1. Workspace
- Designated Area: A spare room, basement, garage, etc. with good ventilation.
- Surfaces:
- Sturdy tables for working on clay and glazing.
- Shelving for storing tools, clay, and finished pieces.
- Flooring: Non-carpeted, easy-to-clean surfaces like concrete or tile are ideal.
2. Equipment
- Pottery Wheel: If you plan to throw pots, invest in an electric or kick wheel.
- Kiln: Essential for firing pottery. Choose one that suits your space and power availability. Most kilns are 240 volts.
- Ventilation: Proper ventilation for the kiln is critical for safety.
- Other Stuff:
- Sink
- Buckets
- Bats
- Giffen Grip (optional)
- Clay
- Glaze
- Mixing Equipment
- Scale
- Rib and scraper etc.
Expenses
Wheel: Whisper light or big boss are about $800. A Brent C is about $2000
Kilns: Don’t buy an electric kiln without computer controls if you plan on using it for firing glaze ware. A small electric kiln plus kiln posts and shelves is about $3000. A 1027 (10 bricks around and 27 inches high on the inside)will be around $6000.
Bats: $150 (~$5 each)
Buckets: $150
Giffen Grip: 300
Kiln Vent $250
Fans $50
Electric drill with Jiffy mixer blade: $200
Triple beam balance scale, accurate to 1/10 gram for small batch testing
Digital Scale capacity 5000g accurate to 1g
Glaze Sieves, 30, 60 and 80 mesh $100
Clay: $250 for 250 pounds
240 Volt line and outlet, installation $400 to $800
Glazes: Amaco Glazes $4.00 per pint. Dry mixed glaze $3.50 to $8:50 per pound. (28 pounds of dry glaze will make 5 gallons wet.
Metal shelving units from Costco: $100 each
Tables: The folding kind from Costco are about $100.
A solid wedging table with a formica or cement board top is something you will have to make. It should be anchored to a wall so it doesn’t wiggle.
Total: Even you get used stuff and build things yourself you will probably spend at least $5000.
It you are planning on doing production and selling your work you could be looking at $10,000
