So I got two new housemates in 2020, both of whom have backgrounds in ceramics. We have pulled out my pottery wheel (I do not know how to throw, I just inherited someone else's impulse buy) and kiln (50 years old, bought used at a garage sale for less than $200, fifteen years ago; I do not know how to fire) and are getting things set up next-door to my abandoned-building-bathroom lapidary studio.
The kiln is an Olympic 2327 commercial-size electric kiln with some fairly complicated electrical demands and a lot of internal corrosion, so getting it into working order is an ongoing process. I figure if it costs 1/4th the price of a comparable machine to get this one up to standard, it's worth the time and effort and, so far, we're within budget. Hopefully. (Hopefully it doesn't catch fire on the first test firing in a few weeks...) we think the last parts needed are now on order.
At any rate, it's been keeping us busy together over the cold, dark winter! We have storebought clay and glazes to start with but I'm pretty excited to see if any of our local clays and volcanic ashes will fire or glaze well. The kiln is a cone 8, our use target is cone 6, but I am thinking we are going to need new elements to reach that temp.
Someone on a natural glaze group on Facebook who also does lapidary did use their cabbing rock dust to make a very nice glaze!
Sounds like you've got your hands full. Bert and I purchased a kiln about 2 and 1/2 years ago. It's in the corner of a bedroom right now. We plan to bring it down to my In-laws within the next couple weeks. We have a fairly sized back patio, I plan to set it up out there along with my new saw I recently purchase as well. We're setting up the dirty part.... slicing, cabbing and tumbling out there. We've never done this before, so I will be looking for advice from you pro's!
I did have my gem room pretty cleaned up, but suddenly, Chuck my father - in -law passed away, I miss him dearly!! So we had to do some deep cleaning for out of town guests. Guess where it all went? Yes my gem room, so when I re-organize it, I'll post some pix. I'm a pix fanatic , I see some interesting patterns for quilts or some beautiful scenery and I have to snap a few. The world outside givesme so many creative ideas.
My father, Larry, passed Oct 26, 2019, exactly 20 years to the day my kids, (now grown up) and I moved out here to Las Vegas Nevada. Then an old illness reared its ugly head again early Jan 2020. My doctor, God Bless him, is the best Ive ever had! After 5 months he finally found a combo of medications that works well for me. My brother in law Carl, passed April 2020. And then Chuck, FIL passed April 14, 2022. So I've had a rough time loosing them all. But I know they're in a better place.
I'm on track to fullfill my creative skills which ever they are to produce some pieces and maybe list them on the market. So/sew put on your seat belts for a fun ride.