Video: Clay Opening Tips for Pottery

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The first step in forming a clay toothbrush holder is to open up the clay form and create a base for the holder. Learn how to do this correctly from a pottery expert in this free video clip.

- Clay Opening Tips for Pottery
- Clay Toothbrush Holder: Create Bottom Flange

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Video Transcript

So the first thing I'm going to do now that the clay is centered is I'm going to open it up. I'm going to take my left index finger and I'm going to push down and pull out towards my right hand. My right hand will be pushing in and down on the rim as I pull out. This compresses the clay and keeps it stable to keep it from smearing out across the wheel head again. And once I've made my opening pull I'm going to compress that a little bit and then I'm going to take my needle tool and I'm going to stick it right down in the middle. It'll leave a little smudge of clay which will tell me how deep the floor is of that piece. I want it to be about a quarter of an inch, maybe a little bit more. And once I've got that floor the depth that I want I'll take my hard rib and press down just enough to compress and smooth the bottom of that piece. And once you've got your piece open and your floor compressed you're ready to move on to the pulling.

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Clay Opening Tips for Pottery

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