Throwing dry

I throw dry on occasion, usually when it's a tall cylinder with a narrow neck, I find that I get better results. The only downside I've found is that my normal throwing technique is to throw with a small sponge... when I throw dry I have to go back to the finger and/or knuckle, which I'm rusty at.

But, for some forms, it's the way to go.

Rather than throwing *dry* I use thick slip as the throwing lubricant; a couple of dabs as I start, and then as I throw an occasional *hand wash* movement to re-distribute the slurry to where it's needed. With regard to lifting work off the wheel; unless it's an awkward shape I make a small undercut, wire off, then after wiping the 1st & 2nd fingers of both hands on the edge of the slip pot to dry them a bit I slip the 4 fingers into the undercut with the wheel still turning slowly and lift and off it comes. It's a trick I got into when I was throwing on a kick wheel and resented having to stop the wheel to lift stuff off.

Steve Bath UK

That sounds more like the technique I use. I center pretty wet, but use the slip on the wheel - just gathering it up and redistributing it over the clay. When the slip gets too thick, then I add a bit more water. As I open out and start pulling, my hands are full of slip, so instead of just adding water to the piece, I dip one hand in my water-bowl, rub it with the other hand, and voila - I have more thin slip that I can distribute over the piece to help my hands glide better.

This is especially important to me, as I am not quick at doing things, and I spend quite some time getting the final shape I want (am reading up on this now!). Thus, I need to add glide without adding too much water. I have a wonderful clay bought here in Switzerland that withstands water very nicely, even though it has tiny grog in it.

is the one called Apollo> With regard to lifting work off the wheel; unless it's an awkward shape> I make a small undercut, wire off, then after wiping the 1st & 2nd> fingers of both hands on the edge of the slip pot to dry them a bit I> slip the 4 fingers into the undercut with the wheel still turning slowly> and lift and off it comes. It's a trick I got into when I was throwing> on a kick wheel and resented having to stop the wheel to lift stuff off. Sounds good! But how on earth do you keep the piece from buckling??? I wouldlove to see a little video of this technique. Sounds intriguing! Personally, I prefer to throw bigger pieces on a bat for now. That way, I just slice it loose, but leave it on the bat until it is more leathery and I can safely lift it without bending the walls.

For smaller things, I have a doo-hickey that I bought at my supplier:

all the way down - it is called "topfheber aus aluminium" - it wrapsaround under the base, and the handles are far enough out that I can liftmost things much more evenly, and get them safely put on a bat or somethingfor drying. Personally, the idea of putting a ton of water on the wheel to slide the piece off doesn't appeal to me, as I do some of the drying of my waste right there in the wheel basin. If it is full of water, it takes ages to dry and reclaim the clay.

I know I am no expert, but just wanted to air my techniques that I am using at the moment. Some of them might be good, some of them personal preference only, some maybe a bad idea for some reason, and then I am counting on you "old-timers" to tell me why :-)

Marianne

same style used over here steve...

i throw with thick slip water. and i use ""spock fingers" (live long & prosper) to remove pots from the wheel.

the pots never water down, excelent lubricant, and easy removal.

see ya

steve

steve graber

Deb R.

I agree Steve, I throw with slip, never with water. Slip seals the surface and therefore does not get absorbed by the clay making it too wet and causing it to "get tired"