Throwing a Lidded Pot

Hey everybody, Mr. Miller here. Let's throw a little pot. Get it? Okay. We're going to start with the time lapse. We're going to begin by throwing a cylinder. This will become the vessel for the pot. So after centering and open, we'll go ahead and throw that into a vertical form. One thing that's really important is keep the rim thick because we're going to convert that into a gallery. That's the little part the lid sits in. Next, we're going to center some more clay to throw off the hump. We're throwing the lid upside down, trimming to fit the pot. We'll cut it off with some extra clay that'll later become the knob. We'll start with wedged clay, and then we're going to hit it right in the middle of the bat. We're going to slap center the clay, check it for center, adjust as needed, and then roll your finger at the bottom to seal it to the bat. Wet your hands and wet the clay. Always start centering with a downward motion so it sticks to the wheel, and then keep working the clay up and down until you've got the clay completely centered. If you're having a little trouble, try coning the clay upward and then compressing back down again. Always release from the clay slowly so you don't introduce a wobble. Start opening the clay with your thumb, put a little puddle of water in there, and then open it all the way down until you've reached the desired floor thickness. While you do this, make sure to keep the outside of the pot smooth and round. Measure the floor thickness, keeping in mind how you plan to trim the pot. Open the pot by using your thumbs or move your hands down to the bottom and pull it open. The goal is a flat floor. You're defining the width of the inside of the cylinder. Compress the bottom to smooth it out. This also increases the strength so there's less chance of s-cracks forming. Make sure everything's nice and smooth and coated and slip. Then you're going to begin by compressing down to the bat and creating a little finger groove at the bottom. I'm going to begin by throwing upwards and towards the middle. I want the walls to angle in because with each throw they're going to straighten out a little bit. Keep the rim nice and thick. Smooth and compress the rim after each pull. Continue throwing until you achieve the desired form. Now remember you're keeping that rim a little bit thicker because we're going to add a gallery, which is a little groove for the lid to fit in there. I like to use a sharp wooden rib like this to carve away some of excess clay on the bottom of the pot. Angle the rib away from you to use for shaping and also for compressing the walls of the pot. This will increase your strength and give you a chance to add a little bit of design to the form. You can use a sharpened stick to trim a little bit more clay off the bottom. Finish up your form and any decorative elements you plan to add to the vessel itself. Then we're going to move on to the rim. I'm going to use the corner of a rib to divide the rim to create the gallery. Now the wheel spin makes this hard to do as a right-handed person, so you can reverse the wheel and do this on the opposite side. This is a little bit more comfortable for me. As you push down you'll make a little shelf for the lid to fit on and you really only need to go deep enough for the thickness of the lid to nest in the gallery. Make sure everything is smooth here so the lid fits nicely. Finish with a little bevel cut on the bottom. This will make room for the wire when we cut it off. Use a set of calipers to measure the width of the opening where the lid will fit, then lock it into place so we can use this to make the lid. Cut the pot with the wheel moving slowly. Lift the pot off with dry hands or use pot lifters. You want to put this onto a bare piece of wood to help dry out the bottom of the pot. Now we'll start making the lid. I'm going to start with enough clay so I can throw off the go ahead and center the clay to get ready for throwing. Use your fingers to define the section of clay you're going to be throwing. We're throwing the lid upside down so you're basically throwing a very shallow dish or a shallow bowl shape. So I'm going to open up the clay but I'm going to pull this into a wider smoother form. Compress the rim each time. Now the goal is to create the diameter you need to match your set of calipers so this fits in the gallery of your pot. If you've made this a little bit big you can use a needle tool to cut off the excess of the rim. So just point the needle tool right into your fingertip as the wheel moves slowly and take away the excess clay. Continue refining the shape of the lid until you're happy with the result. Remember this is upside down so keep in mind the shape of your pot as you throw the lid. Compress the clay below the lid which is actually going to be the top of the lid where the handle is and push the mound of clay downward. This will give you space so you can cut this off and move it onto your board. Finish up any refinements you want to do and then check again with your calipers one last time. We want to make sure this fits. To cut this off the wheel you'll use a needle tool and two fingers. All you do is with the wheel moving slowly move the needle tool into the clay until the lid comes loose then lift it off and put this on your project board. Let both of these dry slowly and then when it's just dry enough to be able to handle go ahead and test fit the lid on the pot. It's always best to let the lid dry on the pot until it's leather hard and ready to trim.