Editors: Gordon Wong, Phillip Whitford

Originally published in 1986, this is the second appearance of this book edited by Gordon Wong and Phillip Whitford. The authors discuss the importance of making your own tools for specific operations in working with clay. “Making them [tools] for your hands, your clay, your techniques, your ideas and your vocabulary takes out the unseen middleman which interferes in the expression of your individuality through your work,” says coauthor Philip Whitford. The authors provide information on making grooved wire-cut slabs, hand-held wheels of clay (roulettes) (the wheelbarrow-type decorators that press small or large repetitive patterns into soft clay), a section on slip trailing including triple trailing, sprigging, wooden knives, carving tools, ladles, brushes, and press molds are all covered. “This book is well written, and the good, accessible drawings make it a book I would recommend to any teacher looking for an essential supplemental text, or to any student or born-again potter. The rest of us are probably and regrettably stuck in our ways.”

Price $44.95