A Lightbulb Moment for My Trimming Technique

Sometimes, I want to make a video that explores just one very simple technique. Well, simple might be underselling it, but it's a way of trimming and hollowing out these tool feet that's come to really speed up the process, or at least shave a few seconds off of a step that used to take me perhaps twice as long. That's what this weekend's video will be about. And to be honest, I think I generally make two styles of videos. There are those that appeal to a much wider audience, such as the material tests, or the beginning-to-end style and then there are the videos like this that focus on one very specific step and skill, which I think are probably consumed by potters mainly. Anyhow, I've been making a ton of these bowls recently, mainly so I have enough stock for my next few online shop restocks. When I first started trimming these shapes, each one would take me about 10 to 12 minutes. Now, I've managed to work that down to about 6 minutes per piece, and I'll include that full process uninterrupted and without a narration towards the end of this video. If you make enough of anything, you will gradually get faster, and whilst not everything is about speed, these pots were simply taking me too long to trim. And so in the last couple of weeks, as I've made about a hundred of these, I've been actively thinking how I can speed the process up. The first and most important thing is simply confidence. The more you throw and trim a certain shape, the better you get to know it. You begin to learn its limitations and what to do and what not to do. And with this shape, much of that was learning how to trim the underside of these with the bowl held upright like so, which is rather unconventional. The reason this helps me work more quickly is because I can feel the cross-section of the vessel as I'm turning it. This alone means I can work more confidently, as I can tell if the walls are too thin or not, and I have a better understanding of the vessel's balance. Of course though, the biggest time sink with these is probably the foot ring. That thick block of clay you can see on the bottom is practically entirely solid. This means that the process of shaping the foot and hollowing it out takes up roughly half the time when turning these, and so it's this step that I really wanted to speed up. I use a pair of calipers that are set to 3.8 centimetres wide, and I score a circle on the bottom of the pot to designate its width. This way the bolts match more closely. I also then switch to a turning tool that has a long blade, which I can use as a reference and a guide in order to gauge the height of the foot ring itself. Spinning the wheel more rapidly does help my turning feel more consistent, so I'm intentionally going fast, and in order to get rid of the chattering that can naturally occur on the outside surface, I trim these outer planes with the blade held at an angle to them. This way only a small portion of the blade's length is actually making contact with the clay. This leads to a smoother surface, which means I have to spend less time fussing over it and tidying it up. Anyway, all of this is building up to the new technique I've been using, and whilst you may have already spotted me doing it in some videos, I haven't spoken properly and thoroughly about the change I've made, why I do it, and how it's helpful. Now, in the past, to begin hollowing out this block, I would lower a small turning tool into the clay and then gradually work it out towards the outside, or gouge away a larger segment at a time and slowly move outward, like so. The problem is this works best either with incredibly sharp tools, or with clay that's actually on the soft side. If you're working when the clay is soft, it can be problematic, as the trimmings will simply stick in that hole, becoming lodged in place, and the foot ring itself can actually bow outward, and things can become quite difficult to control. So, in order to try and make this more efficient, I've been using this hook-style turning tool that's made of tungsten carbide that's extremely sharp, and I'm going to press it into the foot ring at about a 45 degree angle, to essentially create a deep groove that then shears away the clay in the very centre. You can then lift out the excess, and then I use this same tool to do another deep gouge into the foot, closer to the outside wall. This does create a little flurry of clay in the centre, but I've created the rough boundaries for this hollow in two movements, which thereafter is tidied up with one of these steel-looped turning tools. Now, you have to realise that I trim pots so much, that over the years my technique hasn't really changed that much. I've certainly become faster and more confident, but this method of sort of shearing away material isn't something I've done before, nor was it something I've ever been taught. Which is understandable, really, as I don't know many other potters who trim pots to the degree I do. Anyhow, the foot is tidied up, and I trim three distinct facets on the very bottom of the base, as this will make waxing and glazing easier, as it creates distinct lines, as opposed to, say, a fully curved base, which means it's easier to see where the boundaries are. I can also use them as a guide of sorts, to glide a knife along, to slice away excess glaze that may coat the foot after it's been dipped. If I spot any other scratches or burrs of clay stuck into the surface, I'll quickly trim them away. And that's one of these relatively complex forms finished. Another tip for speeding things up is mainly about the order of things. I try to minimise on those moments where I'm going back over a surface I've already finished, in order to perfect it, or change it, or clean it up, if I've accidentally damaged or scratched a surface that I've technically already spent time finishing. If you find yourself constantly going back and forth, it can really add a huge amount of time to the making process. You may need to sharpen your tungsten cut by turning tools to do this. This is something I'll do very rarely with some diamond files, but thankfully I have this trimmer, which I haven't used much before, and it's incredibly sharp, especially the tip, which is great for this technique, as it means the blade really sinks in when you make initial contact, or at least I don't feel as if I actually have to press very hard, which is a good thing, it means I can concentrate on holding the blade steadily, focusing on control. I spin the wheel quickly, as with turning, like throwing, the more rapidly the material passes through whatever's making contact with it, the more consistent the result and finish that's left. And here are the two parts. There's the sheared off section, and the longest strand of clay, which is the portion that's carved away with the turning tool. The more I've practised this, the more confident I feel in taking larger bites out of the clay, meaning that as this day went on, when I was really focusing on this technique, the time it took me to trim the feet of these gradually became faster. It's an interesting thing learning how to make pottery, as at the beginning I could probably throw about three or four pots an hour, not to mention that making every single pot felt like a challenge in itself, as in I wouldn't necessarily know if I would get anything off the wheel at the end of the process, thus at the beginning probably more than half of what you make ends up as a But as they say, you learn through failure, and it's a good thing to experience, as it's through failure that you learn the limitations of the materials you work with, be it metal, wood, clay, stone, or anything really. You're a novice, and therefore you don't know where those limits are, and it's only through intense practice and experience that you begin to figure those out and gradually become more fluent. If your aim is to become a production potter, if you can half the amount of time it takes you to make something, say from 30 minutes to 15 minutes, you're essentially doubling your output, which is huge when you think about it, and that's why I tend to push speed in my practice. The other reason is because it allows me to discover things that I probably wouldn't find without it. For instance, if you have to make five of a specific shape, you'll barely become acquainted with it, but if you throw and trim a hundred, you'll begin to push at those boundaries and really figure out the limits, and you'll gain a level of mastery that's actually quite difficult to achieve unless you've pushed yourself to work in this manner. The things you end up thinking about as you make shift, too, as at the beginning you're often running through the making steps themselves. You're thinking about how to centre, how to position your hands, how to hold the tool, which tools I should be using, and if a pot does collapse or something fails, you wonder why that happened. But with enough practice, all of that becomes secondary, and you can begin to think about things such as proportion, surface quality, and you can work on those intentionally, whereas during those early stages there's sort of an overwhelming amount to until the making itself sort of becomes subconscious and secondary. But then, occasionally, something like this pops up, and in my mind, it's one of those aha moments. Something clicks, and I can't tell you how refreshing that feels after working in this craft for such a long time. When you're a beginner, you learn something new every week, or even every time you throw. You see something, or read something, or watch something that informs your making, suddenly making one particular step you were struggling with make sense. Those moments feel so rewarding, and I think that's partly one of the things that makes learning pottery so addictive. But the thing is, you encounter so many of these over the first couple of years, and then, as you become more practiced, things begin to level out, as those light bulb moments become less frequent. At least, that's how I've experienced learning this craft. I'm sure that would be easily altered and changed if I took some time out to attend some masterclasses taught by other potters. Anyhow, let me know if you try this technique. It's tricky, it requires a steady hand and a lot of control, but I'm relishing in the few seconds that it saves me. Whoever thought that I'd be min-maxing my making process? Anyhow, here's how I trim one of these bowls from beginning to end, and I'll catch you up in about five minutes' time. In the grand scheme of things, it's still quite slow going, as turning these 20 bowls took me two hours or so, but they're intricate shapes full of subtlety. They're both curved and angular, sharp and light, and whilst they may not be the most practical objects in the world due to their tall, narrow feet, I absolutely love making them, and ultimately, I think that's the most important thing about buying art and craft. If the person who produced it loved the process, and they like the objects they create, then what you're buying into is sort of part of their identity. Anyhow, I hope you like this technique-centric video. Sometimes, when it's been a busy couple of weeks, a straightforward film like this is an absolute pleasure for me to edit and narrate, even if I know it won't appeal to the masses like other videos might. Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you next time.