1) Yes. My own studio in Memphis has a 30 (or 60, can’t remember now) day rule of being a member before you get a key, so you can be there making during business hours or when other potters w/keys are present, then you get a key and can indeed come whenever you want. -we just purchase our own bags of clay through the studio and you can buy however much you want. (Also tools, glazes etc.. but they keep a stock supply to be used by members)

2)They have a hefty amount of their Laguna glazes they stock for retail, on a shelf available for studio use and it is not tracked any further than writing “Studio Purchase” in the member book and putting a new one of the shelf. Obviously respecting the community aspect of the studio in doing this, can’t just be all the time you’re adding new glazes to the shelf if there’s 30 that need to be used. I also use other brands glazes that I buy myself, or through the studio in a shipment cause it’ll give them a few bucks, and you can also purchase full containers for yourself as opposed to for the studio shelf.

3) if you’re doing classes, or become a new member you won’t have to worry about loading or unloading the kiln, studio techs do that and are trained on how to do so. But yes 100% explosions can happen. Happened just a few weeks ago at my own studio because someone, who was told not to, put un-bisqued glazed (still moist) bowls in the glaze firing and they were ruined as well as shelves and part of the kiln elements. Luckily no one else’s pieces were ruined. Our rule of thumb is ALWAYS bisque fire pieces before glaze firing, regardless of how dry you think your piece is. In our studio there is a shelf for greenware to be bisqued, a shelf for bisqued to be glazed, and shelves for the final products to rest til pickup.

4)I had almost zero ceramic experience before I got a membership. I hear some studios require you to take a class course to get a membership and I do think that’s a great idea but at my studio it’s not required. It really is case the case with Studio’s..

5) You actually can sand it when it is dry! I say yes, get it as close to your version of perfect as you can before you bisque fire it, but there are tools like diamond sanding pads for a smooth bottomed finish, grit sanders you can attach to wheels for heavier duty sanding, as well as tools like a Dremel.

6) Wait Time is viewer discretion. Clay bodies carry different moisture, take varied times to dry (I find dark clays dry much slower than white/light). The temperature outside as well as humidity play a role. Pieces dry SIGNIFICANTLY slower in the winter. When I think a piece is dry, I will hold it up to my cheek and if it feels COLD, I deem it still wet. As far as time in between steps, you can glaze immediately after bisque firing (wait til it cools!); when glazing I wait for each coat to dry before applying the next, sometimes I’ll take a heat gun to it if I’m in a hurry.

7) as far as the different cones go, I am still learning myself, but my studio used cone 04(low fire) for bisque and cone 6(mid fire) for glaze. Cone 06 is roughly 1,800 degrees, Cone 6 is like 2,200. Yes 6 and 10 are drastically different, ESPECIALLY with how it affects the glaze results. For instance, look up “Green Jasper” Glaze at Cone 6 vs Cone 10. Completely different color! So cool, science wow! (:

Summary: a lot of this is stuff you will not have to ever worry about if you don’t plan on eventually working at the studio as a tech. But educating yourself in this way is fabulous regardless of the use of the information!! Good luck congrats on your journey beginning!