Chapter 6 in Ceramics A Potter’s Handbook by Glenn Nelson and Richard Burkett details the methods used in hand-building ceramic pieces. Beginning as an ancient practice, it is still used today despite the presence of the potter’s wheel to make sculptural and functional work.
The first method is hand-building via pinching the clay. A few things to keep in mind when using this approach may be that small cracks may appear, but may be smoothed over while larger cracks are likely to reappear during firing. It may also help the building process by keeping the fingers damp and applying gentle, even pressure. This is a good method for beginners.
The second technique known as coiling is utilized through ropes, or coils, of clay. They are then stacked …show more content…
The first is a hump mold, where clay is draped over a convex form and pressed into the mold, with the excess then trimmed away. This may be done with slabs or coils. The second is a press mold where clay is inside a concave form. These may be joined with slip and scoring, and then gently working the pieces together. Slip casting is another hand-building technique where slip is poured into a plaster mold, then assembled once dried and away from the mold. These molds may be extremely thin, or rather thick, with an average thickness between 1/8 and ¼ of an …show more content…
The downfall to extruding clay parts is that they may require great pressure to push the clay through the die or could emerge with holes if the clay is poorly wedged or too dry.
Clay may be experimented with in additives to the clay body. This could be paper, up to 20-30 percent, to make a lightweight fragile clay as the paper is burnt out in the kiln. Wood shavings may also be added to add texture to the clay while also lowering shrinkage and creating a porous body. Metal is sometimes added for interest to a piece as well.
This chapter focuses heavily on the techniques used in hand-building with clay. Giving different options such as the beginning pinching method to the way clay bodies are formed for different hand-building needs is very helpful to a potter. There is also a good amount of information on joining and constructing pieces to create the whole unified work, giving a thorough view on
The first method is hand-building via pinching the clay. A few things to keep in mind when using this approach may be that small cracks may appear, but may be smoothed over while larger cracks are likely to reappear during firing. It may also help the building process by keeping the fingers damp and applying gentle, even pressure. This is a good method for beginners.
The second technique known as coiling is utilized through ropes, or coils, of clay. They are then stacked …show more content…
The first is a hump mold, where clay is draped over a convex form and pressed into the mold, with the excess then trimmed away. This may be done with slabs or coils. The second is a press mold where clay is inside a concave form. These may be joined with slip and scoring, and then gently working the pieces together. Slip casting is another hand-building technique where slip is poured into a plaster mold, then assembled once dried and away from the mold. These molds may be extremely thin, or rather thick, with an average thickness between 1/8 and ¼ of an …show more content…
The downfall to extruding clay parts is that they may require great pressure to push the clay through the die or could emerge with holes if the clay is poorly wedged or too dry.
Clay may be experimented with in additives to the clay body. This could be paper, up to 20-30 percent, to make a lightweight fragile clay as the paper is burnt out in the kiln. Wood shavings may also be added to add texture to the clay while also lowering shrinkage and creating a porous body. Metal is sometimes added for interest to a piece as well.
This chapter focuses heavily on the techniques used in hand-building with clay. Giving different options such as the beginning pinching method to the way clay bodies are formed for different hand-building needs is very helpful to a potter. There is also a good amount of information on joining and constructing pieces to create the whole unified work, giving a thorough view on