How to Make Pottery Lids

Video Transcript

"Our next step is making the lid for this container. And I am going to again, like I said before I'm gonna use the calipers and measure the outside of the lid to fit into the inside of the pot. When I do something that's this small it is advantageous to do a larger lump of clay which is called throwing off the hump. So I'm only gonna center a small part of this clay and that way I can make a lot of lids out of this big piece of clay. It's very, very difficult to wedge up a piece of clay that might be a half pound or a quarter of a pound - that's one of the reasons that you do this. So what I'm doing is I'm just taking this very top part and you'll notice that the bottom part is still wobbling but the top part is not, it's centered. All right, now I'm going to take my calipers and just keep them close by so I have an idea of how big I have to make that lip or edge. I'm gonna just make it a tiny bit bigger and then it's like what I'm doing is making a miniature bowl like this one. I'm throwing this thing upside down - this lid so I'm making this form and later on I will trim this into a knob. Just go in a little bit cause I want it shallow when I push this out. Before I go any further I'm gonna take these calipers and I'm gonna check it and we're ready - I've gotten to where I need to be. "