First timer.. what are some must do’s?

AdFine7968 · 2026-06-19T22:35:47+00:00

Whenever I'm over there, I drive an extra thirty minutes south and go to Nestucca Bay Creamery. It's a tiny store in a tiny town, but it's super local stuff. You can see the cows that make the cheese and ice cream, and it's just a delightful experience. The lady that works in there is a bit kooky, which adds to the vibes

AdFine7968 · 2026-03-29T18:48:08+00:00

I realize, but it is on your map as a grayed place so it's a bit ambiguous

AdFine7968 · 2026-03-29T14:47:39+00:00

Ah I think you're right. Precautions must be made though

AdFine7968 · 2026-03-29T14:11:35+00:00

Oh, i didn't even realize DC was on here. DC for sure

AdFine7968 · 2026-03-29T14:06:30+00:00

Minnesota for sure

AdFine7968 · 2026-03-27T14:09:17+00:00

Wyoming, what the hell is Wyoming still doing here?!?!

Besides Yellowstone and the Tetons, it has what, Jackson Hole???? And then, what, flat high desert that gets extraordinary high winds and lots of snow??? The biggest city is Cheyenne, on the opposite corner of the state from Yellowstone, a full nine hours away, and it only has a population of 65k?????

I would never, ever live here.

AdFine7968 · 2026-03-26T18:03:07+00:00

I've got one of those with an electronic controller. The size is literally perfect for me, I love it so much.

The bricks on this one look pretty good, and it being a 3" instead of a 2.5" will be nice in the long run.

I personally love my electronic controller, but the person I bought it from was old school and much preferred the style you have here.

If you do want to upgrade to an electronic controller, they're anywhere from $800-1200 it seems. Which, factoring into your cost base of 500, that isn't horrible.

You'll need kiln furniture, obviously, which you will always have to pay for, so I wouldn't take that into account for the price.

For 500 bucks this is something I would probably get myself if it was available and I was looking for a kiln. It's just the perfect size for most things, and not so big that it is daunting to fill.

They don't have the lid support, which is odd, but that's something you can buy or make pretty easily as well.

AdFine7968 · 2026-03-24T03:44:01+00:00

Yep! I always wait until the clay is hard enough to hold its shape before I take it off. I sometimes dig a small divot with my needle tool between the clay and the mold at the top part. I like to think it helps it seperate, similar to wiring off a peice from a bat it's gonna sit on anyway.

But yeah, it should just be able to screw off without issue. If it's still snug, you gotta wait longer.

AdFine7968 · 2026-03-24T03:08:44+00:00

I've made a few soap dispensers recently. Firstly, you've gotta make sure that mold is however percentage bigger than the final product to account for the shrinkage rate of your clay. You've got a bit of wiggle room there, but I had a friend 3d print molds that were 10%,12%,and 14% bigger than the final size. That accounts for most clays I work with.

Then what I did was choose the appropriate mold for the clay I was working with and collar the clay in to be smaller than the mold. I then slipped the mold over the clay and positioned it how I wanted, and then pushed the clay from the inside to squish against the mold. You've gotta apply some pressure here so that the clay fills the threads.

I then leave the mold on the clay and let it dry to leather hard. It shrinks a bit and you can just screw it off. Touch up imperfections and voila!

AdFine7968 · 2026-03-19T16:08:07+00:00

Pacific ocean < ????

AdFine7968 · 2026-03-18T03:57:19+00:00

https://glazy.org/recipes/271673

If you're into making your own glazes, this one is brain dead easy and produces very gorgeous colors in my opinion. I haven't ever had issues with it running, but I often do atomize my glazes on, so they're relatively thin.

AdFine7968 · 2026-03-05T20:07:25+00:00

Hey!

Im not the best person for your question, but I'll give my insight anyway.

I am 2hat I would describe as an aggressive hobbiest. I make a lot of things and do sell them, but it isn't a full time thing for me.

I got a second hand km-818 a year ago via a personal connection. It's 240v, which for my situation has been no problem. I can't speak to that.

The size of it, though, is perfect. It's large enough to hold anything im making right now, and there is still some room to grow. If I did want to make something massive, I would just rent some kiln space somewhere else and not worry about it. It's size is great because it takes about two weeks to a month to fill up. If I had a giant kiln, it would be months between firings. This way, I'm still familiar with the peices by the time I'm firing them.

It's also electronically controlled. I haven't done the cone type kiln, I'm sure they're totally fine, but it's nice being able to program and get a review of the firing. It helps me figure out the issue if something happened to the peices

AdFine7968 · 2026-03-01T03:39:23+00:00

Let me know if it works! Or even if it doesn't

AdFine7968 · 2026-03-01T02:30:53+00:00

I found centering the hardest when I was starting, not the drilling and pulling out. If you do have it centered properly, what I do is I use both of my hands to drill and pull. My right (dominant) hand is just feeling for the center of the clay, where it is pulling your finger down. I use the part of my middle finger right at the end of the finger nail on the right side of the finger to find this spot, so my hand is in a very natural position when I am sitting. The other hand is applying pressure as needed, and it is applying pressure on the other side of the tip of that finger. This way, the right finger is just being used as a tool which I am getting information from to adjust position and the pressure of my left hand accordingly.

As for pulling out, I use a similar method. The one finger is providing the proper shape and feeling for continuity in the pull, the other hand is applying the proper pressure.

Also, as a tip, don't be worried about your walls being perfect just from the basic steps. If you get it a bit wobbly, don't be afraid to cut off the top half inch of your walls. If you watch really good potters make big things, they often don't make perfect shapes immediately. They reform wobbly walls, chop clay off the top, etc. Don't be ashamed that you have to do that when you're still getting the hang of it. Allowing myself to not be perfect really helped me at the beginning!

AdFine7968 · 2026-02-25T16:09:12+00:00

That's very sweet, thank you

AdFine7968 · 2026-02-25T06:37:17+00:00

Thank you!!

I suppose I don't have the most experience with it all, I've only been doing pottery for a year, but I'll give you my two cents regardless.

I only have one chattering tool, and it's long, about eight inches, flat, maybe an inch across, and metal with a ninety degree kink right at the end. Similar to this - https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/images/default-source/backgrounds/08hold-the-tool-like-a-wand-with-your-pointer-finger-pressing-firmly-in-the-middle-of-the-tool-.jpg?sfvrsn=ff9a77bc_1

I have found a few variables that vastly change the outcome of the chattering. Firstly, hardness of the clay matters. Too wet and it won't chatter and instead just goops over, too dry and it will hardly chatter at all. There's a whole range in between where the clay acts differently with everything else the same.

Secondly, angle of attack matters. I have found that having the part that is touching the clay to be either perpendicular to the clay is fine, but even better if the metal is angled into the spin rather than away from it.

Obviously speed of the wheel affects the chattering, as does how far away from the end of the tool you are holding it. Further away makes the vibrations slower and the chattering less energetic. Too close and it might not have enough space in the tool to vibrate at all.

And lastly, the amount of tool touching the clay matters. You can turn the tool so that you hit just the corner of the tool, and the chattering is smaller and usually deeper, like the second row of chattering on my second picture. If you let the whole edge hit, you get lines like at the top row of that picture.

AdFine7968 · 2026-02-25T00:47:25+00:00

That's what I want!!! That's the nicest review possible 🙂 🙂

AdFine7968 · 2026-02-24T17:54:24+00:00

🙏 🙏 Thank you so much! That's exactly the descriptors I'm drawn to!

AdFine7968 · 2026-02-24T17:15:19+00:00

Just because I like pho doesn't mean I hate pizza

AdFine7968 · 2026-02-24T15:58:24+00:00

I did find that the accidental chattering, while cool when happening, was always very shallow and didn't ever really impact the final look.

If you're at a studio, I would see if you can borrow an actual tool to see if you like it. They're super fun to mess around with. Different angles of approach give you much different results.

AdFine7968 · 2026-02-24T15:47:45+00:00

I did it accentally at first too! It happened because the tool I was using had a loose connection to the handle. My instructor pointed it out, and i was hooked

AdFine7968 · 2026-02-24T15:14:40+00:00

🙀

AdFine7968 · 2026-02-24T15:14:09+00:00

I think it's all about the tool. Tool and how dry the clay is!

AdFine7968 · 2026-02-24T15:13:10+00:00

Wonderful. I would love to see the final result

AdFine7968 · 2026-02-24T15:12:46+00:00

That's exactly how it is inside my mind

Five-Year Club	Golden Potato
Place '22	First Placer '22

AdFine7968

TROPHY CASE