It’s important to make the foot ring now so that the mug and the foot ring can harden together overnight. Make a foot ring for the mug in the same way described above for the pinch pot bowl. Try to get the inside and outside of the mug as smooth as possible before leaving the mug to harden. So, using a mixture of the metal rib and rubber rib, you can scrape and smooth the surface of the mug. However, before you do this, it’s a good idea to smooth out the surfaces a little. You can let the pot settle overnight loosely covered with a plastic bag. In order to tidy up and smooth out the pinch pot mug, the clay needs to become leather hard. Step 3 – Scraping and Smoothing the Surface And to smooth out the outer surface of the mug. Once you’ve blended the strip onto the mug, use a metal rib to scrape off any excess clay. This extra layer of clay will help make the joint a little stronger. Because you are using more clay than a little pinch pot, you will need to press your thumb in deeply. Then press your thumb into the center of the clay. As described above, you need to support the ball of clay in one hand. Roll and pat your clay into an even-shaped ball. This is a step by step guide to making a pinch pot bowl: Step 1 – Starting Off
How to Make a Pinch Pot Bowl – Step by Step Anything larger can be a bit difficult to manage until you feel confident with the technique. When you are starting out, I would recommend sticking to medium-sized pieces. A medium-sized cereal bowl requires a ball of clay the size of a large orange or a small grapefruit. The amount of clay you use will depend upon how large you want your bowl to be. I will suggest some of these alternatives as I go through the step-by-step process in the next section. You will be able to find some alternatives from your home that will work well. If you don’t have these tools and you want to get started, don’t worry. Here are some tools that it will be handy for you to have: Unless, of course, you want a very organic-looking rustic bowl. And you will probably be spending more time finessing the look of the bowl.
In addition to that, you will be adding a foot ring, if you want to. Basically, you are making a pinch pot, but it is larger and you are using more clay. The main technique for making a pinch pot bowl is the same as the one outlined above. First of all, let’s take a look at how to make a pinch pot bowl, with a foot ring…. You can build on this technique to make really lovely hand built pottery. So, that is the basics of how to make a pinch pot that has a very simple design. You can gently pinch the rim of the pot to make the rim a little finer. Ideally, your pot should be about the thickness of your pinky finger. This will vary depending on the size of the ball of clay that you started out with. If you leave small cracks they will open up into bigger cracks as you carry on working the clay.Įventually, your pot will get to be about the size that you want it to be. It’s best to smooth out small cracks as soon as they appear. If you use too much water the clay will become slippy and hard to work with.
If your clay feels a bit dry, you can use a little water to smooth the clay.īut I emphasize that this should be a little water dabbed onto the dry cracked area. If you see cracks, you can simply blend them in with the tip of your finger.
So, it’s not surprising that a few cracks appear. When you make a pinch pot, you are working quite quickly, and the clay is going through a lot of change.
This is because as the clay is being pinched out, it is being stretched. Tidying Up your BowlĪs you pinch, you might notice that small cracks appear in the clay.
Just as long as you are not nipping small sections of the pot with your fingertips. They can begin to curve and help you shape the pot as you want it to be. They don’t need to stay straight throughout the pinching process. Swapping hands as you pinch can give your hands a bit of a rest.Īs the pot starts to open up, you can relax the shape of your fingers a bit. When you make a pinch pot, it can be a bit tough on the wrists and hands. If you like you can alternate pinching between hands.