HOW TO MAKE A PINCH POT

hey folks today I'm gonna teach you how to make a pinch pot by now you should have already wedged out a one-pound chunk of clay now you're gonna slap and wat it into a perfectly round ball next take your thumb and puncture down into the ball of clay but be careful not to perforate the base you're gonna need that if we look at the inside profile this is what you would see as I pinch the clay from the bottom to the top and top to bottom it's going to eventually thin out as I pinch around the inside with one hand the mouth will get wider and I'll be able to fit two thumbs on the inside as I apply pinching pressure from top to bottom and bottom to top the pot will expand and eventually become thinner I want you to notice how I'm using the table surface to support the side profile of the pinch pot this allows me to keep it sturdy as I pinch and prevents it from flaring out too wide the bending wheel would be preferable here but it's likely that not everyone will be able to use one at the same time so this is an easy accomodation this is the basic pinching motion that I'm using when I'm pinching the pinch pots notice that I'm alternating my hands as I'm pinching this allows me to support the pinch pot with one hand while I'm pinching with the other and vice versa if I look at a side profile of the stage that I'm at right now you can see the walls are starting to thin out then this is kind of the end goal here because if the walls are thick we're gonna end up with a heavy object and we don't want a door stopper we want a fully functional utilitarian object so down at the very bottom of the pinch pot there's some thick clay that I couldn't quite reach with my thumbs so I'm supporting the base of the pinch pot with the palm of my hand and a cup-like motion and just kind of compressing down with my fingers of my right hand this is gonna kind of make the pinch pot conical or cone-shaped down at the very bottom but that can be pretty easily fixed by tapping the base on the table or adding a foot ring [Music] all right now you can see the walls are adequately thinned out so now I can take this time and shape my pinch pot trim the rim and kind of smooth out the surface so that it looks a lot nicer if while you're making your pinch pot you're noticing the rim cracking simply just add a little bit of water to the rim and smooth it out just a dab will do it also be a good idea to kind of gently compress down on the rim and that'll really make sure that the clay platelets fuse together so that you can avoid more cracking in the future so now I'm going to trim the rim of the pinch pot level what you're going to need to do first is Center the pinch pot on the banding wheel or a kick wheel or any wheel for that matter and with a needle tool or a scalpel draw a line with a steady hand at the very top where you intend to cut you might need to make a couple pass throughs but gently lift off the excess amount that has been cut away and then with a sponge or a chamois just smooth out the rim after you're finished on day one you're gonna want to turn your pinch pot upside down and scrub your name and pair your number on the bottom of the pinch pot this is so you don't confuse it with anyone elses gently put it into a plastic bag no need to spray it at this point and cover it up completely set it on a wear board and then gently slide it into your cubby space so since we're still on the topic of day one let's talk about a couple of things that could go wrong let's say your pinch pot isn't looking much like a pot at all let's say that it's flaring out too wide or it's extremely asymmetrical what you could do is take your clay and dunk it back into the water bucket that's at your table smash it in between your fingers multiple times you can even try and Reeve wedge it but ultimately just work it back to the normal pliable plastic consistency of the clay that you originally got out of the bin once that's done the clay is ready to use again also be careful with the way that you handle your pinch pot you don't want to aggressively tap it on the table drop it or miss handle it in any way that miss shapes the overall form otherwise that might likely result in and restart and that's never fun if I'm wanting to alter the form in any way that's going to come from the pressure that I put in certain areas of the pinch pots so the square that I'm making right here I've pinched the corners and I'm kind of pushing up against the inside base or the wall excuse me with a finger so pressure counter pressure once I've pinched to make that kind of squared off shape then I'm gonna take a petal and kind of just paddle up the sides to assist with getting that squared off form also a trimming stick or a flat rib tool will help kind of smooth out the flat surfaces or the squared off sides that I'm trying to achieve takes a lot of work to get but eventually it all comes through alrighty so on day 2 remove your pinch pot from the bag and check to make sure it's leather hard other hard is when the clay is no longer plastic and durable enough to withstand the pressure you put on it it shouldn't bend or flex very much at all so what I'm doing right here and one of the ironies of working with clay is that you have to sometimes rough up the surface in order to smooth it out that's very applicable in this situation if I want to eliminate my finger marks and indentations I need to score the surface with a serrated metal rib likely multiple times to achieve the desired effect then I need to smooth out the surface in a waxing motion with a dampened sponge yes this will make the surface a little groggy but then I can burnish it down with the flat side of the rib or the backside of a spoon alrighty so it looks like I'm done here just gonna place this upside down on the banding wheel and spin it a few times to make sure that I've achieved the symmetry that I was looking for all through shaving and paddling so after achieving symmetry in my shape and smoothing it out I'm gonna add an elaborate foot ring to the bottom of this pot to do so I'm gonna place a small coil by slipping and scoring it into place scoring is the action of scratching the surface you intend to add clay to this allows the platelets to readily interlock together slip is like the bonding agent that glues the clay together these two actions assure that your two pieces of clay will stick together I'm going to continue to pinch this ring until it gets a little wider basically just think about making it another pinch pot underneath your first pinch pot so already I've pinched the foot thinned it trimmed it and smoothed it out I'm going to take a rasping tool and square the area where I attach the ring and then I'm going to smooth it out with a sponge for a seamless transition from the body to the foot next I'm going to add a handle to the pinch pot not that it needs one but I feel like it'll suit the form and will likely be more aesthetic than utility just like when I attach the foot ring I'm gonna slip and score the handle to the side profile to assure that it sticks well on the pot [Music] and that my friends is how you make a pinch pot thanks for watching [Music]

Channel: Danny Bealer Pottery

Views: 15,494

Rating: 4.9522672 out of 5

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Id: yJTNmOYfVoI

Length: 8min 14sec (494 seconds)

Published: Fri May 22 2020