$32 for that size seems ok - not bad but not great. Seems to me like a bunch of baked mud should be cheap, but then again I've used the plastic pots as well as the painted foam pots, and they just don't last like the real ones.

milt, your prices are good. the prices for large pots are surprising.

you having these things made? i mean, you spec out the sizing? if so, think outside the pot. make some ceramic bbq grills! heat retention would be great!

I hate to keep coming back here and saying this, but we have the fireplaces and cooking pots too. We have, I think, an egg shape bbq/oven. I'll double check on that. High fired ceramic is something that I need to know about. I don't know what the total capabilities are in the Mexican factory. I guess I have to get a passport and go down there with the family that is here.

You should create a website chock full of color pics.

High fired ceramic is called stoneware and being a two firing process is much more expensive. The first firing is low temp. and after that stage the object is called bisque ware. It's porous, fragile and not completely vitrified. High fire glaze is then applied and the pot refired at a much higher temp. The glaze and the bisque ware become vitrified, become glass as it were, and is then non porous and hard as stone - thus the name.

Terra cotta is essentially bisque ware, porous (though waterproof), soft and fragile. If glazed. the glazing is done on the greenware prior to the single firing. Bisque glazes can be brightly colored whereas stoneware glazes, while richly colored in some cases, aren't as bright and the outcome is always, to a degree, unpredictable.

Bottom line, stoneware and its glazes are not nearly as simple and much more expensive than terra cotta. Also, large stoneware pieces are much more prone to cracking or exploding in the high firing. I doubt you'll be getting very involved, as it is a very complex craft that takes years to master and the market is much more upscale than terra cotta.

I would think the distribution of the other variety would be far more lucrative.

The "other" being?

We have an intermediate process of cold applied epoxies and polyurethanes. I suppose for longevity these pots should be used in sheltered weather or indoors.


Hey, thanks for the comments. As I said, I'm taking the simple route on this for the time being.

The one that sells for $5,000 per pound.

Body work and car welding are big jobs usually. Do smal jobs such as servicing work for you? Just as your Carpenter carreer, I know you said you are and have been the quality, not the quantity, but things changed. Why not try quantity instead of quality? I think nothing wrong with that if you are up front with your clients. Who know it might works for you.