Update to $5 measure stick

After using the measuring stick a few times, I have made two modifications to it.

1. I added another piece of wood under the bottom base piece, it is a little larger and thicker than the base. I found that it needed more weight as the whole thing moved slightly after some time at the wheel.

2. I added a piece of plastic (cut from the lid to a cottage cheese container) in the shape of a arrow to the arm nearest the pot. Using a sharpie, I colored it black so it is more visible.

Aside from that, I really like the measure stick!

How to Make a Pottery Measure Stick for Under $5

I saw a measure stick in Pottery Making Illustrated which looks very nice, just out of my price range. So, I made my own for under $4 using wood scraps.

For the most part, my pottery is not all exact and the same size... close enough for "sets" yet all are a little different in size and shape.

There are times, a special order for example or working towards a very large collection when I would like to be able to know exactly what size I made to make more of the same or have an easy way to re-create the same size for special orders.

Material List:
2 drywall screws
1 Piece of wood approx 4 x 2 and 1/2" thick (base)
1 Piece of wood approx 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 and 10" long (vertical stand)
1 Piece of trim board type wood approx 1" x 1/4" and 14" long (movable arm)
Wood Glue (I did not use but may be a good idea)
Bolt (I found one with a knob)
wing nut
locking washer

After cutting the wood to size, Drill holes (use a drill bit the same size or a tiny bit larger than your bolt), every few inches on the two long pieces of wood.

Screw the base onto the vertical arm. It is easier if you drill two pilot holes before trying to screw the pieces together.

Assemble the parts by putting the bolt through one of the holes in the vertical piece then put the "arm" onto the bold then lock washer and wing nut.

That is it! You now have a measuring stick.

Back at it- Studio set-up

Now that the excitement, preparation and clean up from ARTour Open Studio is over, I am back to the normal routine in the studio.

Drop-in has started up again and the first Mini Beginner Throwing class starts this Sunday.

I rearranged the studio (just a tiny bit) to improve the flow of work during Drop-in pottery nights, have moved part of the retail pottery display to shelves against the wall,


added additional space for wedging, handbuilding and work space along the wall,


Put all of the handbuilding tools, supplies and "texture" stamps and tools in a single area,

organized the glazes and incorporated the "Cink" a recirculating sink for washing clay from ceramic tools and equipment and put little shelves next to the glaze spray booth for the mason jars of glaze.

Whew, it was a lot of work, fun to do and I am liking the end results!

What is Raku

Raku is a blast! Raku is a pottery firing process where pots are lifted out of the really hot kiln with long tongs just after the glaze has melted and before the pots or kiln cool. The pots are still glowing red when they are placed into a metal container with a combustible material (newspaper, pine needles, sawdust, etc.). The combustible material quickly catches fire and a lid is placed on top to snuff out the oxygen. The fire and pots in the container are starved for oxygen and try to pull it from the glaze, this lack of O2 results in beautiful pieces of pottery. These pots do not hold water and are not safe for food.

Test Tiles- Done!

There are over 325 glaze color choices at T Pots Pottery!




Thanks to the help of Heather and Cory, the finished tiles are hanging in the studio!




As you can see on the tiles pictures above left- the base color is "E" which according to the chart is Robins Egg. Each ring of tiles are organized with all color combination's for the same base color. Robins Egg in the example above.

Glaze Spray Booth

Spray Booth

"Window Vision"
An example of a piece glazed using the spray booth


With a spray booth I am able to blend colors for very interesting effects which can not be done with dipping the pottery piece into a bucket of glaze.

Stu made this for me using plastic sheeting we had left over from our veggie garden cold boxes. Enough light comes through the clear plastic that I don't need extra lighting inside the booth.

The spray booth is mounted to the wall on normal shelve brackets. I have found clean up when I put some newspaper under the banding wheel.The ceiling of the spray booth has been fitting with a cheap furnace filter vent which is simple to open and clean or replace the bottom filters.

the boxes on top of the spray booth hold a stack of furnuce filters and the bathroom type fan which turns on/off by a switch.

The compressor (sits under the spray booth) is set to 30 psi. I use a critter sprayer and mason jars (you can see two of them to the left of the booth) filled with different color glazes. Wearing a mask while spraying glaze is mandatory!

Glazed Test Tiles

The test tile project is coming along....

Here are about 3/4 of the test tiles. Each is double dipped in two different glaze colors available at T Pots Pottery.

Some of the results are sooooooo yummy!

.

Test Tiles- Heather Glazing

Heather has been a busy gal... she has glazed a little over half the test tile combinations.













The glazed tiles above are in the kiln as I write this!

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Lets connect on LinkedIn! http://www.linkedin.com/in/teresawik

Test Tiles have been bisqued fired

500 + test tiles have dried and been bisque fired. Heather, the glazing queen, glazed 75-100 tiles at drop-in this week. A big shout out to Heather!

Using Foam instead of Wax Resist- update

Call me a creature of habit or set in my ways... I found it much quicker to use hot wax instead of the foam. If the inside of the foot ring is raised, the foam did not remove all of that glaze. Also any of the glazes with red iron oxide love to crawl into the crevices of the foam and stay there.

I did like the very straight glaze line you can get from using the foam.

Bisque Load

People are always extremely surprised to see a full bisque load in the kiln, even other potters have are surprised at my procedure.

To see the kiln- it looks like complete and utter chaos! One person told me it looks like a kids toy box with everything just thrown in. There is actually quite a bit of organization and fine tuning to delicately squeeze it all in there.

My goal is to get as much in the kiln as I can. Being that stilts and kiln shelves take up precious space, I try not to use them. Often times they are needed, especially with many tall, fragile and/or odd shaped ones.

1. I start by nesting the bowls on a large table.
2. Next I stack flat items- plates platters with the larger on the bottom.
3. Put the above items on the bottom shelve of the kiln.
4. Figure out what size furniture you need to hold up the shelve above the nested items. Use smaller items to fit any spaces and thin slab type pieces on top if you have room without going taller than the kiln furniture.
5. Put the shelves in. I use two 1/2 shelves per level which sit on 4 pieces of furniture. They they share two of the 4 furniture stilts so there is support under the two corners and the middle of the curved side.
6. Find all the larger, odd shaped items (those that you can't put anything on top of and have it stay stable (IE pitchers) and put them in. As you can see in the video, I put them on their side, it is easier to stack on top of them that way and they are strong to put more on top of.
7. Fill in around and on top of the layer or put another shelve in,which ever works for the pieces (and courage) you have.
   
8. The last thing i put in are the tall things which didn't fit in already as well as those things which I can put something else on top of it, like mugs. If you put cylinder forms upside down, it is easier to stack stack on top of them.

I have had really good results loading the pottery to be bisqued in this manner. Here are a few tips:

• Be sure the weight of each bowl, plate or platter is sitting on the base of the the one below it and not on the vertical wall.
• Never, never put a large platter or flat slab piece on the bottom shelve- they always crack.
• If you have a lot of flat slab pieces, stack them on their side vs flat or do single layer. The bottom one always cracks.
• The crazy stack needs to be stable with out large gaps, as the clay shrinks during the firing, you want everything tight so it shrinks together.
• things don't have to sit pretty on the shelve, they can be placed in which way as long as it is stable and won't move during the firing.
• Fragile items are typically last and don't have anything on top of them.

I put together a video showing a bisque load being done... click here to see it on you tube.

Glazeing Rules of Thumb

Glazing can be very challenging. Everything from picking colors and combination to how long and where to dip can all be confusing.

Opening the kiln is always very exciting. Sometimes there is also disappointment...

Glaze ran right off the pot onto the kiln shelve

Here are some very basic, tips to use as rule of thumb:

• Wax should be applied to the bottom of the piece as well as 1/4 inch up the side
• Mix the glaze completely before using it
• Re-mix the glaze between dips to ensure it has not begun to settle
• Dip no longer than 3 seconds on the first dip and less on the second
• Hold the piece upside down for the drips to fall back into the glaze bucket, this also pools the glaze towards the top rim of the piece instead of the bottom where it is more likely to run off the pot.
  
• Glaze should be the thickness of a postcard
• Using more than 3 colors on a piece can create stunning results or ugly browns and greens
• Use extreme caution double dipping the bottom 1/2 of the piece if using a runny glaze
• To minimize finger prints on the finished piece, wait until the piece is dry before handling (no longer shinny and without darker spots)
  
• Clean all glaze off waxed areas, from the bottom and 1/4 up the side of the piece.

Pully for lifting kiln lid

The hinge on my kiln never seemed to work correctly. After a few years of use, the kiln rings and lid were really showing wear from the torque of the lid mechanism.

Not sure what if others have had the same problem, here is what Stu did to fix it.



He made a pully system so I can crank the lid up and down.


















The crank on the wall



The crank ratchets which is fine for lifting the lid. In order to lower, I have to hold down the lever at the bottom. So Stu drilled a hole in and put the bungie cord on to keep it in the open position.

On the wall- he used a hinge and welded a piece of metel to it- that swings out to hold the handle so it can not turn on its own. It pushes against the wall, out of the way when raising.




Stu made the arm out of scrap metal and put pullies on it.


















Here you can see, we added one more handle to the lid and attached it with scrap metal and carabeaners.

Test Tile Extruder die

Here is the die I made to extrude test tile. Notice there are two cutouts, not only is it easier to push the clay out, it is twice as fast! The edges are not straight on purpose (really)the rough edge makes nice texture so we can see what the glaze will do.

It works great, I have over 450 waiting to go into the next bisque load.

Glaze Chemical Storage

I'm so lucky to have such a talented husband!

Shown is the chemical storage and glaze mixing area. Stu made the unit from scrap steel. He then used drawer slides for the shelves.


Each bin (rubbermaid ones I found on sale) is it's own shelve which pulls out for easy access.
The shelves about the work area contain oxides and colorants. Most of the containers are from the Dollar Store. The "disposable" ones from the grocery store also work well.

I like the digital postage type scale the best. I do use the triple bean for measureing small amounts, like 100 g test batches.

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I am on facebook! Still figuring it out... I really need a 4 1/2 yr old like the adorable girl on the TV commercial to help me out!


Be my friend :)

Glaze Test Tiles

Seems that everyone who glazes at the studio wants to know what colors look like together. I just counted glaze buckets- there are 19 colors to choose from that means there are over 360 possible combinations... no wonder people get overwhelmed choosing glaze colors!

So, I have started the task of making test tiles.

The first time I made 'em, I used the extruder to push out 6 sided hallow forms then cut them 3" tall. The tiles were easy to make and showed the color well but, they take up a lot of space.

Currently, I throw a 10" wide bottomless cylinder about 3" tall with marks on one side for texture. Easy enough to throw yet, often times, it dries to much before I cut out the pieces.

So, the newest plan is to make a 3 inch "L" shaped die with built in texture for the extruder. All I will have to do is cut it every 1 1/2 inch. and put a hanging hole in the top.

I'll keep you posted with the progress!

Using Foam instead of Wax Resist

Chris, a potter from New Jersey, has been frequenting drop-in the past few months while he is staying with his sister in Truckee. He showed me how he learned to use a foam pad (consistency of a sponge) to wipe the bottoms of pieces on after glazing.

The idea is to glaze a piece, once the glaze is dry enough to lift with your hands, you push down and twist the piece back and forth on a moist piece of foam. The friction, caused by pushing and twisting, removes the glaze on bottom and up the side a little ways.

First we tried a fairly stiff piece of foam I had laying around the studio, it worked pretty well. Being it is on the stiff side, it only removed glaze about 1/8" up from the bottom. I love the straight line where the glaze has been removed. But, I want a little more clearance since many of my glazes can run and with drop-in pottery nights there are so many people using the glazes who are not failure with them.

Last night at drop-in, we tried foam from Wal-mart which is used for seat cushions. It is much easier to push down on but, does not remove the glaze as well. Some of the "testers" last night commented it took longer to then sponge off the glaze than dipping in hot wax.

I'll keep you posted on the results- last nights glaze pieces are in the kiln as I write this.

Let me know if you have tried something similar or other alternatives to using wax!

What did you do this weekend?

I hope you had as much this weekend as I did!  After morning showshoe iwth my friend and our dogs, I spent most of my weekend playing at the studio. 

Saturday I threw 25 bowls (50 lbs of clay)

Sunday I trimmed, signed and put the bowls out to dry.  Also started a new beginner wheel throwing class with a great group of people.  I love the small, intimate and personal nature of the classes.  This class has 5 new, budding potters!

Have the courage to try something new this year!

Smooth Edges

Nobody wants to drink from a mug with a rough edge or grasp a handle only to have a high spot grab your finger. The way a piece feels in the hand is just as important as how beautiful the piece looks sitting on the table.

I don't care for sanding my pieces. Some people like to sand after the bisque fire, others after the piece has been glaze fired. I would much rather spend my studio time doing other things and not have to bother with it at all.

Spending a couple of seconds at the time of throwing to sponge off the rim leaves it consistency smooth. Some people will use a small square of chamois (tie it to a fishing bobber so you don't lose it at the bottom of your water bucket) for the same purpose. Whatever your choice, just curl the sponge/chamois around the rim while the wheel is spinning.


Enjoy!

Holiday Open Studio

Holiday Open Studio Decmeber 13 and 14, 2008

Handmade functional pottery, sculptural claywork, and fused glass jewelry are just a few of the items which are available at the Holiday Open studio. Come for a visit and enjoy refreshments, while experiencing the working studio of ceramic artist Teresa Wik.

Cleaning Pieces

It is far easier to tidy up a piece while it is still wet as apposed to once it is bone dry or worse yet, after being bisque fired.

For Wheel thrown pieces, I use my finger to smooth out any rough spots on the wall of the piece, to soften the top rim and foot. I am not a fan of holding a wet sponge and turning the piece of the wheel. It always seems to me that I end up sanding those pieces to get rid of the little rough spots. My theory is the sponge takes away the fine, smooth clay and leaves the larger grains.

For handbuilding or altered pieces double check for any small crumbs of clay left of the piece. Also examine all edges and corners to be sure they have a nice, smooth, round edge. Sharp corners become even sharper once glaze is applied and the piece is fired.

Wood Stove Steamer

The Wood Stove Steamer

The idea came to me while scrubbing the gunk out of our cast iron stove steamer… I thought if this were glazed pottery, it could easily be cleaned out with a sponge, maybe a little bleach if really bad or even better, it can be put into the dishwasher!

The Steamer has little feet to raise it off your stove so it won’t boil over or crack from the heat of the stove. The top top opening is large enough to put your hand into for easy cleaning. Holes in teh lid allow for the steam to escape. A wimsical and functional handle on the lid tops the piece.

It is important to remember to fill it up with warm water- cold water could cause cracks.

I’ve been testing one at our home and it works wonderfully!

Studio Organization

Those who know me, would laugh at the thought of me being detail oriented and would most likely pull an abdominal muscle if I ever tried to say I am organized.

While cleaning up the studio today, I realized the studio is, in fact, pretty darn organized! My husband, Stu gets the credit for all of his fantastic ideas and terrific handiman skills. I just keep him going with warm drinks and cold beer. :)

A few of the things Stu has created are: glaze chemical storage area with pull out shelves, spray booth using an old shower pan, display shelves for fairs which fold up when not in use, he has made about a dozen different glaze bin storage areas... the list goes on and on. Over the next few weeks, I'll show pictures and descriptions. In the mean time, check out my webpage to see some general pictures of the studio. www.tpotspottery.com.

PS- he also made the adorable front to the studio, it was a roll up door when I moved in.

New Glaze Color

New Glaze color needs a name!!!! any suggestions?

Based on a receipe in Mastering Glazes Cone 6- this glossy brown glaze actually has a varigated tanish grey color where thick with tans and rusty browns where thinner.

As with all my other glazes- this one is lead free. It is food safe and can go in the oven, microwave and dishwasher.

Can you guess what this piece of pottery is used for? (other than glaze testing) :)

It is a sponge holder! The sponge fits in length wise so it can dry out between uses. Helps keep down on the smelly sponge syndrome.

Fall Drop In - Tuesday and Thursday

Tuesday AND Thursday- 5:30 pm - 8 pm

Weekly ceramics drop-in at T Pots Pottery Fall Session (Sept. 23rd to Dec. 4th )

Drop-in class is the time to get your hands dirty and release some stress, while moving at your own pace to create functional and decorative pottery. All levels welcome.

Cost: $25 for the first drop-in (includes 10lbs of clay, glaze and kiln) then $15 after that for each drop-in during the Fall Session.

*New- Starting Thursday October 30, a second drop in session has been added!

Lost Everything (almost)

After countless hours on the phone with Microsoft, taking my computer and external hard drive (with vista backup files) to two different computer guru's, I am finally accepting the fact that I have lost all of my big files.

Not only were those files big in my mind since they held my contacts, e-mails, financials and web page, they were big in size as well...

The computer guys were able to recover some of my pictues and files. Thank you!

Guess, if I have to find something positive... my computer is much faster without all of the files and other accomulated junk. :)



After all of the research, I have learned two very major things (1) Vista backup sucks and (2) The compression software which comes with Vista has many problems. I downloaded 7-zip (free) which decompressed files Vista could not.

Ugh Computers- lost everything!

This fall has been gorgeous so much so, I decided to do some computer work out on the patio with my faithful companions, Beau and Tanner. Beau ,an 11 1/2 year old classic golden loves to hang in the shade while chewing on pine cones and watching the wildlife. Tanner, on the other hand, loves movement, he is a very active golden retriever possessed by tennis balls, bike riders, squirrels and anything else which moves.

To get to the point - Tanner got caught up in the power cord of my laptop creating a whiplash effect crashing the computer on to the patio. The hard drive was fatally damaged.

Back up, back up, back up... I had backed up just 4 days prior to "the incident". Unfortunately, I just get error messages attempting to restore it.

I don't have the answer to what went wrong, what the best way to back up is or how to check to be sure data is saved and retrievable. I'm looking into it and will let you know what I find. Or let me know if you have any suggestions!

In the meantime, if you were previously on my mailing list or would like to be, please shoot me an e-mail!

Cleaning Bottoms

Bottoms up! I'm talking here about the foot or bottom of pottery pieces... One of the final things I do before putting a price tag on my ceramic pottery is sanding the bottom or foot.

I have had more than one person tell me they purchased handcrafted pottery which scratched thier expensive table top at home so they threw the pottery in the trash! Not only was the new owner of the pottery upset, I'm sure the potter who created the piece would also be upset to know the fate of their hard work.


A few seconds of sanding will make all the difference. I use two differnt types of sandpaper, no special files or tools needed.


For really rough spots or getting chunks of kiln wash off the bottom, a heavy grit belt sander type paper works great, it is called "cloth belt" and comes in sheets, rolls and the circular type (pictured below). The belt grinder cloth is much stronger than typical paper so it won't tear. If you are handy or know someone who is handy with a saw, a block of wood can be cut for to slip inside the circleular sandpaper or it can be held in your hand.

Cloth Belt

Sandpaper sponges are the wonderful invention I use in a fine grit to smooth the botttom as soft as a baby! They last a long time, can be used on greenware, bisque or after the glaze fire, best of all, they are cheap. I get mine at our local hardware store for .39 cents each! 3M makes them under the name of Pro Pad.

Sponge Sanders

Pesky Details which must be done!

Those pesky "minor details" which sometimes seem unimportant and/or a waste of time can be make the difference if customers will purchase your pottery a second time or not. I know from my sales that repeat customers represent a large percentage of my sales. And we all know that word of mouth is the best advertising!

No matter what our reason or excuess to be mindful of the details, it is so very important that the extra time be taken to do the finishing touches to each and every piece of pottery created. The cool thing is, you get to decide when a ceramic creation is complete and which of the details are needed.



So, in this series, I'll be talking to some details which I feel are "must do's" and some things to make them easier.

Intro: first blog ever!

I’ve been toying with starting a blog… many, many months have gone by and still not one word has been written, until now. So, here, now today is the first installment and introduction.
I won’t bore you with my bio as that can be found on my website http://www.tpotspottery.com/ . As this continues to grow; my goal if for an informative page, not only about what I am working on, also with hints, tips and techniques for the beginner to advanced potter. Ceramics is a huge field with so many wonderfully crazy things to try from manipulating and stretching the clay to (and past) it’s capacity, to mixing glazes, changing up firering techniques and of course, the tools and equipment- oh how I love all the different toys we get to play with.!
Check back soon for more…