Please be careful when doing things around the fragile clay pieces drying around the room. There were tools dropped onto my project on the drying rack from the tool rack and it completely ruined every single piece I made.
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Very sorry to hear this happened to you…
So many of my pieces have been ruined by contact with others projects, tools. or by someone else moving stuff around…
the frustration made me quit using the ceramics lab for months and I almost quit Makeict entierly.
I think it all boils down to lack of space… I really hope the board takes into consideration for the next maker space that projects in Ceramics cannot be taken home every day and right now you can not bend over to tie your shoe in the Ceramics lab without bumping into something or someone.
The leads in the ceramics lab have done a great job utilizing the space they have … but you can only fit so much in what is basically a glorified closet.
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I know there is much discussion about finding a larger makerspace. I believe it is in the 5yr plan.
It is certainly cramped in there, but this was blatant laziness. My pieces were next to the tool rack and a tool fell directly onto my pieces breaking them. My project was also clearly labeled and wasn’t even covered. The tool was still on my project when I got there. The person never bothered to ensure the tool made it back to it’s place when they heard it fall, nor did they bother to call/text to let me know it had been destroyed (This is what sparked my desire to remind people to be careful and curteous). I found it when I went in to move it to a shelf to be fired. 
This was my first project in ceramics at MakeICT and I can’t say this really makes me want to continue either.
That’s a bummer. What can we do help prevent things like this from happening in the future? Planning for more space in the next building is all well and good, but I’m sure we can do something to mitigate the issue in the near term. Would dividers on the shelves help prevent accidental bumping? Could projects be put in plastic tubs? We could easily put a divider between the tool shelf and the project shelf to prevent tools from falling onto someone’s work.
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Excellent thinking, Christian! I think a divider might help, it sounds like projects getting ruined might be common. A divider between shelves might help… Maybe we can consider some clear Rubbermaid tubs that we could drill holes in so most projects could go in them and be more protected as they dry? We could get varying sizes and then have an area for smaller projects and we could fit more on a single shelf that way by stacking the smaller bins in one area.
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Then bins could be shared when possible and people could put tape on the outside of the bin with their info so people can easily see whose stuff is in which one. This would be especially useful as opposed to non-descript bags everywhere that get moved because currently it’s tough to find your project without monkeying with other people’s things.
Thanks for calling attention to problems in the area. We wouldn’t want someone to leave over a solvable problem.
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Cabinets for project storage might also be a good solution.
Alysa,
I am very sorry to hear that your pieces were damaged! Thank you very much for letting us know. We can’t help to prevent / correct issues in the studio if we don’t know about problems when they occur.
Earlier this evening Scott was in and has placed a solid metal divider between the short shelf by the cabinet where tools are stored and the first drying rack. Hopefully this will prevent an accident like this from happening again in the future. (Thank you Scott for getting there so quickly after work!) In addition, the slab roller has been moved off of that shelf and placed under the wedging table where the rest of the parts for the slab roller live. This seemed like reasonable precaution to take as well.
You, or anyone, are welcome to bring in a small plastic box as Christian suggested to put smaller fragile items in while they are drying to help reduce contact with other folks work on the drying shelves.
As Josh pointed out, space is the primary limiting factor for most of the issues we have in the ceramic studio. We have been working hard to keep things organized and to maximize the space we do have.
Some other steps we are looking at after discussing this issue tonight:
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Replacing the collection of odd-ball drying boards, painted boards, finished boards, and drywall, with a set of same-sized smaller drying boards made of either drywall or cement board (less fragile and doesn’t flake off onto work like drywall does) to maximize the number of pieces that can be on the drying shelves without having waste space with over-sized boards with a single small piece on them. 8"x8" drying boards (the same size as the laser-cut masonite bats that are in the studio, could fit two deep and three wide on the drying shelves with a couple inches in-between them.
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We would have a few larger sized (perhaps half-shelf) drying boards for larger projects or folks who make several smaller projects at the same time.
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We’re going to explore the idea of dividers on the shelves. Scott brought in a metal shelf part this evening to see how it might work. We’re going to look at cutting some dividers our of either masonite or thin plywood and test them out.
We are also going to continue being more strict about pieces left in the studio for a long period of time. They are clogging up the shelves and making it difficult for regular studio users to get work done. As we continue to experience significant (and awesome) growth in use of the studio this is becoming more and more of a problem. We have recently re-vised and published updated guidelines and policies for the ceramics studio on the wiki and will be working to keep pieces moving through the studio so everyone can enjoy making there.
Again, I’m very sorry to anyone who’s had pieces damaged in the studio. We want everyone to have a chance to make wonderful things. Don’t be discouraged, and do try again!
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Thank you, Patrick and Scott for your timely solution, that is super awesome of you guys! I honestly was just hoping to spark a conversation about reminding people to be diligent about caring for everyone’s work. I am happy to see that physical changes to the space to limit these instances is taking place! Very cool! Keep on keeping on, guys!
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I think having same sized boards would be a great idea.
It’s sad and frustrating that your pieces were all broken after you put so much time and effort into making them. I too have had issues with broken pieces or missing pieces. I find the most problems occur when I’ve been away from the Ceramics studio for a week or more. When you leave your pieces there for long periods of time unattended they tend to get moved around, relocated. broken or even missing. I remember seeing your delicate leaf stuff when I first started, it had been on the shelf a decent amount of time. I find projects have less disastrous issues when people keep on top of their projects. The longer it sits unattended the greater your chances of it getting messed up, broken or missing. That is also a BIG Issue in ceramics because people leave their stuff on the shelves for very long periods of time, no one knows if your coming back or not. Projects that have been left takes up space for people who use the studio regularly. There is LIMITED space so when people leave their stuff behind forever it creates a back-up of shelf space.There is stuff on the shelves from April or longer that’s never been claimed and just keeps getting shuffled around. I like the 30 day rule Idea; If its been there for 30 days or more it becomes Makeict property.
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My fern leaves were on the shelf for a week max. We took a break from MakeICT this spring to travel and accomplish things around the house and only started coming to MakeICT again very recently. I agree that things that sit on the shelves should have a time limit, but from weekend to weekend is a bit short as many projects can take that long to dry, and there are people who can only come in on certain days of the week. 30 days makes sense to me.