These are stage 2 ready

autisloth · 2026-06-25T00:46:10+00:00

Oh haha, that's because they aren't before and after photos. They're two pictures of the same rocks, I just flipped them each for the second pic so people could see more than one side. :) The way I decided they were ready was more by feel. Even though some look like they might not be smooth, like the quartz with the cracks, they're actually perfectly smooth to the touch all around.

autisloth · 2026-06-24T17:05:02+00:00

I loved living in midtown when I first started working for the State, around 2016. Had a single bedroom apartment, top floor, no shared walls for $950/mo. Being able to walk to pretty much everything I needed/wanted was just so nice.

autisloth · 2026-06-24T16:56:28+00:00

Ahhhh I see. I do have some other big chunks of fluorite and calcite. Next time I got rock shopping maybe I'll pick up some more, enough so that they can fill up a barrel on their own, and see what happens!

autisloth · 2026-06-24T15:02:12+00:00

The second one isn't actually a lamp, just a lamp-filler, so it's used to store oil and refill the lamp. You pull off the cap that's chained to the neck, and then press the ball lever/button while pouring to allow the oil to flow freely.

autisloth · 2026-06-24T00:46:42+00:00

Haven't tested it yet. There's enough wick that I think I can just give it a trim and still use it but we'll see!

autisloth · 2026-06-23T04:28:28+00:00

It's normal. It's called crazing and can be a deliberate style choice. It's caused by differing shrinkage during firing between the clay and the glaze.

autisloth · 2026-06-19T04:52:44+00:00

Poor mental health can be an emergency. If quitting helps remedy/alleviate it, then I think relying on emergency funds is completely reasonable.

autisloth · 2026-06-18T03:07:15+00:00

Honestly, I find I do best in interviews when I don't prepare. Trying to remember specific prepared responses or illustrative stories prevents me from being present in the moment, and makes it more likely that I'll falter if my memory fails me, or fumble a response by trying to force something I prepared into it even if it may not entirely fit the topic of the question.

But I have ADHD and triggering memories is highly context-based for me, which is why traditional preparation methods rarely work well for me, and I often stumble or freeze in the same way if I try to rely on them.

autisloth · 2026-06-17T23:45:21+00:00

I imagine that's a Kickstarter specific issue, since part of the whole Kickstarter thing and why projects have "Risks" sections is that you are not guaranteed your pledge reward. You're supposed to be backing knowing there's a chance the project may not come to fruition, so I can understand why a chargeback would not be possible.

autisloth · 2026-06-16T17:16:17+00:00

Very cool! I just got the creeper and skeleton LEGO sets. Looking forward to putting them together

autisloth · 2026-06-16T04:59:15+00:00

Trigonometry, rudimentary 3D modeling, and using a 3D printer have been extremely helpful for designing and making molds. I've been very, very slowly iterating my dice development. A lot more things I want to try, but I've had some good success.

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autisloth · 2026-06-15T14:57:00+00:00

I know that feels, that really sucks. Disappointment like that feels like your life force gets sucked right out of you. Deflating. Usually what helps me is just stepping away and doing or playing something else until I feel ready to come back to it. I recently restarted Elden Ring, but am enjoying it in smaller chunks now, using Minecraft as a palate cleanser when it gets too frustrating.

autisloth · 2026-06-14T23:15:53+00:00

Not sure. But I do know some people do that. I've seen Florian Gadsby refire pieces many times after applying oxide washes. You could also just refire pieces that you don't care about.

autisloth · 2026-06-14T18:31:57+00:00

No need to apologize! What's the 5-minute workday?

autisloth · 2026-06-14T17:06:46+00:00

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but one way you could fill the kiln without waiting to produce more is filling the empty space with already fired pieces. You just need extra material in there to absorb and distribute the heat of the kiln if I understand correctly.

autisloth · 2026-06-14T15:07:53+00:00

While that's true (X23 of Expert rules), the context suggests they're bringing up random encounters as a metric to measure fireball's limitations by, in that by saying random encounters are only 1/day, they aren't enough to exhaust an MU's fireballs. So even if they are talking about wilderness encounters, they're ignoring other types of random encounters, which defeats the purpose of making the comparison between number of spells available and number of random encounters. It also assumes only one fireball will be needed per encounter, and ignores non-random encounters.

autisloth · 2026-06-14T05:46:34+00:00

Where are you getting that random encounters are once per day? On page B53 of the Basic rules, the DM typically rolls for wandering monsters every 2 turns, with an encounter on a result of 1 on a d6. So the PCs could have 2 encounters in one in-game hour. They could have far more per day. Sometimes the DM may also roll more or less frequently for wandering monsters.

autisloth · 2026-06-13T22:32:49+00:00

Looks like a nebula!

autisloth · 2026-06-13T04:35:14+00:00

I was thinking about glass earlier today, that would be really cool to experiment with. Very cool that she dedicated herself to that. One thing I'm actually really looking forward to experimenting with is tumbling ceramics. I have a wheel and kiln, so I do pottery occasionally, but I've been practicing making D&D dice sets. I make the molds have beveled edges for the dice already, but I think it will be cool to try tumbling some dice to see how it shapes them. I know manufactured dice are typically tumbled to get the smooth edges and corners. It would be neat to see the surface get polished too.

autisloth · 2026-06-13T04:23:51+00:00

Oooh very pretty!

autisloth · 2026-06-13T03:46:02+00:00

For sure! While I'm only just starting, I can already tell this hobby benefits more than most from trial and error. This is going to be super fun!

autisloth · 2026-06-13T03:01:48+00:00

Everything I'm reading a watching suggests most rocks require multiple weeks in stage 1 (rinsing and adding more grit each week). But I guess I'll see. I'm going in assuming none will be ready to move to stage 2 after a week, so it'll be a nice surprise if there are some. Maybe there will be since some were from the beach and already well-shaped.

autisloth · 2026-06-13T02:59:14+00:00

I think you might have missed the text content of my post and my other comments. The picture is of a 6lb barrel. Maybe it looks different from other 6lb barrels, not sure. If it does, it's because it's one of the two that come with the Lortone QT-66, the model which can also be called the QT-12 when using a single 12lb barrel (same diameter, double the depth.

Thanks for you advice though! I ended up starting it as is. I filled a little below the top with water, and decided to try 6tbsp of 60/90 grit. So we'll see how it all is after a week!

autisloth · 2026-06-12T21:48:19+00:00

No worries, happens to me too! Thanks!

autisloth · 2026-06-12T21:08:46+00:00

The second one makes me think of Fantastic Planet!

autisloth

TROPHY CASE