STUDIO and CLASS ETIQUETTE

Cleanliness

• Keeping the studio clean is everyones sponsibility (spelling intended). In ceramics a cleaner studio is a safer studio. That it is also easier to work in is an added benefit.
• Clean up after yourself. This includes returning wareboards and tools to their proper place
• Keep the back door clean.
• Shovel up potters wheel trimmings and other floor messes but DO NOT SWEEP.
• Tables should never be brushed off, they may be cleaned with a dampened sponge.
• Avoid getting clay on the floor.
• Always mix clay with the back doors closed
• Wipe off ware boards with damp sponge or wash them after use
• Leave wheels clean
• Leave bats clean.
• When mixing glazes be sure not to dump glaze materials from a height. place them gently in to glaze buckets or materials bins and use the exhaust hood.
• Always slake dry glaze materials with a lid on.
• Be careful to keep plaster away from clay.
• Please throw away paper towels in trash cans.

Harmony

Some people have trouble working in silence, others find music a distraction:

• Students agree to work cooperativly to acheive a harmonious, safe, and productive, working environment.
• Radios, tape plays, cd players, mp3 players, etc. are allowed within the following parameters: (Clay dust is very hard on tape and CD mechanisms.)
• They may never be played loud. Loud is defined by your instructor. If a sound meter is required there will be no radios.
• Anyone can approach the radio and turn it down or off at anytime, inside or outside of class.
• If the radio is making it dificult for some to work they may ask your instructor to turn it off. Comprimise about sound levels and placment of the device seem to be better solutions however.
• Walkmans®, and other personal listening devices may be used except when mixing, pugging clay, or using other power tools. Students should keep one side of the headset ajar so that they can hear when announcements are starting.
• Surround Sound. Numerous requests for a surround sound system have been recieved by the instructor.

Cell Phones

Clay Mixing

• Mix with the back door closed.
• Clay is always needed. Mix clay before it is needed. Mix large batches. It is much more efficient with your time to mix two batches on the same day than one batch on two different days; there is only one cleanup this way.
• Empty water from slop buckets into the sink. Do not use the outside drains.
• Leave the mixer with the sides scraped down, the bags taken to the dumpster by the gate at the back of the kiln yard/sculpture yard,. Mix clay carefully. If there is a question, please ask.
• If you insist on using a scoop or bucket for slop, please clean it when you are done. Do not use the glaze room scoops.
• Keep the back door and door knob as clean as you can.

Glaze Pantry

• Never use a glaze that you have no information about. It could be for a different firing temperature.
• Clean before if necessary, but always clean up after yourself, and return the tools to the tool cabinets.
• Do not use wet materials on the glaze mixing tables( the counters with the scales and dry materials).
• Be very careful about pouring glaze back into the proper bucket. If you contaminate a glaze let your instructor know. If he is not here, put the bucket of glaze near his door with a note explaining about how much of what glaze was inadvertently added.

Slab Roller

• Slab roller spacing boards must be kept under the slab roller

Shelves

• Please leave the boards on the rolling racks and storage racks, other boards may be used under your art. Wood left on the floor will get wet when the floor is washed.
• Load ware racks from the bottom.

Dry Glaze Materials

• Dry glaze materials are to be used only with permission!
• If you have any questions, ASK!
• Never move materials from one container to another without labeling the new container first. (The only exception to this is when you are sieving glazes). If you have to leave a glaze partially seived pour the glaze back into the marked bucket.
• Learn to mix without making dust. Lay materials into your bucket instead of dropping them from high up. Clean up with a wet sponge.
• Treat our scale with care. Each time it is banged hard or has something heavy dropped on it it looses accuracy.

Doors

Keep the doors to the hallway shut at all times. Open the back door only to move items in and out. Leaving the door open overloads the airconditioning which makes the whole building hot and humid. Please keep dirty hands off the door. Keep the door shut when mixing clay and when kilns are firing.

Tables, Shelves, Space

• The rolling racks are not for storage of wetware, bisqueware, and glazed ware. They should be emptied of your work soon after it is fired.
• Every student will have one shelf at the beginning of each semester. When that shelf is full the student may request another shelf. There will be ample shelf space.
• Place short work on short shelves tall work on tall shelves. The more appropriate the work is for the shelves the less likely it is to be moved.
• Load ware carts from the bottom.
• If you are going to be building a large piece and need to place it, or a stand for it on the floor and it will be un-movable until it is finished we must discuss where you will do this.
• Tables should be emptied at the end of class. Work done on the tables should be built on boards sturdy enough to move. On the rare occasion when work cannot be moved, talk to your instructor.
• No sharp tools on the canvas.

Other Peoples Work

• If it is necessary to move other peoples work, if your instructor is around, ask him first. If your instructor is not around, it is only O.K. if you are loading it into a kiln, it is on an inappropriate shelf and you need the space, or it was left on the table and there is no other space to work. If you must move something, be more careful than you would be with your own work. It is not acceptable to move work just because it is in the wrong place; you must need the space.
• Never uncover someone else's work to look at it without their permission.
• Respect other peoples work; do not handle it unless absolutely necessary. The more times work is handled the more likely it is that it will be broken or damaged.

KILNS

Make sure electric kilns are off before loading. Press the Stop Button. Do not load if there is an error message. The kiln could be on.

Words to remember:

• Load: Load as full as possible, be fair- load some of everyone's work
• Look: Look after the kiln while firing
• Leave: Leave the kiln, furniture, and ware neat, organized, and clean, kiln shelves washed
• Log: Write it down in the kiln log
• Louis: ---992-4176 9 am - 9 p.m. if needed

 

• Load the kiln as full as possible: the more work you manage to squeeze into one firing, the more worthwhile your time firing is.
• After a firing kiln furniture should have glaze removed and bare spots rewashed. Stilts should be neatly stacked.
• Give test tiles high priority: the tests benefit everyone. Always load tiles into the middle part of the kiln. Whenever you are firing test tiles, be aware that you should be especially careful to control reduction and temperature in an ideal way. If test tiles are underfired, they will have to be redone.

Be willing to stay for the "extra" time and make the extra effort to finish the firing properly. Underfired kilns make refiring of work necessary. If one part of the kiln is hotter than another, make adjustments to even the kiln out. In Stoneware kilns it is permissible to let Cone 11 bend on the bottom in order to get Cone 10 to bend on the top, but once a cone 11 is down anywhere in the kiln the kiln must bet turned off. Generally the time required to make the firing the proper temperature is only an hour or two. Do not hesitate to call your instructor for advice, especially before 9 PM. Always call at 9 P.M. if it looks like the kiln will not fire off before midnight.

Unloading

It is impolite to remove pots from a kiln that someone else fired or to open the door of their kiln. To remove pots from someone elses kiln you need thier permission or that of the instructor. It is best to unload a kiln you fired during class, but if this isn't practical unload as soon as the kiln is cool enough. Clean and patch kiln wash on shelves that need it immediately after unloading.

Electric Kilns

Advanced students should feel free to load and fire the large electric kilns at any time unless the other kiln is loaded or it is the last three weeks of the semester. Then you must ask your instructor first. Glaze kilns fired in the electric should have a guard cone 1 cone above the kiln setting.

Electric Test Kiln

Ask your instructor the first time you use it and during the last two weeks of classes. Do not use it for bisqueing without asking first.

Gas Kilns

You must ask first. You must wear natural fibers when firing. Do not wear fluffy fabrics.

Raku Kiln

Do to safety concerns the Raku kiln is to be fired only during class when your instructor is present.

Graduate spaces

The graduate spaces are private studios. They should not be entered unless the graduate student is present. The graduate students should be given a level of privacy.

Louis' office

Louis' office should not be entered without his permission each time. The cabinets outside his office are not for student use.