Post #193620 by Rum Demon on Wed, Oct 19, 2005 1:21 PM

Thanks for all the comments, folks. Just got back with my mugs from the re-glaze firing and everything came out nicely. Next step is getting all the high-fire mugs glazed and fired. You see, I'm splitting the bunch up between low (cone 06) and high (cone 6) fire slips. I'm not sure which I'll prefer, but it seems you can get better details out of low, due to less running. All the high fire mugs are going to be single color, but some of the more interesting glazes out there are high.

Anyway. As for the other nuts and bolts, the whole process isn't cheap when you figure in all the tools and what-not to get set up. Raw materials alone come to about $2 or $3 per mug, maybe less.

The real cost for a project like this is time. The process of creating each mug, not including the time sculpting the original or making the mold, comes out to about 1-2 hours each or more. It's really been a part time job for me since this last may. And only now am I starting to see the final results!

A new pain is that I'm going to be in LA all next month for work, so production will be at a halt. With any luck I'll be able to put the first five up on the EvilBay while I'm down there. My goal is to get the first one listed by november 1st. I'll let you all know.

Meanwhile, when I get back to Portland there will be five molds ready and waiting to resume production. There's also a bowl I'm still sculpting for snacks or cereal or whatever. That will be an unlimited run so anyone that wants one can eventually get one. That means making a master and multiple molds, which will be a whole new experience altogether.

I'll post again when I get some pictures of the finished high-fire gang.

long-windedly yours,
Joe