THROWING-COILING-HANDBUILDING-HANDLE FORMING.

THROWING

CYLINDER CENTRING - 1kg clay in ball shape. Place in centre of wheel, turn the wheel fast in anti-clockwise direction. Right hand controls top. Pressure from the left hand forces the clay into the right hand which squeezes it back down into the centre

Relax hands evenly before taking them off the clay. THUMB IN - slow down the wheel slightly. Both arms braced on the tray, press right thumb with the left fingers downwards into the centre

OPEN OUT - FORM BASE - Slow down the wheel slightly. Open out base by hooking right thumb and pressing outwards. Continue to brace the right thumb with the left hand. Smooth out base with downward pressure from thumb. Repeat this action three times

PINCH AND LIFT - Left fingers inside, thumb outside, pinch from the base lifting the clay upwards not outwards

KNUCKLING UP - Fingers of left hand inside, knuckle outside at base. Press in and lift clay from base of wall. Repeat two or three times, keeping the clay in a cylindrical form.

FINISHING TOP - Left thumb on inside and outside of pot rim, gentle pressure from index finger of right hand levels top of rim

BOWL CENTRING - Centre as for cylinder then form door knob shape by under-cutting with palm of left hand. THUMB IN - Thumb in as for cylinder

PINCH UP AND OUT - Pinch up as for cylinder but allow the clay to move outwards into a bowl shape

FORMING SHAPE - As with knuckling up, lift clay into bowl shape

SHAPE INSIDE - Using a throwing rib or steel kidney (check out kidneys & throwing ribs in tools) smooth and shape inside of bowl

FINISHING TOP Place first and second fingers of right hand over rim, allowing clay to run betweent hem. The skin between the finger shapes the edge of the rim. __________________________________________________________ COILING Form coils by hand or extruder Form base Shape pots by building up coils. Moisten joints. DO NOT OVERWET Form to required shape, smooth edges with metal or rubber kidney Allow to stiffen until leather-hard. Smooth surface again a final time. Leave to dry out completely Fire and decorate as required _______________________________________________________ HAND-BUILDING Roll ball of clay flat with rolling pins or slab-roller (check out slab roller page in menu) Place paper pattern on clay and cut out shapes Roughen edges where walls join and brush with slip Fix walls to base Smooth surface with metal or rubber kidney  Leave to dry out completely VOILA _______________________________________________ HANDLE-FORMING Stretch moistened lump of clay to appropriate length for the handle Roughen surface on leatherhard pot where top of handle is to be joined For best results work on a whirler and use wooden tools (check out whirlers and wooden tools from our tools page)  Press top of handle to pot Shape handle, moistening clay as necessary Press bottom of handle to pot Can you remember your first handle? How many attempts did you need? ____________________________________________