[Brian Reed]

I do the sun drying only one certain pots, large thin things like shallow bowls seem to form a small crack on the rim when I do this because of the faster rim drying I am sure. The thing about it usually does not fully separate until bisque firing. I did see a potter talk about this recently and his assessment was that air flow is more important than heat in the drying process. So even in a basement if you had air flow and someplace for the moist air to go you should have a similar fast drying.



my 2 cents.

[sawing]

Eavestroughs are on your house, gutters are in the street. Just depends who you ask around here.

[yedrow]

Mark McCombs, on 31 August 2012 - 12:29 AM, said:

And here I am placing plastic bags over my wet and damp green-ware to extend the drying process an extra two or three days.

But then again I am not a production potter.

I think I will throw a couple bowls and put them in the sun for a bit to see what happens. Rotate them every 15 minutes or so.

Mark,

I'll keep stuff under plastic for two or three weeks. If it gets too dry I just dip it in water. You can really get away with a lot with stoneware, at least in my experience. I've rewetted mugs that were so dry that were changing color, let them sit a bit, maybe wet 'em a couple more times, then stick a wet-clay handle on them. I guess I just use the honey badger approach. That being said, a good even drying is always best, it just never seems to happen in my world.

Joel.

[Mark C.]

I have been sun drying pots since the 70s around here. I started with stoneware which for me compared to porcelain could take just about anything. Now with over 25 years of outside drying of porcelain in the drier months (may- early october) I have had enough experience to recommend trying it on whatever body you happen to have. I would again start with small forms without much in the way of attachments to get a feel for what's happening. On a side note we used to put a electric wheel outside with a pallet on it and put pots on it with a slow spin to even the drying.
Now I do not bother with that as I know what I can and cannot do with my clay body.
Mark

[Lucille Oka]

I guess I didn't realize how dry Montana was until the end of the summer. It had not rained once. I remember being at a party,[they had them there], and I looked up at the host's house. I said;"You have no eavestroughs."
He said;"Huh?"
I said "eavestroughs! You have no eavestroughs." Then I said gutters. Just too dry for words there. They didn't need them. Do you use the word eavestrough? Anyone?
TJR.
[/quote]


Most times in the US we say 'eaves' which is a building overhang. Gutters are usually metal channels which are placed around the edge of the roof to redirect rain away from the house; oftentimes into a rain barrel. Gutters are also located in the street at the curb to direct rainwater to sewer systems.

[Lucille Oka]

To get back on the original topic-

Test this and see if it works for you.

You can also use your kitchen oven to dry your vessels.
Kitchen ovens heat up faster than ceramic ovens so your heat rise must be slower than slow and the oven door must remain open. Ventilation is needed if you do this. If you let the heat rise too quickly you may hear popping of the clay also known as explosions! Cleaning a kitchen oven of exploded clay can be a pain in the ‘whatsits’, so go slower than slow; give yourself about two hours just to reach 100°F; the vessels will probably be dry after that. Test them and see if they are dry, if they are not dry allow them more time and/or raise the temp about 25°F.

When they are dry turn off the oven and close the door and leave the vessels in the oven to cool down completely. Cool down won’t take long.

[Mark C.]

Careful doing ceramics in the kitchen-as noted above cleaning your oven up after 1,000 small clay pieces get into every crack if the pot explodes.
I try to keep all ceramics out of the house unless its a finished fired piece. The dust and all the rest are kept beyond the house-cat fur is all we have to clean up.
Shoes and pants stay in mud room-thats about as close as they get to inside..
While on this subject I also was my clay cloths in an outside old 25$ washing machine that drains outside. I do not use soap on these cloths and towels. The whole setup is behind my gas kiln and drains into a rain gutter downspout and takes it to a side field. Years of Clay can slowly clog ones washing machine trap.
Mark

[JBaymore]

Mark C., on 01 September 2012 - 12:47 PM, said:

I try to keep all ceramics out of the house unless its a finished fired piece. The dust and all the rest are kept beyond the house-cat fur is all we have to clean up.

"Smart man", from the health and safety viewpoint! Good on ya'.

best,

..................john

[Lucille Oka]

Dear Mark and John,
I do not say make a regular practice of it but in a pinch it can be done. Also I do not suggest drying an entire production load of pottery in your kitchen oven especially if cleaning up your work space is not something you do on a regular basis you'll have terra sig in eggs. Production work is best in a separate studio space.

As for keeping it out of the house-

Jeremiah 18:1-4 NIV

At the Potter’s House
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. ⁴ But the pot that he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Fascinating how the profession has changed.