Much of the workflow for ceramics production remains the same over the many years this art form has been practiced. When centuries ago, a potter starting the process workflow of producing a ceramic mug (or more likely a jug), he would go to a river bed and collect the clay.
Now, Angel Pottery’s supplier is currently a clay supplier in Amherst, Massachusetts. In this supplier’s factory, they use mixing augurs to produce the raw material clay. From factory to home factory, the clay bags are handled 25 lbs. at a time to reduce weight loads on the employee.
The clay transported back to a home factory and is carried down a side hill to receiving in the basement where the first steps in mug production begin. A 2 lbs. ball of clay is spun into a
cylinder …show more content…
Now, the mug goes through a slow drying process for about 10 days to allow all excess water to evaporate from the product forming earthenware. This earthenware is now ready for the first firing or bisque firing. All ten mugs are carried on a wooden tray, five at a time, up the back stairs to the kiln room where there are more shelves to receive the work in progress. The kiln room located in the garage has efficient heat exhaust from the garage window and when the garage door is raised.
The mugs are loaded into the kiln and are fired for a period of six and a half hours to bisque fire.
After cool down phase, which can last up to eight hours, the bisque mugs are unloaded and ready to be glazed. The glaze buckets are located in the kiln room a safe distance from the kiln and next to more shelving. For safety during use of the glaze, a respirator is worn to eliminate harmful inhalants that may go airborne during the process. After the various glazes are applied, the mugs in production go back into the kiln for a second firing. They are stacked in the kiln, four mugs to each layered shelf, and the kiln can hold up to 12 mugs on the three
Now, Angel Pottery’s supplier is currently a clay supplier in Amherst, Massachusetts. In this supplier’s factory, they use mixing augurs to produce the raw material clay. From factory to home factory, the clay bags are handled 25 lbs. at a time to reduce weight loads on the employee.
The clay transported back to a home factory and is carried down a side hill to receiving in the basement where the first steps in mug production begin. A 2 lbs. ball of clay is spun into a
cylinder …show more content…
Now, the mug goes through a slow drying process for about 10 days to allow all excess water to evaporate from the product forming earthenware. This earthenware is now ready for the first firing or bisque firing. All ten mugs are carried on a wooden tray, five at a time, up the back stairs to the kiln room where there are more shelves to receive the work in progress. The kiln room located in the garage has efficient heat exhaust from the garage window and when the garage door is raised.
The mugs are loaded into the kiln and are fired for a period of six and a half hours to bisque fire.
After cool down phase, which can last up to eight hours, the bisque mugs are unloaded and ready to be glazed. The glaze buckets are located in the kiln room a safe distance from the kiln and next to more shelving. For safety during use of the glaze, a respirator is worn to eliminate harmful inhalants that may go airborne during the process. After the various glazes are applied, the mugs in production go back into the kiln for a second firing. They are stacked in the kiln, four mugs to each layered shelf, and the kiln can hold up to 12 mugs on the three