View Larger Image Tips and techniques in our weekly series "Great Ideas for Potters" come from all levels of experience: studio artists, production potters, students, teachers and industry experts. Photo courtesy of Matthew Trow, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

July 27, 2007

Great Ideas for Potters

by Ceramic Arts Daily | Read Comments (0)

Each week, Ceramic Arts Daily provides you with a selection of helpful hints and ideas drawn from suggestions submitted by Ceramics Monthly readers. Some ideas are quite serious (especially those directed toward health and safety precautions), while others are more lighthearted. You'll find ideas for forming processes, decorating, glazing and firing, along with tips for outfitting your studio and creating and using tools.

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Whether it's a solution to a particular problem that you encountered or a hint to facilitate production flow, our weekly series "Great Ideas for Potters" is the perfect place for you to share your tip with fellow potters. Email your tip today!

• When building a slab pot by wrapping it around a cylindrical form, such as a paper tube, cover the tube with newspaper and tuck in the ends. After the pot is constructed, it is then a simple matter to lift the tube out and remove the paper.
• When working with a slab roller, a good fabric to use on top of the clay is thermal drapery lining. This sueded cloth is very smooth and does not stretch, so there will be very few wrinkles to mar the slab, even after repeated use.
• When embedding small, already-fired pieces as decorative elements in greenware, there is a tendency for these pieces to fall out. A good way to secure them in place is by covering with wax resist. After the work is fired, the inset pieces will stay in place. There may be some cracking around the piece, but the result can be visually pleasing.
• To be sure glaze in small jars is thoroughly mixed, put three marbles inside and shake until you can hear the marbles moving freely (like a spray-paint can).
• As an alternative to using a comb for decorating (as in combed slip work), make a new tool from an old, hard, dried-up flat paintbrush. Cut pieces out of the bristles for various patterns. After you use it for a while, the ends will soften, but the upper part stays hard, and it works better and better.
• It’s simple to make glaze-pouring cups (that will hang on the side of the buckets) from the measuring cups that come in each box of laundry detergent. Just hold the middle of the handle above a flame (a match will do) until it can be bent straight down. The squarish shape allows a narrow stream of glaze to be poured from the corner.
• To save your wrists when burnishing, simply center the pot on a potter’s wheel and secure it with clay lugs, then lightly hold a stone (or other burnishing tool) against the side as the wheel rotates slowly.
• Any change in procedure that will lessen fatigue and back strain is always welcome. A good place to start is adjusting the height of your glaze containers. This alteration may depend on your stature somewhat, but generally the top of the glaze container should be about the height of your waist. This will allow dip glazing while remaining in an upright position, which should alleviate back strain from bending over. If you store your glazes in 5-gallon buckets, find the correct table height by subtracting the bucket height from your preferred glazing height (top of the bucket, waist high), then build a table large enough to hold eight to ten buckets. It not only makes it easier to glaze, but also makes mixing glazes a breeze.