The Drybox

Here are a couple of shots of the drybox. When I get down to the wire or if it's humid and damp at the "Mushroom Factory" the drybox is essential. By the way, my studio for the last 8 years is a former shitake mushroom growing facility and now provides 5 artists with great studios. And instead of calling it a facility, we call it the Mushroom Factory. It's a somewhat damp experience, except in the winter when the radiant heat floor keeps things nice and cozy. If you need a studio I will hopefully be moving in May to my new shop. (Drop me an email and I can put you in touch with the landlord.)

Back to the topic of drying pots...In the picture to the right you can see that the drybox has a plastic covered door that helps to get the heat up to 95 *F with the lamps on. The door comes completely off so that I can slide boards of pots in and out without too much trouble. The box is surrounded by plastic so that the dehumidifier removes moisture from the drybox only and not from the whole studio. That's important. The dehumidifier has a hose that takes the water to a floor drain. I have two regular 75 watt reflector bulbs and a fan to convect the dry air. A leatherhard pot, depending on size, can be dried overnight and ready to bisque fire the next day. Unfortunately sometimes on large jars the bottoms will crack if dried to quickly. To work around this I place pots on sand or wads so that the pot can "move" as it dries.

Of course a nice breezy sunny day is the best (and cheapest) way to dry pots but in a pinch the drybox is a great tool that lends flexibility to my workshop.