New Pottery!

Whoohoo! I finally got a kiln finished, and here are some of what I pulled out:

There are lots more, too! I put some in last night, and the rest I will be adding to my shop over the next week or so. Yay!

Wheel Repair

Two months ago my potter's wheel broke.

If you have never used a potter's wheel, the kind I use is an electric one with a foot pedal that adjusts the speed. The pedal on mine, one day, refused to shut off the wheel.

I called the company, and the wheel was still under warranty, so I sent in the motor and the pedal and they said they would check it out and let me know. (I have a Pacifica from Laguna Clay Company. )

After they had it a week, they called and said a piece had been damaged inside the pedal, and it wasn't covered by their warranty. But, they would replace it for free anyway, just as good customer service.

Whew!

I was quite happy with this!

Unfortunately, there were some staff changes at Laguna, and my motor and pedal were set aside and not mailed back for another month. They were marked as having been sent, but after I called and said they hadn't arrived, they found they hadn't actually been mailed off.

That stuff happens, and overall I am thrilled with the service that Laguna has, and how nice everyone was there, dealing with them on the phone.

But, it does mean I have been without a wheel for TWO MONTHS.

I got my wheel back together last week and have been throwing like the wind. I will soon have a kiln full again, and hopefully will have new stuff for the Etsy shop within a week or two.

Meanwhile, I have been making things that don't need a wheel, and have been really enjoying that, too.

Waiting for the kiln to cool...

My second glazed load in my new kiln is cooling, and still much too hot to unload. It is at 550 degrees.
But, I did pop open the top just long enough to snap this photo:So far, so good! Though, from a close up look at the photo, the bowl right in the middle has some glaze bubbles, so it is destined to be sent on to mosaic heaven, if the picture is correct.

Bummer.

But the others look pretty good!

Ooooh, I can't wait!

First Glaze Kiln

I unloaded my first glaze kiln full today. The kids were home, along with some friends. I bought some sparkling cider and we all unloaded together, and when it was empty we toasted the new stuff.

Some of the glazes were different colors than I expected. The blue glaze looked just about the same as the green sometimes. The white didn't react well with some of the other glazes.

But mostly it was wonderful to open the lid and see all the great pottery.

What fun!

I've got the Power!

The electrician came this morning, and the kiln is up and running! Whoohoo!

Now all I have to do is finish making enough to fill it up!

I am off to watch the video on how to program my kiln- What a new experience! A computer controlled kiln!

My gas kiln was all controlled by a guess and by golly, with me opening up the gas flow, or closing it off, and then adjusting the amount of air flow by moving a broken piece of kiln shelving over the vent hole at the top of the kiln to get the atmosphere in the kiln the way I wanted it for the type of glazes in the kiln at the time. I loved it, but I think I will love the ease of this too.