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Leather-Hard Red Clay Vessel: Thrown to a Drawing, Left Overnight to Firm, Binns 1910
A pot ready for painting or turning is thrown on the wheel, then left to firm up overnight: not dry, but 'leather hard', stiff enough to handle and still easy to cut with a knife. Binns (The Potter's Craft, 1910) throws to a drawing, checking each diameter with calipers and the height with a stick.
The picture: throwing a jar, plates X and XI of Binns, The Potter's Craft (1910, public domain).
Intermediate
2 days
Instructions
1
1
Draw it and set the gauges
Draw it and set the gauges
Draw the jar exactly to size. Take the diameters of base, body and top off the drawing with calipers, and cut a stick to the height.
Tools needed:
Caliper
Ruler2
2
Throw a cylinder
Throw a cylinder
Wet the bat and set it on the wheel. With wet hands, centre the clay and draw it up into a cylinder, taller than the drawing: the clay sinks as you shape it.
Materials for this step:
Terracotta Clay1.5 kgTools needed:
Potter's Wheel
Throwing Bat
Water
Sponge3
3
Shape to measure
Shape to measure
Press the bottom in to its size, swell the body to its size, then take in the top and bring the height to the stick. Cut off any clay above the height with a pointed knife and round the edge.
Tools needed:
Potter's WheelCaliper
Knife4
4
Leave it to firm overnight
Leave it to firm overnight
Set it aside on its bat in a cool place. Do not let it dry. Thrown one day, it is leather hard by the next morning: no longer flexible, safe to handle, and easy to cut with a knife.
Tools needed:
Throwing BatMaterials
1- 1.5 kgPlaceholder
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