Perfect Scalloped Edges with Two Free Tools.

Today I'm making a single piece scalloped cake plate. It's just in time for Mother's Day. Scalloping can be tricky to get even so I'm making a simple tool. Let's see if it works. I use 2.5 kilos of clay. I start by centering the clay. My clay is quite soft which is great for moving it around. And I flatten the clay. Now I'm not going to flatten all the clay. I'm going to leave about a third of the clay in the center. This is going to become the stand. I bring the clay out to 29 centimeters and then I form a puck of clay in the center. I push down into the plate leaving about a centimeter in the base and then I open out and with the clay that I've just brought out I form a short wall. Now I work on the stand. I push down into the clay in the middle and open up. I want to make sure that the base in the stand is the same thickness as the base of the plate and I pull the clay up into walls. I want the walls to come out to provide a stable base. I have to consider the shape as it's upside down here. To keep up to date with all of our videos remember to subscribe if you haven't already done so. And I trim around the base. I'll let the clay firm a little before wiring through and I set aside to dry to not quite leather hard. So my cake plate has firmed up and I'm ready to do the scalloping. I'm going to use my circle guide to mark out even sections to cut the scallops. So I've cut a hole in the middle of the guide and I put it over the stand. You can download your own circle guide to print out using the link in the description. And I mark out the sections for the scallops. I've made my own scalloping tool. I've taken a small circle cutter and cut it in half. So this is the semi-circular cutter that I can push into clay at equal distances. I'm using a wooden guide to hold the cutter at the right height and then I just push it into the clay at the distances that I've marked. And then I can just remove the excess clay and tidy with a sponge. And I set aside to dry to leather hard. Now I can trim the plate. I trim across the top of the plate and I tidy up the edge. I smooth the plate first with a sponge and then with a rib and I set aside to dry fully. To avoid warping I'll dry it upside down on the plate and then I bisque fire. To glaze I'm using my duck egg blue glaze and I'm firing to earthenware. I'm often asked about the firing temperatures for cake plates and I generally stick to earthenware to avoid warping. I make sure that the clay doesn't reach its vitrification temperature. This makes the plate much less likely to slump or warp. Of course this makes the cake plate a little less durable. If you do need to fire a cake stand higher I would suggest making some supports for the firing process and then I glaze fire. I also made a smaller version with 1.25 kilos of clay. This is perfect for cupcakes. If you're enjoying this video hit the like button below and feel free to leave a comment. For the weights and dimensions of this project you can use the link below to request a pdf along with our super useful circle guide. For a more elaborate cake stand why not check out my cake stand with cover. Not only does it look magnificent it also keeps your cakes fresh and as always happy potting