speaking of goblets

Gaye: I throw mine in one piece, right side up. Start with a thin (diameter) cylinder, tapered inward slightly, leaving enough clay on top to pull the bowl afterward. Tricky, but it can be done. Throw it SLOWLY. The wheel shouldn't be rotating anywhere near the speed you normally throw at. I'm thinking about 40-60 rpm...real slow. Slower than you would think possible. Requires a light touch.

Takes a bit of patience and practice, but you can do it. Throwing fast just introduces a wobble from having all the weight of the clay for the bowl on top of the thin cylinder. Stem can be thicker than the bowl, (even solid) but that's going to take some tricky drying, like wrapping the bowl with a damp paper towel and plastic while the thicker stem leather hardens a bit.

If you find you haven't left enough clay for the bowl you want, you can always add a coil or two and keep throwing.

Of course, you can always do what everyone else seems to do, and throw the parts separately, then join them. No shame in that either.

Good Luck, and Happy New Year! Wayne Seidl

Thank you, Wayne. Would you happen to have any pictures you'd like to share? I much prefer the idea of making them in one piece. Thanks, Gaye

Gaye: It took a bit, but i got to play with the digital camera Santa brought me this year (for which I will pay all year, no doubt :>)

The pictures are posted on Shutterfly. Three pictures. This is my first attempt at a goblet. Newer ones are taller (about 8") but I have given them all away. I always keep the 1st. The first picture shows how one can go down into the stem to increase capacity, and it's still easy to clean. The second is a side view, and the third shows the size. I have learned to curl the edge of the base "up" slightly to hold the glaze and allow the exposed surface of the base to be covered in glaze. Makes the base stronger (though a bit thicker) as well. I work in porcelain, cone 10. Go here:

I throw in two parts. You can get really long stems then, fun and funky shapes.

Like Wayne I throw them in one piece, but I throw the basic bowl first, then draw up the stem below it into a thick column between cupped hands, then finish the bowl. Finally, when the piece has stiffened almost to leather hard, I facet the stem with a long thin knife. I don't try to make the facets too even and equal; the slightly random quality of the stem adds to the attraction. They are a good seller and quick to make (with practice!).

Steve Bath UK

In article , GaSeku writes

Wayne, Thanks for posting the pictures of your goblets. Do you know of a way I could enlarge them to see them a little closer up? From what I could see, they look great! Thanks again for posting them. Gaye

Thanks for answering my post. I can't really decide if I like long stems or short. I'll just have to play and see which I like the most. Hopefully I will have some time in the next few days to put some solid studio time in. I hope so anyway. Happy New Year! Gaye

You too! Just remember, long stems are more "elegant", but also more tipsy. One can always increase the diameter of the base though. Personally, 5 inches is just a few inches too short for my taste.

No way that I know of for enlarging those images, unless you use one of the Adobe programs. You can save the picture as a pdf file, and then use the program to magnify it (up to 1600%)

Best! Wayne Seidl

Thanks Wayne. I can see them well enough. I just wanted to see them a bit closer. Hopefully, I will have some time to experiment tomorrow or at least this weekend. Thanks again, Gaye

Hm, I hadn't thought of handbuilding. Probably because I have no training in it whatsoever. I agree that a a goblet should be, needs to be, more bottom heavy. A good point to keep in mind. Thanks! GAye