How to Make Clay Ceramics With Throwing Wheels
Pottery making is one of humankind's oldest industries. The first pots served as grain and water storage containers. By the start of the Bronze Age, around 5,000 years ago, the first rudimentary potter's wheels appeared. About 1,000 years later, the concept of a fast spinning wheel on an axle powered by the potter's foot was conceived. Working with clay on a throwing wheel is a rewarding pastime that produces aethetically pleasing, functional ceramic pots. Almost anyone can master the challenge of throwing clay pots on a potter's wheel.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Throwing clay
- Wedging wire
- Potter's wheel
- Water
- Wood throwing rib
- Cutting wire
Instructions
-
-
1
Prepare the clay for throwing by wedging and kneading it. Roll up a large ball of clay and cut it in half on a bracket-mounted wedging wire. Slam the clay together forcefully. Throw the clay hard onto the work table and vigorously knead it with your hands. Repeat the process until you see no air bubbles in the clay. Prevent pots from exploding in the kiln by thorough kneading.
-
2
Roll a ball of wedged clay and toss it hard onto the center of the wheel. Spin the wheel slowly while you form the clay into a cone and push it to the exact center. Get the wheel spinning fast. Dip your hands in some water. Wet the clay. Center the clay on the wheel so it spins true, with no wobbling. Use your entire body weight to balance the clay. Stay in control of the clay throughout the entire throwing process.
-
-
3
Use one hand to shape the clay, while the other hand presses the clay downward. Put your hands together at the base of the palms and press inward on the clay, forcing it upwards. Raise or lower the clay into the basic form of the pot. Open a hole in the exact center of the clay mound with your thumb. Use your other hand as a brace to keep the thumb stationary.
-
4
Pull open the opening in the clay using both hands. Leave the bottom 1/4-inch thick. Start with walls about 1 inch thick. Put your fingers inside the pot, with your thumb outside. Pinch them together and pull the pot walls upward. Use your other hand to hold the pulling hand still. Pinch and pull upward at the same time to raise the walls. Take two or three pulls until the walls are about 1/4-inch thick. Keep the walls a uniform thickness.
-
5
Use wooden throwing rib tools to shape the pot. Hold a curved tool against the outside while pushing out with your fingers for a bulbous pot. Squeeze your hands together as if choking the pot to narrow it. Push the upper pot walls in from the outside to narrow the opening. Use a piece of wire to cut the completed pot off the wheel.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Brace your elbows against your body while centering and throwing clay pots.
Do not attempt to throw a pot until the clay is perfectly centered. The pot will flop around and eventually collapse.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images
