Video: Wedging Clay on the Potter's Wheel

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The wedging table is covered with canvas to prevent chips of plaster from depositing in the clay. Learn how to wedge clay on the pottery wheel in this free ceramics video.

- Wedging Clay on the Potter's Wheel

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Maria E Mar 28, 2011
I was so bored that I found myself wandering on the site. Why make a video simply to talk? Perhaps it was a sense of pleasing appearance?

Video Transcript

The wedging table contains two to three inches of plaster enclosed in a wooden form, and it is covered with a canvas sheet. The canvas prevents chips of plaster from depositing itself in the clay which can cause cracking and problems in the fired clay. The absorbent surface keeps the moist clay from sticking to the table. And the wedging process accomplishes two things. One, it evenly distributes the moisture content throughout the clay, and secondly, it removes any air bubbles from the clay. What you can do is pat the clay and shape the clay into a slight cone shape with a rounded bottom, keeping it on it's side, both hands pressing down, and then rolling it back. And by repeating this process, you're forming pleats of clay into itself and you're not overlapping the clay trapping air in it. So repeating the process by pressing down and pushing back will thoroughly wedge the clay. At the end of the process, the cone shape, with the slightly rounded bottom, should look pretty much the same. If not, you can pat it into that shape.

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Wedging Clay on the Potter's Wheel

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