Week 2 resources

SIMON LEACH - how to quickly finish & fettle mugs (YouTube)
This is how English potter Simon Leach finishes mugs. Pay special attention to how he "thumbs off" the bottoms of his mugs (starting at 3 minutes and 30 seconds); we'll be doing the same thing to the bottom of our bowls.

SIMON LEACH - back to basics - GP bowls !
Simon Leach makes bowls very similar to ours. Note his technique for lifting the bowl off the wheel with his fingers. 450 grams is about 1 pound, and 15 centimeters is about 6 inches, by the way.

Bowlworkingdrawing .pdf
Working drawing of this week's bowl, with dimensions and clay weight (Adobe PDF document)

demo notes bowl.20080918.pdf
Step-by step notes for making the bowl for week 2 (Adobe PDF document)

Just a cylinder..?

Here's an example of what can be done with our week one project, the basic cylinder:

Tumbler by Massachusetts potter Sam Taylor

Here, Mr. Taylor has added a subtle curve to the profile, altered the shape a little off round.

Mr. Taylor has fired the piece in a kiln that uses wood for fuel, and has introduced salt into the kiln when the fire was at its hottest (about 2300 degrees Fahrenheit). The salt has left a very durable coating of sodium silicate on the surface of the clay, and has formed an 'orange peel' texture characteristic of salt glazing.

Week one resources:

Hi folks,

If you're having a bit of difficulty throwing a cylinder this week, you might find one or more of these resources helpful:

A closer look at kneading
Video of English potter Simon Leach on how to knead your clay using the spiral method

Wot kneading again!
Video of English potter Simon Leach kneading from a different angle.

Tips on centering
Video of English potter Simon Leach on how to center your clay

cross section of cylinder
Video of Simon Leach throwing a cylinder

Basic one-pound cylinder working drawing.pdf

This is an actual-size drawing of the cross-section of the completed cylinder for week one, with dimensions (Adobe PDF).

demo notes cylinder.20080912.pdf
Step-by-step notes on how to throw a cylinder (Adobe PDF).

demo notes wedging.20080912.pdf
Step-by-step notes on how to wedge and knead your clay (Adobe PDF).

Cheers,
Jay