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A Few Steps To Follow Before Making Handmade Pottery

Owner
Mason
Proper planning and preparation is required before you get started making a piece of pottery. So here are a few steps that you should follow before you actually start making:

  • Always wedge the clay on a plaster or canvas surface. If you want to keep some clay for reuse, you can place it on the wedging table. The plaster will absorb some of the moisture, thereby keeping it at the correct moisture content prior to wedging.
  • You may buy your clay already prepared and wedged. However, if it doesn't turn out the way you think it should, you can wedge it a little and then put it in a plastic bag. Keep it for a few days and then again wedge it up to get the air bubbles out again.
  • Always wedge the clay before you start making pottery, so that all the bubbles are out. For this, first take a piece of clay and slam it onto the wedging table. After that cut it with a wire cutter in half and throw one of the pieces down on top of the other in the same direction. Repeat this again and again until all the bubbles get out from the clay.
  • After repeating this step many times, you should also wedge the clay by using the cone method.
  • Weigh the clay before you start wedging. By doing this, you can have an idea of what size pot or lid it will be when you finish throwing it on the potters wheel.
  • Before you get started making a piece of pottery on the wheel, plan what type of pot you are going to make. Is your finished pot going to be a mug, bowl, vase, lamp or platter?
  • Based on the item, and what the dimensions are going to be, you can decide the weight of the clay that you want to wedge for that item. Once you have determined the size of the pot, you can weigh it on a food scale.
  • Always keep in mind that your pot will shrink in size, once it dries! It will also shrink in the first firing or bisque firing. Bisque fire helps to eliminate the extra moisture in the pot and is fired to 1890 degrees. Further, the pot will shrink more in the final firing.

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