go in to position, but curious if anyone else has come across this.
So. I had a few 5 gal buckets of reclaim (with water) from about 3 years ago, that completely dried out. I combined the 3 into 1 added water, and started slopping it out.
I began to notice an odd smell, like super mold/earth... and got poked by something. I tossed that bit aside, and continued. More sharp stuff.
Finally, I got frustrated and washed off the bits of contamination, and I'm pretty sure they're some sort of rodent bones. Should I be concerned?
Part of me is like "it's clay, it's probably FULL of ancient decomp". But the other part of me is like "dude, you just inhaled God knows what, is it safe to throw with"?
Thoughts or experiences anyone?
Hi, I recently upgraded my kiln to an older Duncan 46 x 60cm kiln with a ipco 3300 controller. I did my first bisque and glaze stoneware firings with it and it under fired by a few cones. I watched the controller readings several times throughout the firings, and it was reading as it should. I know kilns fire differently, even when firing the same schedule. So before I look into new elements or pyrometer, I wanted to see if I can find a schedule that works first. Unfortunately my controller only allows for 2 sections in the firings, so I’m looking for 2 part schedules. The bisque I used 80C/hr to 600C, then 200C/hr to 1000C. And glaze 120C/hr to 600C, then 220C/hr to 1222C. So if anyone has a schedule that works for them I would appreciate it so much if you could share it, as the schedules I can find online have 4-6 sections. If 2 section firings aren’t very reliable then I’ll look at a new controller. Thanks
My biggest pottery frustration is that I almost always throw my piece off center when opening.
I have been slowing down and taking my time centering lately to make sure my “puck” is very centered before moving to the next step. But as soon as I take a finger down to create a hole, I’m thrown off center.
I’ve tried speeding up the wheel, slowing down the wheel, using any/all different fingers, using 2 fingers, pushing faster, slower, etc. nothing helps.
It’s not always terribly off centered, but when I then go to open and start pulling the clay open (typically with my index finger pulling towards 6 o’clock) it becomes VERY off center. Again, I’ve tried so many ways to remedy this and it happens nearly every single time I throw.
Why does this happen? I honestly can’t even envision how to do this step without throwing it off at this point. What is your method for preventing this? What the heck am I doing wrong??
I’m not sure if the actual term when the glaze has small bubbles I applied 3 coats of mars crystal glaze I think it’s amaco the glaze looks really nice however it does run I’ve noticed but my question is why does it bubble I’ve read that clays with grog have a higher tendency to burn off stuff making the glaze bubble from gases trying to escape but I use porcelain idk I like this glaze and my test came out not good I don’t know if there are any tricks to prevent this (I also only glazed the top 3/4 of the piece it runs a lot)
Y’all I’m so sick of trimming boring ass foot rings. Can you please drop your favorite photos or tutorials for altered, decorative, ornate, or dare I say it, sexy foot rings??
Hi all! I am starting to build an inventory and trying to determine how much to prep vs expect to sell at a market? Any tips or advice welcome!
it has been so so hot in the studio the last couple days with the heat wave, I usually just wear my boots or like canvas sneakers in the studio but even the sneakers have been too hot 😭 what do y'all wear in the studio when it's like crazy hot? I'm not working w the kilns so I'm not super worried about like foot safety, but I am on the wheel so non-slip is important
edit: ended up wearing some kung-fu slippers with rubber soles that I usually use as house shoes. worked ok, could've been more non-slip and more cushioned but I think they make ones that are, I'll probably look into those
I have this piece that’s a bit drier than leather hard but not quite bone dry. I accidentally bumped one of the decorative handles and broke it off 😭 The messy part is from me panic attempting to reattach with slip.
Has anyone successfully used Clay Mender to attach broken greenware pieces? I know Clay Mender lists greenware repair as one of its uses, but I used similar products before for cracks and never had good results so I’m hesitant.
Hello! I'm trying to figure out the total footprint of the Speedball clay boss so I can see if it will fit in my space. Blick's website says it is 21" by 26", but that just doesn't square with how I remember it from my community studio days! I remember it being longer front-to-back including the table.
Could someone who has one please confirm what the total measurements are? It'll help me reality-check my pipe dream of converting a spare bathroom into a mini studio!
ETA: I'm baffled that this got tagged NSFW.