The Potter’s Bench is a free set of pottery calculators and charts from Le Studio Art Space, a working ceramic studio in Mordialloc, Melbourne. Every tool runs in your browser, uses Australian metric units by default, and shows its sources and method so you can check the numbers yourself.
The Potter’s Bench: Free Pottery Calculators and Charts
These pottery calculators cover the sums that come up around any kiln room: which cone a glaze needs, how to program a firing, how much a pot will shrink, how much clay to wedge for a mug, how to scale a glaze recipe and whether a kiln is worth buying. Alongside them are selectors and guides for choosing a clay, diagnosing a cracked pot, picking a class and finding your next project. They’re grouped by the part of the studio they belong to. Pick one below, and if something you need is missing, tell us next time you’re in.
Firing and Kilns
Cone temperatures, firing heatwork and what a kiln costs to run.
Pyrometric Cone Chart
Orton cone temperatures from 022 to 14 by heating rate, in Celsius or Fahrenheit, with a two-cone comparison.Kiln Electricity Cost Calculator
What one firing costs on your tariff, per firing and per kilogram of ware.Kiln Firing Schedule Builder
A segment-by-segment bisque or glaze schedule with ramps, holds and total time.Kiln Capacity Calculator
Usable volume and how many mugs, bowls or plates fit in one load.
Clay and Materials
Shrinkage, clay weights and how much clay a project really needs.
Clay Shrinkage Calculator
Work out shrinkage from a test bar, or the wet size to make for a fired target.Clay Weight Calculator
How much wedged clay to start with for a mug, bowl, plate or vase.Clay Body Selector
Earthenware, stoneware, porcelain or bone china, ranked for your firing and project.Slip Casting Water Ratio Calculator
Dry material and water for a casting slip at the specific gravity you want.Clay Absorption Calculator
Water absorption from a soaked test tile, with typical ranges by clay type.Reclaim Clay Calculator
Water to add or take out to bring scraps back to throwing consistency.
Glaze
Printable charts of the glaze combinations brands publish, with original swatches.
Making
Sizes and capacities for the mugs and bowls you throw.
Mug and Bowl Size Converter
Capacity from inside dimensions, plus ml, fluid ounce and cup conversions.Pottery Fault Finder
Cracks, crawling, pinholes, crazing and warping: likely causes and what to check first.Beginner Pottery Kit List Builder
Essentials and nice-to-haves for your technique, with indicative AUD prices.Pottery Wheel Buying Guide
The motor, wheel head and price range that suit how you’ll throw.
Business and Studio
Equipment, classes, studio hire and pricing your work.
Pottery Equipment Cost Calculator
Indicative AUD price ranges for kilns, wheels and clay, with running costs.Pottery Class Cost Estimator
Indicative Melbourne price ranges for pottery classes and courses.Studio Hire Cost Planner
Monthly and yearly cost of hiring studio time compared with owning equipment.Pottery Pricing Calculator
Retail and wholesale prices from materials, firing, time and overheads.Market Stall Profit Calculator
Break-even sales and profit for a craft market day.Pottery Business Startup Cost Planner
Indicative setup and monthly running costs for a home, shared or leased studio.Potter Income Estimator
An indicative yearly income range from your own output, prices and costs.
Learn and Ideas
Pottery words explained, project ideas and help choosing where to start.
Pottery Glossary
Over 80 pottery and ceramic terms explained in plain language.Pottery Class Finder Quiz
Six quick questions to find the class that suits you.Hand Building vs Wheel Throwing
Weigh cost, learning curve, time and projects to pick your path.Pottery Project Idea Generator
Original project ideas for your technique, skill level and time.
How we build these pottery calculators and charts
Every tool on the bench is built the same way. The numbers come from published sources, such as the Orton Ceramic Foundation for cone temperatures, and each page names those sources and the date we last checked them. Where a figure is an estimate or a range, the tool says so, because clay, glaze and kilns never behave exactly like a chart.
Some tools don’t do sums at all. The clay body selector, pottery fault finder, class finder quiz and hand building vs wheel throwing chooser weigh your answers with a points table printed on each page, so you can see why they suggest what they do. The pottery glossary explains more than 80 terms, each on its own page.
The tools run entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us or stored, there are no accounts, and your settings live only in the page address, so you can bookmark a result or send it to a classmate. Each tool also prints cleanly, which is handy for the kiln room wall or a class handout.
Where the tools fit in the studio
The bench is a companion to the real thing, not a replacement for it. If you’d like hands-on help, our ceramic studio in Mordialloc has nine wheels and three kilns, our kiln firing service fires bisque, earthenware, mid-fire and high-fire work, and the workshops and classes page lists what’s running with our resident teachers. For longer reads, the Le Studio blog covers clay, glaze and firing in depth.
Frequently asked questions
Are these pottery calculators really free?
Yes. There’s no sign-up, no paywall and no advertising, and you can use and print them as often as you like. You’re also welcome to embed a tool on your own site using the code on each tool page.
Can I trust the numbers?
Each tool lists its sources and the date we last checked them, and we only publish figures we’ve confirmed against published data. They’re still estimates, so always test on your own kiln, clay and glaze before relying on a result for important work.