Overcoming Common Problems

• Wheel Speed broken down in 4 parts

  • 4/4 - Highest speed for centering large amounts of clay

  • 3/4 - Centering speed for under 20 pounds of clay

  • 1/2 - While opening, pulling the walls, and shaping\

  • 1/4 - Finishing touches and adding surface texture\

• Proper body position - three point position with back straight

• Hands linked together

• Elbows down and resting on splash pan or knees

• Pulling at an uneven rate. Mismatch of wheel speed and rate of pulling up\

• Line test to determine if this is an issue

• Too much water

States of Clay

Below is the process at which clay dries. We can use this drying process to our advantage when creating forms. Read through the States Of Clay handout and see how each stage is used.

Pro Tips for Working with Clay

Here a few tips for working with clay:

• Use a plastic grocery bag or trash bag to cover your work when you are done creating for the day. Loosely cover your work and it will dry slow. Good for adding to later or letting attachments dry evenly.

• Put your first and last name on everything thing you create. A pencil or your wooden needle tool works good.

  Common Sense Safety.

• Do not ingest the clay or glazes. Please keep watch on little children around supplies.

• Avoid making clay dust when possible. Once a project is completely dried out it’s called bone dry. Handle as little as possible because the project is fragile and can create dust.

• Do not bake the clay in your home oven. The clay provided must have high temperatures to bring it to maturity. Leave the firing up to us.