Re: [Clayart] Clayart Digest, Vol 119, Issue 5

[Kathi Koester via Clayart]

Hello Clayart,

I would appreciate any helpful advice regarding ergonomic or physical
training/stretching/habits as I get older (50++) and my wrists & injuries
flare or worsen. (I know for many it’s shoulders and backs too.)
I am NOT a production potter; in batches I do make a couple hundred a
year. Obviously you can translate that equals 3 days/mo throwing and the
rest process steps.
I glaze with buckets near waist-level vs. bending, and have 2 standing
potters wheels (my favorite Klopphenstein kickwheel and my 3rd Brent)
My hands are also active teaching art techniques part-time as well. (Might
give that up soon)
Perhaps I should ‘workout’ /strengthen in-between?
As always, your history and knowledge is very appreciated.

Sincerely,
Kathi Koester
612-867-0829
MAKNART Ceramics
https://www.instagram.com/maknartceramics/
<https://maknartceramics.square.site/>
https://maknartceramics.square.site/
Author: Our Piano Teacher ISBN: 978-1-64416-853-0

On Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 7:07 AM <clayart...@lists.clayartforum.com>
wrote:

> Send Clayart mailing list submissions to
> cla...@lists.clayartforum.com
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> https://lists.clayartforum.com/mailman/listinfo/clayart
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> clayart...@lists.clayartforum.com
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
> clayar...@lists.clayartforum.com
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Clayart digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Re: clayart (Terry Lazaroff)
> 2. Cristobalite (Antoinette Badenhorst)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2025 20:35:01 +0000
> From: Terry Lazaroff <terryl...@gmail.com>
> To: Clayart international pottery discussion forum
> <cla...@lists.clayartforum.com>
> Subject: Re: [Clayart] clayart
> Message-ID:
> <
> YQBPR0101MB498223A96...@YQBPR0101MB4982.CANPRD01.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM
> >
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hi Mel;
>
> Busy time.
>
> Terry
>
> Getting ready for the winter.
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Clayart <clayart...@lists.clayartforum.com> on behalf of mel
> jacobson via Clayart <cla...@lists.clayartforum.com>
> Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2025 2:12 PM
> To: clay clay <cla...@lists.clayartforum.com>
> Cc: mel jacobson <mel...@mail.com>
> Subject: [Clayart] clayart
>
> here i sit. all day. every day. waiting for vital
> questions to arrive. my job to fight ignorance in ceramics.
> will they write????
> who knows.
> Love to all. mel
>
> website: www.melpots.com<http://www.melpots.com>
> WWW.clayartarchives.com
>
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: <
> https://lists.clayartforum.com/pipermail/clayart/attachments/20251023/5ba3a872/attachment.htm
> >
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2025 17:51:06 -0500
> From: Antoinette Badenhorst <porcelainb...@gmail.com>
> To: clayart <cla...@lists.clayartforum.com>
> Subject: [Clayart] Cristobalite
> Message-ID:
> <
> CAH3_PmGqdeaMHfsTLRGzkjdi...@mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Hi guys. I've been researching silica and its behavior in the kiln. There
> appear to be many opinions about cristobalite. Some say it needs to
> dissolve completely in fluxes while others say some cristobalite helps with
> crazing in glazes.
> It is also being said that too fast firing around 1000C will allow for
> crystal growth.
>
> When I fire porcelain I go very slow to about 800C, speed it to 1250 C (
> sometimes 1280C, )and allow for about a 1 hour soak. At around 800C I
> begin to slow cool all the way down to 200C.
>
> I was always under the impression that I controlled it well enough to have
> very little to no cristobalite left in the clay.
>
> That being said, I also read that glazes have a better fit when some
> cristobalite is present in the clay and I wonder if that is true for
> porcelain. I think in all these years working with porcelain I might have
> had one piece that crazed.
> Silica is a huge topic to take on, but I guess a little more knowledge will
> not hurt.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Antoinette Badenhorst
>
>
>
> *PorcelainByAntoinette <https://www.porcelainbyantoinette.com/#/>*
>
> *TeachinArt* <https://www.teachinart.com/antoinette-badenhorst.html>
>
> *International Academy of Ceramics*
> <https://www.aic-iac.org/en/member/antoinette-badenhorst/>
>
> *Mississippi Arts Commission
> <https://arts.ms.gov/artist/antoinette-badenhorst/>*
>
> *MSClayworks <https://www.msclayworks.com/#/>*
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: <
> https://lists.clayartforum.com/pipermail/clayart/attachments/20251023/521d8c6a/attachment.htm
> >
>
> End of Clayart Digest, Vol 119, Issue 5
> ***************************************
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.clayartforum.com/pipermail/clayart/attachments/20251024/45411438/attachment.htm>

[Dragonbelly Ceramics via Clayart]

Hello Kathi--

Potter and retired physical therapist here. I'm also not a production
potter who also has wrist problems. The parts of pottery that I find the
most challenging are wedging and centering.

For wedging, I do slam wedging for most of the process. It's far easier on
the wrists and hands.

Centering more than a pound of clay is nearly impossible for me as I can't
push into the clay with my left hand. But a few years ago I found the
Strong Arm Centering Tool and it enabled me to continue throwing. It gives
me the mechanical advantage to center without destroying my wrists.

Can you be more specific with what parts of the process are difficult?

In general, I would recommend using warm water to throw, taking breaks
between every piece, and gently stretch your body in the opposite direction
from how you've been working. For example, sitting or even standing at the
wheel require flexion - of your spine and/or neck. Standing and arching
your back and neck will be the rest position.

And staying as strong as possible, including doing something sustained and
aerobic (brisk walking, tai chi - yes, it's considered aerobic!, etc) is
key to long term health.

Best regards,
Lisa (LJ)

www.ljcbluemuse.blogspot.com
www.ljcohen.net

URL: <https://lists.clayartforum.com/pipermail/clayart/attachments/20251024/b3a0f0c0/attachment.htm>

[kathi--- via Clayart]

I have a friend who is a hand surgeon. He has kept me out of surgery for decades. He gave me hand exercises to do before I start throwing. If you Google “hand exercises” you can find pictures of what to do. But, even more important is that he had me wear bicycle gloves when I was using anything that involved vibration. Driving, mowing, snow blowing. That vibration is very bad for your hands. If you Google “orthopedic bicycle gloves” you can find some quality gloves. Look for something that has a gel center. All of the tendons run through the palm of your hand and this is what you need to protect.

Kathi LeSueur
Sent from my iPad

> On Oct 24, 2025, at 1:13 PM, Kathi Koester via Clayart <cla...@lists.clayartforum.com> wrote:
>
> Hello Clayart,

[kathi--- via Clayart]

I have a friend who is a hand surgeon. He has kept me out of surgery for decades. He gave me exercises. If you Google hand exercises you will find them. I do them before thrown. But, another thing he had me do I think is equally important. He had me wear bicycle gloves when I am driving or running a mower or snow blower. The vibration from these can be very damaging. I actually got gloves from a

[joel joelfink.net via Clayart]

Somewhat related.

I got trigger thumb last March. I got a cortisone shot, but it didn't do much. When the shot cleared my thumb got bad enough that I had to manually bend it when I got up in the morning; that was around July. Booking a hand surgeon was 3 months out, and I use a technique that requires a hard pinch, especially on 3# or more, and the pain scale was hitting the shutdown level.

Solution:
I bought a box of hand exercising donuts and finger stretchers and started using them first thing in the morning, just before bed, on the toilet (got four sets), and so on. I visited the surgeon a week or two ago and my thumb is mostly recovered. It will never be perfectly fit as it was, but it is sufficiently remedied that I don't think about it except when exercising and at points of pain generally at production startup.

Joel.
________________________________
From: Clayart <clayart...@lists.clayartforum.com> on behalf of kathi--- via Clayart <cla...@lists.clayartforum.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2025 9:20 AM

To: Clayart international pottery discussion forum <cla...@lists.clayartforum.com>

Cc: ka...@lesueurclaywork.com <ka...@lesueurclaywork.com>
Subject: Re: [Clayart] Clayart Digest, Vol 119, Issue 5

URL: <https://lists.clayartforum.com/pipermail/clayart/attachments/20251026/0ad1b002/attachment.htm>

[sumi via Clayart]

My one suggestion would be to find a way to get a pug mill. It is a lot
of money, but it can save your hands.

Sumi

--
Sumi von Dassow
President, Beulah Valley Arts Council

[Vince Pitelka via Clayart]

I'd like to second Sumi's suggestion. As a potter in Northern California in the mid-70s, I became serious about doing it full time. I quit my job as a mechanic/welder for the City of Arcata and we built a big studio at the back of our property. It became more of a production operation than I originally expected, and I started to experience hand and wrist problems, primarily from wedging the clay. I knew that a vacuum-deairing pugmill would eliminate wedging. At the time I didn't have the money to buy one, but then Hank Murrow in Eugene, Oregon gave me an early copy of Harry Davis's plans for building a large deairing pugmill, and I built one in 1979. Anyone who has advanced welding/fabrication experience can build a deairing pugmill from these plans.

The plans are available in Harry Davis's book "The Potter's Alternative," but unfortunately it's out of print, and used copies are very expensive. If all you want to do is build the pugmill, the full plans are available for free at the Lue Pottery website at https://www.luepottery.hwy.com.au/clayart.htm. They are Australian potters, and had Harry's permission to offer the pugmill plans on their website. These are the same plans that are in the book.

If you are seriously considering building this pugmill, download the plans, but also go to the "Documents and Handouts" page of my website, scroll down to "Studio Tools and Equipment," and down load the 22-page PDF titled "Building the Harry Davis Pugmill," which describes my own experience building and using the machine. I made some changes in the design, and with normal maintenance, my pugmill worked perfectly for 40 years and would pug and deair a ton of clay per hour. Upon retirement it was too big for my needs, and I gave it to a potter friend in Tennessee. Now I am very happy with my little Bluebird 440 deairing pugmill.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Potter, Writer, Teacher
Chapel Hill, NC
vincep...@gmail.com
www.vincepitelka.com
https://chathamartistsguild.org/

> <https://lists.clayartforum.com/pipermail/clayart/attachments/20251026

[joel joelfink.net via Clayart]

I absolutely agree. I have a 3 inch Axner. I make my own clay and cannot imagine doing that without a pugmill.

Joel.
________________________________
From: Clayart <clayart...@lists.clayartforum.com> on behalf of sumi via Clayart <cla...@lists.clayartforum.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2025 9:55 PM
To: cla...@lists.clayartforum.com <cla...@lists.clayartforum.com>
Cc: sumi <su...@herwheel.com>

URL: <https://lists.clayartforum.com/pipermail/clayart/attachments/20251026/6335556b/attachment.htm>

[ronroy--- via Clayart]

Hi Kathi,

I can't tell what your problems are but I have just had a nerve
conduction test. Left hand was moderately impaired and right was
extremely impaired. Had surgery on my right had 3 weeks ago and right
hand is being used a lot already.

I thought is was going to be much more difficult because I'm 90 now
but not so.

RR

Quoting Kathi Koester via Clayart <cla...@lists.clayartforum.com>:

> Hello Clayart,
>
> I would appreciate any helpful advice regarding ergonomic or physical
> training/stretching/habits as I get older (50++) and my wrists & injuries

> flare or worsen. (I know for many it?s shoulders and backs too.)

> I am NOT a production potter; in batches I do make a couple hundred a
> year. Obviously you can translate that equals 3 days/mo throwing and the
> rest process steps.
> I glaze with buckets near waist-level vs. bending, and have 2 standing
> potters wheels (my favorite Klopphenstein kickwheel and my 3rd Brent)
> My hands are also active teaching art techniques part-time as well. (Might
> give that up soon)

> Perhaps I should ?workout? /strengthen in-between?

> As always, your history and knowledge is very appreciated.
>
> Sincerely,
> Kathi Koester
> 612-867-0829
> MAKNART Ceramics
> https://www.instagram.com/maknartceramics/
> <https://maknartceramics.square.site/>
> https://maknartceramics.square.site/
> Author: Our Piano Teacher ISBN: 978-1-64416-853-0
>
>

> On Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 7:07?AM <clayart...@lists.clayartforum.com>

Ron Roy
ron...@ca.inter.net
Web page ronroy.net