I am making my first coffee mug. How dry can I let the mug get before attaching a handle? In other words, what window of time do I have that I must get the handle attached? Can the mug be leather hard? Or must the handle be attached soon, within an hour or so of throwing the mug?
Beowulf, I wait until my mugs are trimmed and leather hard before attaching the handles. I will sometimes make the handles and then let them dry next to the mugs so the two have about the same water content. Steve in Tampa, FL
Thank you for the info! I feel more relaxed now.
Beowulf wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.net:
Just to complicate things.
You can attach a handle (usually extruded) at the time you throw the mug and before you cut it off the wheel.
Have a good year
John W
I make my handles before I turn/trim mugs and leave them uncovered. By the time I have turned all my mugs, an hour or so the handles are ok to attach. Make sure you attach them well and cover each mug to dry or the handles will pop off because of the stress of the curved drying clay.
To further complicate the subject :-)
I put on handles when I can pick up the mug without distorting it easily. I pull a series of short incomplete handles and leave them on a board for about 10 minutes to settle, then apply them to the pot and leave them another 5 before pulling the handle directly from the pot. I find that doing it this way makes them *grow* from the piece and look more *part of it*. In hot weather I cover the work loosely with polythene to slow drying. In weather like we have at the moment I don't bother; it takes a week for anything to start drying, never mind being kiln ready!
Steve Bath UK
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