Tips for Trimming Bowls on the Pottery Wheel
Love it or hate it, trimming can transform a weighty Earth-bound pot into one that is a pleasure to hold, look at, and use. But it takes some practice to learn the proper consistency for good trimming or how much to take off (we’ve all experienced the horror of trimming through the bottom of a pot we love). In today’s post, Richard Phethean walks through the process of trimming bowls. This thorough guide will help you avoid the pottery trimming blues.
Why Didn’t I Think of That? Pottery Tips, Tools, and Techniques from Ceramic Arts Daily Readers
When it comes to improving the efficiency of their processes, clay people are quite clever. We get a lot of great studio tips sent to us from readers, and every month Ceramics Monthly publishes some of them in their Tips and Tools section. Readers seem to like them, so we also have been sharing… Read More »
Pottery Video of the Week: Three Different Ways to Finish a Foot with Minimal Trimming
One way to minimize your trimming agony is to throw your
pots with thinner bottoms, remove any excess
clay at the bottom in the throwing stage, and then cut the pot off the
wheel with a wiggle wire for some extra interest. Bill van Gilder
takes this one step further by giving the edges a nice finished look.
He does this in three different ways and, in today’s video clip, he
shares them. He also shares a great idea for attaching your pot to the
wheelhead for trimming.
7 Useful Tips, Tools, and Techniques for the Ceramic Studio
I’ve said it before and I will say it again, potters and ceramic artists are some of the most resourceful people around. I am continually impressed by the myriad tools and studio shortcuts that members of our community come up with to make their lives more efficient. It’s been a while since I have shared… Read More »Good Footing: A Video Guide to Trimming Wheel Thrown Pottery
Today I thought I would share this excerpt from Jerry Hornings DVD Making Pots on the Wheel. It’s a great little introduction to (or reminder of) the considerations that should go into footing pots. Watch the video!
Pottery Trimming Video: The Superchuck
If you trim your pottery using a bisque-fired chuck—or even if you don’t—you’ll love the superchuck. Watch the video to check out what Tim See has come up with, and then make your own. We’ve included a materials list and instructions below; don’t worry, it’s short and the process is easy.—Sherman Hall, Ceramic Arts Daily
Multi-Purpose Chucks: Using Household Items When Trimming Difficult-to-Trim Pottery
At some point or another many potters are faced with a conundrum: their creativity goes unchecked and they artfully fashion a beautiful and delicate rim on a pot that they would like to flip over and trim on the potter’s wheel. But flipping the piece to trim will ruin the artfully created piece. A common solution to this conundrum is to use a bisque-fired chuck to prop up the piece so the rim doesn’t come in contact with the wheelhead. Then the challenge becomes finding the correctly sized chuck for the job. And often, in community studio settings especially, there isn’t a chuck that is just right.
A couple of months back we published a feature by Sam Hoffman on an easy way to create unfired clay chucks for platters with altered rims (see Trimming Platters with Altered Rims), a great solution indeed. In response to that article, reader Don Goodrich sent in this tip on his approach to the difficult-to-trim pot conundrum. If you keep both of these tips in mind, chances are you’ll always be prepared with the right chuck.
Trimming is Child’s Play
This week’s Tip of the Week comes to us from James Rozzi of Stone Mountain, Georgia. Last week we saw a technique for trimming large platters with delicate rims. This week, we tackle trimming delicate narrow-necked bottle forms. Not only is Rozzi’s tip a time and energy saver, it may also bring back fond childhood memories!
Trimming Platters with Altered Rims on the Potters Wheel
Altering the circular form of a plate is an exciting means of expression for ceramic artists, but it can also present difficulties at the trimming stage. If the rim of a plate is cut or manipulated into an asymmetrical shape, or is delicate, the piece cannot simply be inverted onto another bat for trimming. Instead, the piece must be placed on a clay chuck that supports the plate in the center. Today, Sam Hoffman shows us his method for trimming plates with altered rims on the pottery wheel.
