How to Make Great Lids for Your Pottery - Throwing Lids and Pots

Hi everybody, this is Anne. Today's video is all about the lid. There are many different ways to fit a lid to a pot. All the lid variations look different, but they share unique combinations of shapes, sizes, flanges, and galleries to complement the jar they're made for. I'll throw three basic variations of jars with their lids and explain the process to make them fit together. Let's explore the three most popular lid types. First, I'll show you how to make a cap lid, which fits down over the opening of the jar. Second, I'll throw a jar with a recessed gallery that the lid will sit on. Third, I'll throw a lid with a gallery that sits on the flange of the jar. First, I'll throw the jar for the cap lid. Before I started to throw, I had an idea of what the whole piece would look like. Some profiles look better with certain lid types than others. I centered the clay, hollowed it out, compressed the floor, and then began pulling up the walls. For this video, I'm going to gloss over the basic throwing aspects, but if you want more details on wheel throwing, please check out our pottery tips and instructions playlist in the link above. When I got it to the height that I wanted, I began to shape the jar. As the lid will sit on the outside of the jar, I wanted the lid to look as though it was a continuous part of the design. I used a rubber rib to belly out the jar and the shoulder a bit. I left a section at the top of the jar cinched in so the lid could fit snugly over it. I took the blunt end of my needle tool and ran it around that section to create definition between the body of the jar and the flange, giving the cap a place to sit. I then used my fingers to smooth the flange. Again, I used the end of the needle tool to angle the flange inward a bit so the lid can slide down into place easily. This jar will have a flat bottom as opposed to a trimmed foot, so the only trimming I need to do is a little around the foot like so. I also trimmed a little more height from the flange. My jar is not very tall, so I didn't want to make a tall lid that appeared too big for the design. Again, I rounded the edge of the flange. Once the jar was thrown, I used the inward facing prong side of the calipers to measure the widest area along the definition line where the cap will sit on the outside of the jar and set that aside. Next, I made the lid. Now remember, both the jar and lid need to be made at the same time so they shrink relatively at the same rate, ensuring a good fit. I don't need a lot of clay for this. I threw it just like a squatty cylinder. Once I got the initial wall pulled, I checked with the calipers to see if I was close to the size that I needed. In this case, I needed to widen it out just a bit. I trimmed a little clay away from the bat so I could get an idea of what the final shape would look like. As the lid is taller than I want, I trim off the extra height and then rounded the edge. I then checked the size again with calipers. Note that the inward facing prong side measures the outside of the lid and the outward facing prong side measures the inside of the lid. I'm still a little shy of my measurement so I widen it out just a little bit more. Perfect. Then I wanted to check the fit and make sure the size complements the design. I simply turned the lid upside down and fit it on top of the vase like so. Looks good. When I dried it to leather hard, I wired the lid off the bat. I turned it over, secured it with lugs, then trimmed the top getting rid of extra clay and giving the piece some definition. I removed the lugs and placed it on the piece to make sure the lid complemented it. I'm very happy with that. I removed the lid, placed a few strips of newspaper over the rim, and then replaced the lid to dry along with the jar. The newspaper will help assure that the two will not stick to each other. Letting them dry together will aid in a good fit later. Here's the bone dry piece. I decided to carve a peony into the lid to give it a little personality. If you'd like to see me carve this in 60 seconds, check out the link above. Next I started the second jar just like I did the first one. I had a good idea of the shape of the jar I wanted to make before I started throwing it. Then I centered the clay, hollowed it out, opened and compressed the floor, then began to pull the wall up. As this jar will have a recessed gallery, it was very important to keep the wall thick at the rim. To achieve this, when I was pulling the wall, I made sure to lessen the pressure of my fingers as they approach the top. Another tip, I compressed the clay along the rim like this after each pull. I shaped the jar into the form that I wanted, maintaining the thick wall along the rim. When I got it as tall as I wanted, I used my fingers like so to angle the clay at the top into a downward slope. I then pushed the blunt end of my needle tool into the clay to define the edge of that slope, pushing the top of the clay back, thus widening the bottom part of the slope so that it forms a shelf. This shelf became the new gallery. I finished the rest of the jar until I was happy with it, and then I made a measurement with the outward facing prongs of the calipers at the widest part of the gallery. It's important to remember that there is an inverse relationship between the two ends of the calipers as I'll use the opposite prong ends to measure the lid. Now for the lid. For this design, I'll be throwing a small bowl shape off the hump, so I need to start with more clay than I need. I center it and push my finger down into the center about a half an inch. I then begin pulling the floor out and upward into a tiny bowl shape. I continue pushing the center of the clay down and outward until it's wide enough to fit within the calipers. The trick is not to push too far down so that you end up with a bubble shape. I'm trying to keep it flatter, but with just a little curve. Just a little too wide, so I push the walls in a little and then cut off the excess with a needle tool and round the edge. That'll do it. Now I want to make sure of the snug fit, so I flip it over and set it on top of the jar. That'll work. I put the lid back down on the wheel and carved away some of the clay underneath the shallow bowl to prepare it so I could wire it away. I fit the wire in the grooved area that I carved, crossed the ends of the wire, and then pulled. Again, I draped several strips of newspaper over the rim and fit the lid down into the gallery to let the two dry together. When they were leather hard, I removed the lid and centered it on the bat. I placed lugs around the lid to secure it. As the wheel spun, I noticed the clay was very uneven at the top and thought it would be best to even it up before trimming. I used my needle tool working from the top of the lid at an angle to trim through the uneven clay like so. Now I was better able to use my trim tool without having to carve over a bumpy surface. I just trimmed it down a little and then added a little definition around the edge. I also needed to throw a little knob for the top. I started with a small lump of clay. I centered it and pushed the clay upward and cinched in under the clay at the top so that it mushroomed out. It's a cute shape, but as my jar is so small, I decided the knob needed to be small too, so I cut the mushroom down like so. Again, I fit the wire along the groove under the knob, crossed the wire edges, and pulled. I scored and slipped the knob to the center of the lid making sure it was securely attached. Again, I let the lid dry on top of the jar. Here's the bone dry jar and lid. This would make a great sugar bowl or candy jar. Finally, I'll throw a gallery on a lid so the lid will sit on the rim of the jar. I began by throwing the jar as usual. Once I got the height that I wanted, I used the rubber rib to shape the body. I straightened the clay along the rim in preparation for the lid, then rounded the edge. With the outward facing prongs of the calipers, I measured the widest part of the inside of the rim. There's several ways to make this type of lid. The way I did it was to center a mound of clay on the wheel, then push down on the top in order to widen and flatten it out. I needed this flat part to be wider than my calipers so that I can fit it on top of the jar. I then used my fingers to push the outer ring of the clay downward, like so, to form a gallery. I then pushed my finger into the center, thus causing the clay to bowl upward to create a flange for the lid. I measured the widest area along the definition between the flange and the gallery. Looks good. So I can see my lines better, I began to trim away the clay under the gallery. Now I can see the profile. Before going any further, I want to make sure it'll fit on top of the jar. That looks good. I put it back on the wheel, then used a rounded trim tool to begin carving out the center of the lid. I like to get rid of as much of the clay as I can without going too thin, before leaving it to dry the leather hard so I don't have a lot to trim away later. Okay, I can trim out more when it's leather hard. So I wired it off, again draped newspaper along the edge, and placed the lid on the jar to dry. Once it was leather hard, I began to trim the top. Again to even out the clay, I used the needle tool and cut through the clay at a downward angle, like this. Now I can trim the excess clay away. I rounded the top and added a little definition along the edge. Here's the bone dry piece. Because this lid doesn't need a knob, you can take the opportunity to decorate it by painting or carving or whatever you desire. By changing the combinations of the fittings between the jar and the lid, you can experiment with many lid variations. Be creative! If you like this video, we'd appreciate it if you'd like, share, and subscribe to our channel. See you next time in the studio!