after drying for a week or two, they are hand sanded, very dirty work

Everything has to dry completely-one molecule of water and everything blows up in the kiln

I have to load layers of shelves in a 4 foot tall kiln for the first "bisque" firing turns soft clay into hard clay

It fires to 1944F or higher to 2400F and that takes 12 hours

Then I have to unload and clean everything, more sanding

The kiln has to cool for 12 hours to unload at room temperature-if I rush this, everything cracks and breaks