Best products from r/Pottery

Budget? Im sure you mean it but what you are discussing here will be about $1500 in machines and tools + space and storage

​

I'd recommend https://www.bigceramicstore.com/speedball-big-boss-formerly-creative-industries-big-boss.html as the wheel. It's a hundred and change more than a few of the cheaper models, but it will last and it will perform and she won't outgrow it unless she starts throwing pots as big as you are.

As for tools there's literally thousands of different tools all specialty and all with variations. To begin with, I would get a set like https://www.amazon.ca/Blisstime-Sculpting-Wooden-Pottery-Carving/dp/B07N64DQ9J/ref=sr_1_20?keywords=pottery+tools&qid=1566218688&s=gateway&sr=8-20 which will have variety. Even if the individual tools are cheaper it will give her an idea of what she likes.

I would also get a set of metal ribs, like https://www.amazon.ca/COMIART-Sculpture-Pottery-Molding-Ceramics/dp/B078C7KT4J/ref=sr_1_17?keywords=pottery+tools&qid=1566218688&s=gateway&sr=8-17 which are used for shaping curves and having metal ones with some give can be WAY better than even the nicest wood ones for some situations.

For space, I'd say 5x5 minimum work clearance for the wheel area. She will need to have a large bucket or bag of clay, the wheel, a large bowl or bucket of water, potentially a second chair and a large mirror where she can see both the work and her posture.

In addition she will need some sort of sturdy work table, because clay needs to be prepped like bread dough. Something with a resilient surface (Im a big fan of ikea butcherblock counterop) It doesn't have to be HUGE but smaller than about 2x2 and uncomfortable to work standing would be incorrect in my opinion.

If she does any hand building, which is coming back into fashion, she'll want closer to 2' by 6' so she can roll out slabs and still have work area.

Lastly, there are three stages of pottery before it's finished.

Leather, bone, and bisque.

She will need racks to hold anything going through those stages. I recommend something sturdy and on wheels, so that they can be pushed against a wall when full. Something like these https://www.amazon.ca/SortWise-Adjsutable-Shelving-SystemSort-Lockable/dp/B071ZDHJ1S/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=metal+shelving+wheel&qid=1566219480&s=gateway&sr=8-4 which can hold heavy pots but wont be tippy if they need to be moved.

Lastly, she'll need a kiln. This is where the magic happens. I can't really suggest one kiln in particular, as it's really dependent on how much she wants to do. You will probably want an electric kiln that uses a 240 standard oven plug. You'll likely need wiring for it.https://www.bigceramicstore.com/kilns/kiln-types/electric-ceramic/small-electric-ceramic-kilns.html?filter_kiln_cone=288&lm_manufacturer=13

The good news is used electric kilns are -everywhere- online for about half the price as new or less.check local kijiji or craigs ads, there will be some.

ALTERNATIVELY, depending on your area, you may have a local guild. There for a registration fee and mandatory classes (Locally mine was 3 courses ~6 weeks and $200 each for hand building, wheel throwing, and kiln use + a $200/year membership fee) She could have access to a full studio/wheels/kiln/tools/peers.

What cone do you want to fire to? What texture do you want for your glaze surface? Are you looking for matte, satin, gloss? Do you have specific colors in mind?

Find out what cone your school generally fires to and in what atmosphere (oxidation or reduction), and formulate your glazes for that. Your school may have special firing options like Raku or salt/soda firings which you may want to look into as well. Once you know what you want it's much easier to find recipes online.

If your school has a well stocked chem room, they have someone who can point you in the right direction for glazes. Ask the firing tech/professor for guidance. John Britt's The Complete Guide to High-Fire Glazes is a good start, but books are only going to take you so far. You usually have to tweak glazes quite a bit before you get the results you want. You'll want to look into line blends and triaxial blends for testing your glazes.

At its core you need 3 components for a glaze: the glass-former, the stabilizer and the flux. You also have colorants and opacifiers. The 5 basic components for a glaze are:

The Glass-former: Silica,SiO2 (and rarely Boron)

The Stabilizer: Alumina Al2O3 (and sometimes other refractory materials like titianium dioxide, and rarely Boron, which is a special snow-flake). This prevents the glaze from flowing and generally slows the melt.

The Flux: Lithium Carbonate, Sodium Carbonate, Potassium Carbonate, Magnesium Carbonate, Calcium Carbonate, Barium Carbonate, etc. also some metals like iron and the bizarre glass-former cum stabilizer cum flux, Boron. These materials make the glaze melt. Each flux has different properties which makes it valuable. They can change the texture, viscocity, surface tension and color of the glaze with small additions. With Lithium and Copper you can achieve an almost electric blue, while you'll likely get a more sedate green with Sodium and Copper. With a significant amount of Magnesium you can cause the glaze to bead up on the surface of the pot.

The Colorant: Cobalt Carb (Generally Blue), Copper Carb (Green, Blue, Red, rarely Yellow), Iron Oxide (Brown, Green, Blue, Yellow, "Red"), Chrome Oxide (Green, Red), Nickel Carbonate (Gray, Brown, variable), Manganese Dioxide (Amber), Cerium Oxide (Amber also opacifying flux), Praseodymium Oxide (Chartreuse), Erbium Oxide (Pink), Holmium Oxide (Pink-Yellow, depending on light), Neodymium Oxide (Pink-Purple-Blue depending on light) etc. Colorants are generally added in small amounts 1-5% of total. Chrome and Cobalt are very strong and generally don't need to exceed 1%.

Opacifiers: Things that make the glaze go from translucent to opaque include, Tin Oxide (powerful 3-5%, generic white), Zirconium/Zircopax (5-10%, refridgerator white), Titanium Dioxide (5-10%, creamy, mottled white), Alumina (Creamy white similar to Titanium).

Many of these materials can be found together in the form of feldspars. Feldspars will often be the base of a glaze and are then modulated with other compounds. Many feldspars are complete glazes in and of themselves, each firing to its own cone.

There are also man made composites known as frits. These are generally formulated to melt at a lower temperature than feldspars and are often the basis of lowfire glazes. Frits are great because they can incorporate otherwise soluble materials (Sodium) in an insoluble format, preventing loss to evaporation etc.

Glazes are weird beasts, but they're also a lot of fun once you start making some progress with them. Good luck in your future experiments!

Most clear glazes should work okay. That said, in my opinion, the best one that stays clear in most situations is Amaco's Zinc Free Clear. Here is a photo https://www.amazon.ca/AMACO-Sahara-High-Glaze-Clear/dp/B00A6WDK1I

That glaze may be out of stock on Amazon, but it's available at several places online, and I am guessing that it can also be found at your local ceramic supply shop.

One of the things that this is particularly good for is overglazing an underglaze on something where the glaze can pool. So, say you take a bowl, do underglaze designs on there, then bisque. If you overglaze with a regular clear, it might go cloudy in the bottom, or it might not. But if you overglaze with zinc free, it stays clear in the bottom.

So if you're using a clay that has speckles or a tint, using zinc free will preserve that look, even where glaze might pool a bit.

>Im just amazed you could get so much from one shard!

I've looked at a lot of this stuff, most of it in smaller pieces than that. I worked cataloging ceramics finds for an excavation in 2011 that covered a range of about 1730-1840; the job is pretty much pull as much information from little fragments as you can as quickly and accurately as possible. You get to a point where you can pull the basic info out pretty quickly, and Pearlware is one of the ones I ran into a fair amount of.

>could you also provide the coat of arms you think its a part of?

It's a variation of this crest. Someone who knows their English heraldry might be able to get an exact variation, but it's also a fair chance that the potter was copying a lower crest, or missed a bit, or didn't have a good image to copy from. I actually recognize it from doing the decorating on these, which are reproductions of a 1741 sgraffito harvest jug in the Potteries Museum in Stoke-On-Trent. Original partly pictured on cover here; can't find a photo of the damn thing online and don't have permission to post mine.


>do you mind me asking what specifically makes you so sure of the dating and everything?

The short answer is experience. The long answer:

I'm fairly sure it's Pearlware because of the craquelure pattern, color and design. Creamware doesn't usually have that crazing and is slightly yellow tinted. It could be Whiteware, but is a little bit blue-grey tinted (which would indicate for Pearlware). Also Whiteware can be a bit later, at which point it would be far less likely to find a British royal crest on a pot in the US.

I'm fairly sure it's hand painted because of the uneven application of the design. It could be an exceptionally poor and badly fired transfer print (which would push the date later), but I don't think so.

The date range is pretty standard. Pearlware is usually somewhere 1780-1840. Pottery styles change, so it's pretty easy to date things based on that. I've narrowed to 1780-1820 because after about 1820 printed design is dominant rather than handpainted. To be honest I could probably call it 1780-1800 based on the design, but without being a bit more certain of that I'd rather keep to the wide range.

Some of this stuff is amazingly datable. If you have a bit of the rim, there are common types of shell-edge Pearlware that you can date within 5 or 10 years. The exact molding of the rim changes shape, and the color gets changed. If I had the books on me (and they're several thousand miles away from me at the moment, so I can't) I could get a date within 10 years for a piece of shell-edge rim a lot smaller than this.

It's partly luck - this piece happens to have a reasonably identifiable design - and partly having done this a lot and having looked through a load of archaeological literature on the subject.


Edit: It's worth noting that Pearlware, Creamware, and Whiteware are archaeological terms, not ceramics terms. Each category encompasses a certain level of variation and a number of discrete styles for the simple reason that it's pretty rare to be able to further differentiate based only on the tiny sherds that are typically recovered.

I tried this black pigment and this varnish and did a few tests with my ceramic pieces.

It took me while to do these tests and I also moved states since I graduated so everything got delayed in terms of reporting back my results with the pigment and varnish.

Here are my results:

I used a 1:3 ratio of pigment and varnish, but I think it I will use more pigment to have a mixture of half varnish and the other half pigment dye. It is important to do very thin layers of the mixture, which can be tedious to some people. I tried the mixture on different pieces with various degrees of thickness (in terms of the walls of the bowls/mugs). It is better if your mug/bowl/wall is thinner so the heat of the liquid permeates to the outer wall of the piece quicker and easier than thick pieces. I layered the mixture on thick to see what would happen. It does not work well. The mixture dries chunky and it could easily be scratched off by nails/fingers or water. Also the thicker the coat, when the dye becomes transparent, the black dye turns transparent but with a purple tint to it. It might be the dye, the varnish or the thickness of the coat I put on. I am not sure exactly what caused this purple tint to appear in the mixture batches.

The varnish did okay, but I might use a different varnish at a later date that has a glossy finish. This is simply my preference since the varnish I used this time had a clear, smooth finish almost matte, but my pieces came out usually glossy due to the glazes I used. I didn't like the matte look so I think using a glossier varnish might help blend the pigment and fit with the scheme I want for future pieces. If anyone has any other questions about it please let me know. I'm settled down now in my old home so I can respond quicker now than before.

I tried those before but wasn't pleased with the results. I've used dry dogfood, ice melt, copper wire, coffee grounds and banana peels and have had some good effects. It is best if you are using a white clay.

This book has a ton of great info: https://www.amazon.com/Alternative-Kilns-Firing-Techniques-Ceramics/dp/1579909523. That is pretty much the modern day bible on alternate firing techniques. Well worth the money.

The studio I work at has a copy of this book and we LOVE it. I am basically a beginner - I have been at this just over a year now, and I find it incredibly helpful to figure out my problems before pestering my two instructors with questions. I'm a big believer in self-taught troubleshooting. This book is helpful too because sometimes even they dont know what the particular problem is, and we can learn about it together!

I think you're a great friend for willing to spend (a fair bit) of money on another friend's hobby :)

1. Have an electrician examine the outlets to make sure the circuit can handle the amps the kiln will draw. If an outlet matches the plug, that does not mean the circuit will not start a fire if it is not rated for the amount of electricity the kiln will use.
   
   
2. Get John Britt's mid-fire book so you can learn about glaze materials and safety:
   http://smile.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Mid-Range-Glazes-Ceramics/dp/1454707771/
   
   
3. Ceramics Arts Daily has an email newsletter, plus a lot of great info for free and for sale. The forums are pretty active as well so you can speak to other educators and studios to ask for advice.
   http://ceramicartsdaily.org/
   
   

I keep Bag Balm around for my dogs' paws when we go hiking (and I can't recommend it enough for that purpose), but have found it really useful for my hands and feet as well. It smells like pine, so I mostly use it at night or right after a clay session when I'm headed straight home. Lotion bars or Aveeno 24hr moisturizing lotion are nicer smelling temporary fixes.

Bag Balm Bundle (8 ounces and On-The-go Tube) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXP5P3V/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_pF1NAbY75T6F5


Edit: I work with clay casually, but knit frequently. Dry hands are a frequent problem.

personal opinion but the books in the 500... series are great for inspiration and developing new ideas

here’s the one on teapots , there are some for lots of different forms as well :)

There's a book called the Ceramic Glaze Handbook and it is super helpful and easy to follow. Shows you what a lot of different materials look like, what they can do at different temperatures, when mixed with other materials...etc. And there's also a good chunk of tried and true recipes in it as well.

John Britt's book is the best resource I've found for these types of questions.... and will help answer all of the next questions you are soon to have now that you're dealing with glaze chemistry. Good luck.

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-High-Fire-Glazes-Ceramics/dp/1600592163

Sounds like you need to make a multi-part mold or recast/sculpt the positive hand so that there are no overhangs. I suggest checking out this book if you have access to a good library, or buying it if you plan to do a lot of clay casting.

I'm going to assume that you're firing cone 6 electric. If you are, then get yourself a copy of this book. If you're firing to cone ten, then this one.

John Britt's books are great. Everything you need to know about basic to intermediate glaze chemistry are in those two books, along with a metric shit ton of recipes... most of which he tested himself.
He has a pretty extensive YouTube channel that's worth checking out too.

Initial stocking of a pantry is a little costly, but not too awful. My wife mixes glazes with off-the-rack ingredients and stocking out the basics cost around $200. That gave her 50 pound bages of the important stuff like a couple feldspars, silica, kaolin, etc and then a few pounds of a handful of colorants and more specialized ingredients like copper and strontium. There's enough material to easily keep her in glaze for a few years without restocking. Compared to jarred glazes, mixing your own pays for itself in a hurry.

If you start mixing buckets of glaze, the first thing you need to buy is a respirator. Silicosis is bad and there's an awful lot of it to be had in a dusty glaze room. You're fine once it's in a slurry.

The glaze is celestial blue (though I don't think this job does it justice, I knew I didn't like him before I glazed, which was rushed).

​

What I bought to make the candles:

1. Paraffin wax ($12.00/5lbs) : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B4JNWRY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
   ​
   
   
2. Wicks ($4.95): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015W8DWUO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
   ​
   
   
3. Pouring hot pot ($11.45):
   
   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C2TS4H2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
   ​
   
   
4. The smelly oil (I spent >$12.00, it's recommended you use 1oz of oil/ lb of wax): https://www.candlescience.com/fragrance/all-fragrance-oils
   
   ​
   
   I had a thermometer and I just boiled water in a cooking pot to apply the heat.
   
   Obviously new to candle making, there could be better/cheaper tools out there, this is just what I got from ~15 minutes of looking around.
   
   I used this how-to video.
   
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIQEy7-_c04
   
   I filled 4 smaller pots and have enough to make 5/6 more with the 5 lb amount of wax.

[Pottery aprons](Under NY Sky No-Tie Moss Green Apron - Durable Twill with Leather Reinforcement and Split-Leg - Adjustable for Men, Women - Pro Barber, Tattoo, Barista, Bartender, Baker, Hair Stylist, Server Apron https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MPX4ZLJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_gdRnDbNQVX4S0) are cool. There are less expensive ones, but the split leg design is really handy. And it really makes me feel like an artiste when I’m wearing one. 🏺

Under NY Sky No-Tie Moss Green Apron - Durable Twill with Leather Reinforcement and Split-Leg - Adjustable for Men, Women - Pro Barber, Tattoo, Barista, Bartender, Baker, Hair Stylist, Server Apron https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MPX4ZLJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_gdRnDbNQVX4S0

High-Fire Glazes: John Britt

Buy Britt's book, then you should need to ask about any other recipe.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Guide-High-Fire-Glazes/dp/1600592163/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381284891&sr=8-1&keywords=complete+high+fire+glaze+book