getting started at home

Hey, thanks. Wow! That site's got lots of info that I found helpful.
Man, I never knew kilns were quite that expensive though, nor that I'd
have to become an electrition just to figure out which one to buy. And
since its been 6 or 7 years since I've done any pottery, I think I'd
better start at the beginning. I'm thinking about getting a wheel and
some of that oven-fired or no-fire clay to practice whith, to get my
touch back, so to speak. Thanks for all the great suggestions! Jason

On Mon, 26 Dec 2005 16:25:13 -0800, wrote:

Well, I live in a small town in northern Iowa, and we've got pretty
restrictive laws on burning anything, so pit firing's probably out. I
didn't mind coil pots and other hand-made styles, but I prefer making
pots on the wheel. Kick wheels are out, thanks to a recurring injury to
my kicking knee. I checked my local public library, but since my town's
small, just about all I found was related to methods indians used
hundreds of years ago. OUr local art museum is closer to a house of
cheap knock-offs, and I think they discontinued any art classes they
offered a couple years ago. Shoot, the only few hobby shops in town
only sell that oven-baked or no-bake kids clay and pigments, and
there's no kilns or wheels to be had in this town. In short, the net's
about all I have to get the inside details that was never taught in
school. I'll give that site a visit though, and happy holidays to you.

You might also check with any small schools in your area. We are in
central Iowa also, and there are a lot of school mergers going on, you
might find a used kiln that is no longer needed, or is being replaced with
a larger one to handle more students. (Be careful, some schools are wired
for 208V and most homes are 240v the elements are NOT compatable with the
incorrect voltage.) We lucked out and got a kiln from a small rural school
who ordered their art department to git rid of their kiln/pottery class
after they came back from a 3 day weekend and the kiln that they had
started up on the last day of school before the break was still firing
when they returned. They had a closed-bid auction and my wife put in a
bid of $50 for a 7cuFt Paragon with an Electronic controller. We
got it home and found that everything was in fine condition, except two of
the elements were broken, hence the kiln could never get to it's final
temperature so it was still firing after 3 days.

The broken elements were right at the terminals, so I gently stretched the
elements and re-attached. It works fine, and for $50 with an electronic
controller, we didn't do too bad.

As for Ceramic supply places in Iowa, there is only 1 I know of with any
equipment, it is over by Dubuque, but I haven't been there for 10 or 15
years, and if memory serves me right a lot of their primary business
was in cast greenware & molds. (I wan't into ceramics at the time I
was there.) There is also a ceramics store of sorts in Waterloo, they
sell bisque ware & glazes (Mostly Mayco) They also sell Skutt kilns
but not wheels. Since you are in Northern Iowa, for a "real" ceramics
supply store where you can go look, touch & feel, I'd suggest Minneapolis.
There is Continental Clay Company (www.continentalclay.com) & Minnesota
Clay (www.minnesotaclayusa.com). Both places have great, friendly,
helpful people to work with, however I find Continental Clay to be a bit
lower priced on most items. I don't know what they have in stock for
Kilns at Continental, as I didn't see any in their show room there last
weekend when we went up to get some raw materials to try my hand at glaze
making, but Minnesota Clay often has 3 or 4 kilns on display. Continental
has a lot more tools available on display, and definitely some "higher
end" ones than I've seen at MNClay, also their glazes are arranged better
in the show room. Continental Clay also has a larger selection of "name
brand" glazes (Amoco, spectrum etc.)

Continental also has a *much* larger selection of books available to
peruse through.

I know both locations have wheels available in the show rooms.


Brian

wrote in message
oups.com...
I'd like to get started making pottery at home. I enjoyed my class on
pottery when I was in high school, but they never taught us the ins and
outs of finding electric wheels, kilns, the different types of clays
and glazes, and where to find all the supplies for making it at home.
If anybody can be of help here, I'd be forever in your debt. Thanks
much. Jason


Hi Jason :-)

I just started my own little studio-room in my basement a few months ago. I
found that working with the clay and glazes is plenty for me at the moment,
so I have deferred getting a kiln - as I am lucky enough to have my
pottery-teacher's studio (with 2 ovens) just a couple of minutes away, and
she fires for me (for now, anyway).

I would suggest you have a look around and see if you can't find some active
potters nearby that might be willing to fire your stuff for you - both
bisque and glazed. It will cost a bit, but you will have to fire a helluva
lot before you have fired up the price of a kiln - even a used one, I think.

I bet there are pottery suppliers that will ship either to your home or to a
store in town. Have you eg. asked at the hardware store or hobby store (if
there is one near you)? A good idea if you buy clay, is to buy a lot at
once, then store it - as most suppliers give you a good rebate if you order
bulk.

As for tools, you can make a lot of them yourself - like cutting string -
just a piece of fishing line and two pieces of wood.

The bought stuff I have in my studio are a wheel, a slab roller and an
extruder - bought in that order. Nowadays, I mostly hand build, as I find I
don't have enough shelf space to dry stuff if I work on the wheel (you
produce more pieces at a time, I find).

Marianne