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Basic Ceramic Tools
Wedging Your Clay
Step 1: Hand Position
Step 1: Hand Position
Prepare your hands in the proper position for Rams Head Wedging:
Left hand behind right hand
Hands are cupped around the clay
Palms are facing in towards each other
Step 2: Wedging Motion
Step 2: Wedging Motion
First, take your square of clay from the bag and drop down onto the wedging table a few times to help loosen the particles a bit, still being sure to leave it in a lump shape versus flattening it out.
Now you are ready to place your hands around the clay:
Wrap your hands around the clay holding only the upper half of the clay.
Thumbs should be touching, parallel, and pointing forward.
Heels of your hands will be pushing at a forward and downward angle onto the table as your fingers and palms continue to cup around the sides of the clay.
Once your pinkies hit the table, slowly roll the clay back towards your belly button so the point of the clay (or nose of the ram) is touching the table.
Readjust your hands on the top of the clay as mentioned above and complete the stroke again.
These motions should be completed between 20-40 times.
Am I doing this Right?:
As you get into the motion maybe by 5-10 strokes you should start to see a resemblance of a ram's head.
You should also notice a tight spiral forming on the sides of the ram where your palms are, and a slight layering happening on the lower half of the nose from the kneading motion.
Troubleshooting:
Help, I've made a burrito!
You are probably releasing your finger and palms from round the clay as you are pushing with the heels of your hands. Try again and make sure you keep your fingers and palms fully cupped around the as you push it onto the table
My arms are too tired!
Use your whole body to wedge, not just your arms. Try keeping your elbows straight and putting one foot in front of the other using your lower body and upper back to do the bulk of the work.
Step 3: Roll a Cylinder
Step 3: Roll a Cylinder
Once the clay feels like it is a good consistency, and the spiral shape on the sides is looking tight and uniform it is time to start to remove the nose of your ram and form a more cylindrical shape.
Continue the same wedging motion, but start to lessen your pressure and shorten the stroke of your push. This will eventually leave just a small nub of a nose left.
Move your clay to the center of the table and roll it towards your belly button. This will remove the remainder of the nose.
It is important to continue rolling everything in the same tightening direction as the spiral you have formed within the clay. Otherwise you can have trouble with your pieces cracking on the bottom as they dry or are fired.
Step 4: Roll a Point
Step 4: Roll a Point
Put your cylinder in the center of the table
Using your left hand on the left side of the clay slowly roll the clay back towards your belly button
You are looking to form a slight point on the left side
DO NOT roll so hard that it creates a concave surface at the pointed end. Any indents in the bottom point of the clay that are left can cause you trouble when you try to center the clay.
Step 5: Create a Flat Sided Cylinder
Step 5: Create a Flat Sided Cylinder
Pick the right side of clay up with your right hand so the pointy side is down.
Give the clay a gentle tap or two down on the table to create a crude cylinder shape
Step 6: Roll a Point
Step 6: Roll a Point
Place your palm on the top of the clay
With a very gentle pressure and quick rotating motion with your wrist roll a slight point onto the bottom of the clay. This will be the side you attach down onto the bat when you throw.
Getting on the Wheel
Getting on the Wheel
Trimming and Handles
Drying Stages of Clay
Clay project should dry for at least 7 days before bisque firing to ensure it does not blow up in the kiln
Moisture (sudden change of water into steam) and air bubbles (trapped air expands) can cause the explosion.
Trimming the Base of Your Pot
When is a piece ready to trim?
When is a pot ready to trim or turn? It is not easy to give a definitive answer to this question, because the needs of different shapes and sizes of forms, types of clay and wares, and personal preferences of potters are too variable to sum up in a universal rule.
The answer ‘when it is leatherhard’ is too general. A better rule to apply would be ‘as soon as the pot is stiff enough to work on without it becoming distorted or damaged’. As a general guide, the base area that will be turned should be soft enough to mark with a thumbnail but not so soft that a fingertip will make an impression. The pottery trimmings should have the consistency of grated cheese – when squeezed in the hand, they will just stick together. If the trimmings are crumbly like grated chocolate, the clay is already on the borderline, and if they are like iron filings, it is too dry.
Tools for Trimming Pottery
Trimming/turning tools have a sharp steel edge to pare away the leatherhard clay. Some are all metal with a right-angled blade, others are wire loops—also called ribbon tools—which I prefer. The one I use is a homemade loop of steel banding wire, which can sometimes be found discarded at construction sites.
Planning a Trimmed Foot Ring on a Bowl
Before you begin trimming pottery, it is helpful to make a few measurements and marks on the form as a guide to where and how much to turn.
Set the bowl upright on a flat surface and hold a pencil or stick upright against the rim. Mark the rim height either with a pen or with your finger (see A in illustration at right) on the pencil. Stand the pencil in the center of the bowl, and line up the near and far rims by eye. The difference between the mark and the rim gives you the base thickness at its thinnest point (B).
Look down the line of the wall from above the rim. Run a finger and thumb down either side of the wall to where it begins to thicken and mark that point (C).
The diameter of the foot-ring will vary according to the shape, width, and style of the bowl, but as a rough guide, it will be between one-third and one-half of the rim’s diameter. Use a pair of calipers to measure this approximately (D). When you begin turning, with the wheel at a medium pace, this caliper measurement indicates the foot-ring width.
Lastly, and most importantly, study the curve and line of the bowl’s interior (E). You are aiming to reflect this in the turning and you should keep it in your mind’s eye throughout the process.
Trimming the bowl
Place your pot as close to the center as you can. Use the concentric rings on the wheel head to guide you, but you may still need to adjust the pot’s position. An invaluable ceramic trimming technique, tapping into center is the fastest way to center a pot (figure 8). However it is difficult to describe and takes practice to learn and do quickly, so try it with a plastic bowl for a few minutes every session.v
Revolve the pottery wheel at a slow/medium speed and hold a steady fingertip level with the base of your upturned pot, keeping it close enough so that the pot brushes your finger on the widest point of its trajectory. Focus the eye on the edge of the base (where the turning is to be done), not on the rim of the pot. Count ‘1-2-1-2’ each time the pot touches your fingertip to pick up the rhythm. Tap the pot towards the axis of the wheel on the beat ‘1-2’. Tap slightly in the direction of spin. If the pot is small and light, apply light pressure on top of the pot with a finger of your other hand to act as a brake. Once centered, stop the pottery wheel and hold the pot firmly with one hand while you press three small coils of clay into place around the rim to fix it to the wheel (figure 9). Use calipers to mark a light ring on the base for the outer edge of the foot-ring (figure 10).
With the wheel spinning at medium pace, turn a groove to establish the width and approximate depth of the footring (figure 11). Note how the fingers of the left hand bridge the pot and turning tool throughout, acting as a stabilizer. The speed of the potter’s wheel should be brisk and you should hold the turning tool firmly at a 3 o’clock position, using the slip tray to brace your forearm.
Now trim the clay from your marker on the wall (C in the illustration above) to the base of the foot-ring, using the memory of the bowl’s internal form to guide you in terms of the curve you want to achieve (figure 12). Note: When the pot starts getting too dry, the turning tool ‘chatters’ or vibrates on the surface, causing ridges. Dampen the surface with a sponge and continue.
Keeping in mind the thickness of the base you measured earlier, trim inside the foot-ring (figure 13), taking care to continue the curve of the form and giving the foot-ring a similar weight, thickness and quality to the form’s rim. To prevent too much downward pressure against the base, use the tool at a very shallow angle. Give the pot a functional and neat refinement with a shallow bevel to the inside and outside edges of the foot-ring, smoothing it with a firm fingertip (figure 14). Before you remove it from the wheel, have a look at the bowl at eye level. Mentally remove the foot-ring and examine the shape. Does it reflect your memory of the interior form accurately?
Now remove the lugs of clay and look at the bowl (figure 15). Rock it from side to side in your cradled hands. It should feel balanced, not bottom-heavy, its weight evenly distributed. Run a thumb and forefinger down either side of the wall to feel for thicknesses. Compare the interior and exterior curves. Look at the pot in section, to examine the evenness of the wall (figure 16). Notice how the shape now corresponds inside and out, as well as the subtle but vital increase in weight at the foot-ring and the rim.
Scoring and Slipping to Join Pieces
Glazing
Glazing
Glazing Pottery - introduction to Pottery - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-XfYvcD58c
Glazing Possibilities! 28 Different Approaches to Glazing Pottery - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAp5L_-F3_s
Glazing Basics
Glazing Basics
Apply at least 3 coats
Apply coats evenly, wait for a coat to dry before applying the next one
Do not apply glaze on a bottom surface - the one that will be in contact with the kiln's shelf.
Wipe it clean with a wet sponge before turning in for glaze firing
If your finished piece will be in contact with food - look for food safe marking on a glaze jar.
All glazes that are safe for food contact are labeled with one of the following signs:
Hand Building and Using Molds
Hand Building and Using Molds
Using the Slab Roller! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HpMPWZLS8w
Slab Bowl Using a Slump Mold - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rvka2_yriU
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