How to - Pottery Part II

[mudpieinthesky]

Hey guys, keep in mind there is more than one way to do any of these techniques. This is what is so great about the clay community...its about sharing the information that you have and finding those techniques that feel and work the best for you...Have fun and be happy:)

[kilnmaster]

ill wedge for you anytime, I will be your pug mill. ow

[yedrow]

Yea, that's right, air bubbles don't cause explosions. Firing the clay to wet causes explosions and firing it too fast, but that too is a function of wetness.

Joel.

[sunkenship79]

Hm, I was told both (air bubbles and firing too fast) could cause explosions, but I'm still a-learning! (and I did not know that this vid was gonna be up on the internet with thousands of angry potters viewing... .... )

lol.

[yedrow]

Oh, I'm not angry by any means. That a thing I consider a potter's myth. I'm a production potter and that stuff is important to me and thus I assume important to others. You don't have to score the surface to attach a handle and you don't have to worry about bubbles (small ones). Just throw through them.

Joel

[sunkenship79]

o_O No scoring?? 3 years of pottery of school and no one told me this! Scoring was a must! Could it maybe depend on your clay and what kind of handle you put on?

[yedrow]

It is possible that different clay makes a difference. I never score. I use mostly high quality stoneware though. I can say that I've worked with potters that scored in different ways and I don't and my handles stick better, flat out better. What I do is wet both surfaces, press well, and make sure I seal the seam all the way around. In doing pottery for my primary income I've found that wasted time means less value to my effort.

Joel.

[ddsw1992]

air bubbles do cause problems in pottery, air trapped and then heated expand the pressure becomes too great for the piece and then the air forces its self out of the bubble and explodes. firing too fast and from wet is risky but not as bad as air being trapped in the clay

[yedrow]

Okay, tell me this: Have you ever thrown a hollow, closed, form? I do this quite often and it never explodes. Why would a moisture saturated air volume be more likely to explode than a moisture saturated clay volume?

[BelleAmelie]

Interesting, she uses the cow-head wedging technique, and I use the spiral wedging technique. Our pottery teacher doesn't have us wet the canvas though.

[timseepots]

Air pockets do not blow up clay, firing too fast bows up clay. teachers blame it on the kids when stuff blows up in the kiln.

[andavall]

It would be nice if she knew how to spiral wedge... perhaps she should take some lessons from an old hippie potter that throws clay for a living instead of teaching college students...

[sunkenship79]

I do! ^_^ This is just the technique I was more comfortable with.

I'm still fairly new at everything (I've been full-time for about 4 years now), and had no idea that this vid was gonna up on the internet with thousands of angry potters viewing it! :p

I'm learning, I'm learning- I usually don't teach.

I'd love to see some old hippie potter up on youtube explaining their craft *properly*. :)