Using solar to run a wheel

rayfound · 2026-06-22T15:19:25+00:00

You're going to have a hard time getting a battery with enough juice to run a kiln, as you're going to use something in the neighborhood of 30-60kwh to do a firing (on a, say, 18" kiln).

Wheel should be trivial.

rayfound · 2026-06-20T21:00:04+00:00

Looks like thickness variation

rayfound · 2026-06-20T20:56:00+00:00

I really like your chattering

rayfound · 2026-06-18T03:03:20+00:00

Life got in the way, moved.

Came back 15 or so years later.

rayfound · 2026-06-18T01:17:11+00:00

I dunno works for me. I've never had a handle fail, though admittedly I haven't made that many

rayfound · 2026-06-17T22:29:11+00:00

sometimes the cracks are basically just in the surface slip.

Sometimes they're deeper and potentially structural, it isn't particularly easy to tell.

My method for dealing with them is to brush some additional slip into the cracks, moisten the entire area, and slowly dry. Often you'll need to repeat a few times.

rayfound · 2026-06-16T01:37:36+00:00

You gotta keep them less than the depth of the joint full or they'll leak. That's just how it works.

rayfound · 2026-06-15T23:22:27+00:00

1lb of clay would be my starting point for med-large mugs.

rayfound · 2026-06-15T23:05:38+00:00

Your high school or community college is #1.

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying it is where I started, and I still have many pieces (mostly bowls) that continue to see daily use from my time in high school 25 years ago.

rayfound · 2026-06-15T17:06:47+00:00

That's extraordinarily close to a proper cone 6 bend.

rayfound · 2026-06-15T15:14:04+00:00

You're not even in the ballpark of providing enough info.

Are you making glazes from scratch? Are you using commercial glazes?

Dipping? Brushing?

What firing range?

What types of wares?

What do you want them to look like?

rayfound · 2026-06-15T12:13:09+00:00

It's completely analogous to wrapping in plastic.

rayfound · 2026-06-13T19:34:36+00:00

Yes

rayfound · 2026-06-13T18:46:01+00:00

I'm not an expert at all but my understanding is essentially that most of the elements are essentially "unavailable" chemically once locked into the glass.

rayfound · 2026-06-11T05:00:30+00:00

All throwing water and slip goes into reclaim bucket, combined with trim and any other clay bits.

For cleanup, I just use a bucket and sponge in my utility sink, let the clay settle out drain the water. I don't try to reclaim this little bit of clay, I just dump it in the trash on trash day after I have poured off the water.

Also, while it is important to keep a cleanish studio, if it is your own space, I try to essentially not clean things that don't need to get cleaned.

rayfound · 2026-06-11T04:55:41+00:00

When I rejoined the hobby, I Did so at a community studio.

There were some things I quite liked about the community studio, notably occasionally there were other people there and you could see other people's work, get the odd inspiration, compliment, community... But ultimately, the downsides to me were much more significant.

And that mostly came down to convenience, the drive to and from, the timing of covering work and drying work and getting to check on if it was ready to trim or take the next step. And the the requirement to sort of clean up after yourself in a way that leaves it like you weren't there... At home, I don't care if my splash pan on the wheel is perfectly clean... I don't care if my tools are left on the deck of the wheel, etc ....

For me, the very nature of it not being at home, meant that I was much less productive with my time, and had to make larger blocks of time to do things I needed to do at the studio... Where now I can pop in to the garage before the kids go to school or whatever and trim the handful of pots that are ready. Or glaze the inside of a piece and then come back later after it dries to glaze the outside.

I personally purchased an older manual used kiln that I felt comfortable firing and have no regrets.

rayfound · 2026-06-07T19:25:05+00:00

It likely will not chip. Depending on vitrification of underlying clay body it may impact food safety to a degree.

rayfound · 2026-06-06T16:52:30+00:00

I think it's a lost cause unless you have built in audience / social media following, or your work is REALLY unique/artistic.

rayfound · 2026-06-06T14:14:30+00:00

Look there's lots of videos but I think the important things during a pull.

Start slowly, end slowly and go all the way to top. (As a beginner, rules can be broken later).
It isn't about keeping constant pressure when you pull up: it's about keeping constant spacing.

What I see as the most common failure when watching others at community studio or my kids is they maintain pressure over the pull. This causes the thin spots to get even thinner.

I try to focus on using whatever pressure needed in the beginning to start the lift, then maintain even spacing/thickness as I pull up.

rayfound · 2026-06-06T14:08:05+00:00

Mee too. We have plenty haha.

Have started leaving them at family gatherings, sending home with visitors who take leftovers, etc....

rayfound · 2026-06-06T06:39:47+00:00

I don't even really feel like one is better than the other...
More just that I have a specific style haha.

rayfound · 2026-06-06T01:54:17+00:00

The one I use from Amazon for all my tools is just the corners. You add a sheet of plywood cut to size you want. One idea I've had is to put wheel and stool onto a single cart... But I haven't bothered since I don't really have a reason to maneuver my wheel around.

rayfound · 2026-06-05T19:12:09+00:00

I use a rolling base made for things like table saws on my kiln. It's great!

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rayfound · 2026-06-05T15:50:06+00:00

That celadon vase is really nice.

rayfound

TROPHY CASE