My Favorite Pottery Tools

Hello and welcome! I get asked a lot of questions about my tools, so in this video I will be going over some of my favorite tools, what they do, and how I use them. I will have links to everything in the description box below, including the wheel that I use. Let's start off with my throwing ribs. I used to use this wooden rib to throw with, but I have since upgraded to this blue plastic mud tools rib. It's slightly flexible, which I like for when I'm throwing some curvy things. I primarily use this tool for compressing my walls as I throw. This fun wooden rounded rib was created by another potter, Shinchun Lin, who is also here on YouTube. He sells his tools on his Etsy, or maybe it's his website, I'm not entirely sure, but I will have the link to his stuff down below. This tool is great for rounding out the bottoms or the walls of bowls. The three holding notches in the back make it easy to hold on to. Up next is my needle tool. There are numerous uses for this tool, but I use it primarily for compressing down attachments, like so. Or if you prefer stabbing balloons with it, that's also fun. Let's talk about the mud shark by mud tools. While the length of this one can be used as a straight rib, it also has a built-in needle tool that can be stored away when not being used. On the other end mimics a wooden knife tool used as such. And now for everyone's favorite little red rib. And you guessed it, it's made by mud tools. I swear this is not an advertisement. This very flexible rib is not only great to throw rounded bellies with, but is also perfect for making my bottoms very nice and smooth. So smooth-a-ching. My sponges are up next. I think everyone understands what the yellow rounded sponge is for. I will save you time and say that I just used that one for throwing. Now this fancy little guy is called an elephant ear sponge. I will be honest, I have had this one for a very long time and I'm not sure where I got this one from. This very soft sponge is great for smoothing out rough surfaces. I particularly use mine for my freshly carved bottoms. If you are uncomfortable using a real sponge, there are other options which I will link down below. On to my very popular knife tools. They are made by mud tools and they're called petal knives. They come in different curved blade shapes for different thicknesses of carving style. This flat blade is the number five in the series. I also have this one with a more curved blade. It is number three in the series and I use them as so. This carving tool is a newer tool that I recently started using. It's made by Aegean. It is a loop tool shaped like a teardrop with the tip at the very top and it has it on both ends. I like to use one side for dark clay and the other side for my porcelain so as not to contaminate one another. It makes a really nice thin line texture. And my last tool for texture is the ball tip tool. This jean tool has a ball tip on both ends just like the teardrop tool. Up next is my scoring tool. This tool is very handy for scoring. It was created with a neat USB style cover while stored but I found that it can be a little scary to open back up so I just keep mine open. I like this tool because of the six mini needles make for a faster scoring than a needle tool and deeper than a metal brush tool. Now on to my brushes. If you find yourself carving a lot I recommend a rough bristle fan brush to get rid of any clay crumbly bits in the fine carved texture. This one is used for applying my slip. I don't really have anything special to say about this particular brush. Any old brush will do for slip. This brush however is a very special brush. The soft bristles make for a great cleanup brush. I am constantly leaving fingerprints on my attachments which is easily erased with a brush like this. I also use it for softening out my sharper carved edges. If you're in the market for a good apron I recommend checking out Koda aprons. These aprons are made here in the United States and in my state of Georgia. The straps are held nicely in place with these metal grommets and the cross back keeps from having a tied knot on the back of your neck. They have a lot of different colors and styles to choose from. I will have a link in the description box below to their website so that you can look into more information. I hope this video was helpful in answering questions about my tools. If you have further questions please leave a comment below. Until then, thanks for watching!