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Clay Tool Set: Potter's Turning Tools, Turning Stick and Rib (Binns, The Potter's Craft, 1910)
The potter's set for turning (trimming) leather-hard pots on the wheel, as Binns taught it: soft steel tools the potter bends and files to shape, a turning stick and upright board to steady the hand, and wooden ribs cut to the shape of the inside of a pot.
Result: a set of turning tools, a turning stick and board, and ribs.
Source: C. F. Binns, The Potter's Craft (1910), pp. 86-88 and 179. Unknown: the tool sizes. Picture: Fig. 19 of the book.
Beginner
Unknown
Instructions
1
1
Bend and file the turning tools
Bend and file the turning tools
Make the turning tools of soft steel strip: bend each near its end and file the edge to suit. Make broad tools filed to a curve, for finishing concave surfaces; one or two narrow tools with a curved edge, which cut faster; and a small square tool. Keep the filing at its own bench so steel dust does not get into the clay. Ours: mild steel flat bar. Not given: the strip sizes.
Materials for this step:
Mild Steel Flat Bar1 turning toolsTools needed:
Hacksaw
Hammer
Anvil
Metal File2
2
Make the board and turning stick
Make the board and turning stick
Cut a soft pine board 8 or 10 inches wide and 2 feet high, to stand upright at the back of the wheel frame opposite the potter, screwed on or set in a socket so it can be removed. Make the turning stick from a broomstick with a sharpened nail in its end; its point presses into the board at any height and the hand holding the tool rests on it, like a painter's mahl-stick. Ours: a wooden dowel for the broomstick.
Materials for this step:
Pine Board1 board support
Wooden Dowel1 turning stick
Iron Nails1 stick pointTools needed:
HacksawMetal FileHammer3
3
Cut the ribs
Cut the ribs
Cut a piece of wood, called a rib, to the exact shape of the inside of the pot to be made; it smooths the inside while the wheel turns. Make one for each shape. Ours: hardwood.
Materials for this step:
Hardwood Plank1 ribsTools needed:
HacksawMetal FileMaterials
5- 1 turning toolsPlaceholder
- 1 board supportPlaceholder
- 1 turning stickPlaceholder
- 1 stick pointPlaceholder
- 1 ribsPlaceholder
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