Trimming Basics

1. Pottery should be leather hard. If necessary, run a string under the pot to remove from bat.

2. Determine foot placement. Mark the bottom.

3. Measure the depth - the difference between the inside floor and outside base, with chopsticks.

4. Center pot: Place pot upside down on wheel head. Use a bat for a wide bowl or plate. Use slow speed. With a pencil, strike a mark on the pot, gently push pot in direction with no mark. Continue until pencil marks evenly all around the pot.

5. Once pot is centered, do not move it! Fasten pot firmly to wheel with clay coils all around.

6. Mark foot ring: On bottom of pot, use a pencil to mark foot ring on predetermined spot. Make another ring 1/2" inward.

7. Trim foot: With small loop tool, carve out inside of foot ring. Check the depth with chop sticks. Check often!

8. Trim sides: With large loop tool, trim excess clay from sides to shape and reveal form. Walls should be an even thickness.

9. Finish and refine trimming. Go over pot with a damp sponge to smooth ridges, bumps and burrs. This eliminates sanding, which creates clay dust. Clay dust is harmful to breathe! Avoid any action that creates clay dust.

10. Sign your name inside foot ring with a pencil.

Remember:

• Take time to measure accurately.
• Check measurements often while trimming.
• All aspects of a well thrown pot should be the same thickness.
• When trimming the foot do not make it thinner that the rest of the pot.
• If you trim your pot or the foot too thin, it may crack when drying.
• Choose a foot to match the form - raised, incised, or flat (no foot).