Let's Talk Turnover Time
There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to handmade goods. A lot more work goes into each item than most people assume. The most frequently asked questions I get include how long does it take to make one piece and can I get this custom order earlier??? Let’s break down what goes into making a piece of pottery. I’ll use mugs as an example.
WEEK ONE
Step one/Monday. Wedging the clay. It’s like kneading dough. This aligns the clay particles to prevent cracks later on and removes air bubbles from the clay. Air can cause issues centering and then can cause blow ups in the first firing when the air tries to escape.
Step two. Throw the mug on the pottery wheel. I can throw about 20-30 cups an hour depending on distractions and how much coffee is left in my system. The cups then dry under plastic and need to be firm enough to flip upside down to trim. This means fixing the bottoms, taking out extra clay and weight then stamping them with my logo. This state is called leather hard.
Step three/Tuesday. Handles go on right after trimming. My staff uses a tool to make uniform handles and attach them. Because the handles are wetter than the mugs we wrap the mugs up tightly again to allow everything to catch up.
Step four/Friday. Now the mugs are drying evenly and can be unwrapped to dry over the weekend.
WEEK TWO
Step five/Monday. The mugs can go into the first firing called a bisque. This drives the water out of the clay. We fire to cone 04 which means the clay is still porous for the glazing process.
Step six/Tuesday. Cool the kiln. You cannot rush the kiln firings. You risk cracks and glaze flaws.
Step seven/Wednesday. Unload the bisque. Wipe down each piece with a damp sponge to remove the dust. Wax the base of the mug for easy glaze clean up. Glaze. Most of my mugs have 2-4 glazes. (And keep in mind when my staff mixes a new batch of glazes we can lose an entire day to that too!)
Step eight. Reload the kiln this time for the glaze. Less pieces can go into the glaze firing. Ceramics is glass on clay so no pieces can touch in this firing. Sometimes one bisque firing yields two glaze firings. Luckily I have four kilns but wait they may be full of other orders so this step can get slowed down up to 5 more days based on kiln turnover time.
Step nine/Thursday. Cool the kiln. Again.
Step ten/Friday. Unload the glaze kiln. Check each item. Sand the base of each pot. Pack and ship. But by now its the end of Friday which means your item will ship on…
WEEK 3
Step eleven/Monday. Your item ships and should arrive in 2-7 days based on the shipping carrier. At this point we have done our duties and pray to the shipping gods they don’t break your piece.
During any of these steps a piece can crack, break, get a horrible glaze run and we start over. One must also consider the orders in front of it. Something like a leaf for a wind chime seems small and easy but it still goes through the process of drying, firing, glazing and firing again. But there’s a 400 piece order we have to package and that will take my entire staff a whole shift including me. It’s impossible for me to even break down the time that goes into one piece. This is why turnover time exists and why handmade work should be valued.
