Friday

Today I'll be mixing clay and finishing up some pots in the workshop. I have a Home Sale coming up at the end of June so I am working towards that. I had planned on firing twice before then but I am thinking I may only have one firing. We are leaving for a week in June to go to the coast so that is going to cut into production and firing time. Also with gas prices on the rise I am feeling the pressure to be very selective about what I fire and how often. Hopefully my propane costs won't hit the roof this summer. One way I have been thinking about offsetting this is to fire to a lower temperature. I used to fire to cone 10, which is around 2300 degrees Fahrenheit. More recently I have been going to cone 8 or 9 which I am happy with as the pots seem to have more of the color I am after. I am seriously considering dropping on down to cone 6. This would decrease my firing time and the amt. of propane used. Of course if it changes the pots in an unwanted way then I'd stay with the higher temp. and longer firing. I've always preached that longer firings are better, and I think this is true. So we'll see what happens, for now I'll be forking out the dough to buy more propane.