| From the pages of Pottery Making Illustrated
Off the Shelf: Extrude It by Sumi von Dassow
We are trying something new this month—much as we love books, we know it also makes sense to teach pottery techniques using videos too.
Extrude It!, a three-volume DVD set featuring potter David Hendley, is about four hours long and, while not comprehensive, will give any potter some new ideas for how to make and incorporate extruded parts into their work. Though some sections in the series are somewhat slow paced, Hendley is personable, competent, folksy and pleasant to watch and listen to. He is a genuine production potter who makes many of his own tools and has streamlined his methods to make the most of his materials and his time. In fact, you’re likely to learn tips entirely unrelated to the extruder from him.
The DVDs are aimed at a broad audience. Hendley demonstrates using a custom-made extruder with dies he designed and made himself, but his projects are also adaptable to commercially made extruders and die sets. Throughout the video, you’ll learn that designing and making your own original dies is indeed an important part of being creative with an extruder; however, the series does not cover how to make dies in a step-by-step process.
The projects, especially in Volume I, are basic, yet not necessarily aimed at a beginning potter. For example, Hendley demonstrates adding extruded feet and an extruded handle to a wheel-thrown mug and adding an extruded foot ring to a wheel-thrown plate. This last technique is genuinely useful for more advanced potters.
Volume II introduces the use of two-part dies and if you were going to buy one of the three DVDs in the series, this would be the best choice. Most companies offer two-part dies for hollow forms along with their extruders, and if you haven’t worked much with hollow extrusions, this will give you some ideas for inventive uses. Hendley’s examples include throwing a tumbler, using a round extrusion and various ways of using twisted and altered extrusions.
Volume III, aimed at a more advance audience, includes projects that require customized dies and an expansion box (an adapter that enables a smaller diameter extruder to produce larger diameter extrusions). If you’re looking to expand your extruder horizons, it’s worth checking out.
So, do you need this DVD set? If you have experience working with clay, and you’re thinking of buying an extruder, or are working in a studio with one you’ve never used much, then you’ll benefit from it. Teachers will definitely get something out of each video that can be passed along to their students, and might want to show his demonstrations in class to introduce a new project. After all, for a teacher the advantage of using a DVD is you get to have an expert demonstrate the next project, so you don’t have to master it before introducing it to your class.
A final note, the bonus CD of music recorded by Hendley and friends is not bad at all and makes a pleasant sound track when Hendley is working and not talking.
Extrude It! Getting the Most From Your Clay Extruder, with David Hendley. Three-volume set of DVDs plus bonus music CD. Michael Culotta Productions, Jacksonville, TX, 2006.
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