Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Making Feets

Today, I got up bright and early to trim my planters.
Okay, not really.
I got up sort of late and had to force myself to get on those pots.
I don't use the same wheel to trim as I do for throwing.
I throw on an old electric and use a kick wheel to trim:



Actually my kick wheel is motorized too and I throw on it also, but for now, I only use the electric to make stuff.
Just me being quirky I guess.
So anyways, the tools of the trade:



So the object today is to get rid of all the extra clay on the bottom of the pots. I use those loop tools to cut away the excess as the pot turns on the wheel.
First you flip the thing over and center it on the wheel:



Spin up the wheel and start to trim away all the extra stuff off the bottom. This is also when you set the foot.
The foot of the pot is that outer ring on the bottom:



I think I did a couple of passes with the tool there.
Once I get it nice and smooth, it's time to make the puka.
Remember, these are planters:



Voila!
I sort of gave the bottom the same look as the rim. If I do this design again, I'll make sure to make the top rim and bottom foot the same diameter; right now the bottom is a bit smaller than the top.
Then again, it looks okay the way it is.
I also could have angled the bottom a bit more to match the way the rim is angled in:



Flip, center, repeat:



Now those are footed differently from how I would foot bowls and stuff.
More on that later.
Anyways, I was cleaning up and found this porcelain plate I made way back in another life:



The thing that's interesting about this plate is that the the colored portion is not glazed, it's inlaid with colored porcelain:



The design was carved out, then inlaid with clay that was mixed with a stain(colorant) and fired. There is no glaze on the plate.
Sort of the stuff I was into way back when.
Which brings me back to the planters.
Now, I'm going to spray them down with water and let them sit a bit. Then I'm going to break out the tools again and carve some designs in them.
First, I'm going out for a ride and some lunch.
Maybe get inspired.

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