I want to mention that left handed people may have trouble if the rotation of the wheel hasn't been reversed. I struggled horribly through 2 sets of beginner wheel classes. Then at the end of the 3rd try, the instructor that time finally noticed that I was a lefty, flipped a switch on the wheel and suddenly, everything got MUCH easier!!
Really good instruction - self taught people are always the best teachers (my father was a ceramics teacher and he used to tell his students :its easy after the first 10000)
Ive been working on the wheel for years and occasionally get into a rut not being able to center to my satisfaction...you have just given me a workable solution! Thank you! (and be scandalous !)
Thank you so much for this! Lately I’m feeling like I get worse at centering every time I try, I think it’s letting go too fast!! Also too much pressure in general, I tend to Hulk Smash all my clay… thank you for showing what it looks like when you do it “wrong”, that also helps a ton. So many videos are experienced people doing things perfectly while talking about how they do, which makes troubleshooting really difficult. I’m not that good yet, so I need to see issues that “look like” mine!
I hope it helps! I know what you mean about just watching experts, it can be really frustrating. Remember that strength is helpful, but only if you use it to be more stable! Pottery is not about moving or pushing or pulling clay, it's about making tiny adjustments to the clay and then being stable enough to not let the clay move you. Keep practicing and you'll make progress
I've been struggling to center clay and right before my intro to ceramics class I searched up how to do it and I watched your video and now I can center it!!! Thank you so so much!! 😭 The part where you keep your arms at your inner thigh is what helped me the most! Thank you! 😭😭
Omg the only person I've seen actually explain what it means to brace your arm when centering and not give a 2 second explanation. I've wasted so much clay having no idea how to brace.
I told Dante (Earth Nation Ceramics) that you called him out. He appreciated it, watched your video, and now he wants to update his video on centering.
This was the video I always needed and finally got. Just the first tip, I knew the motions and hand positions, but no one ever explained conceptually what I was doing when centering the clay. Thanks so much for making this!
Thanks for this! I did take a few classes, but never managed to learn centering prior to using tips I had found on TH-cam. I'm a lot better at centering now than I was before, but I still found myself struggling when it came to bigger pieces. Now that I've watched your video, I see that there were a few subtleties I was missing, so I can't wait to head to the studio and apply these tips!! Thank you :)
Tinker Thinker--- When I listened to your explanation of 'core', I applauded... I've been saying it to everyone who asks for help mastering centering. As a retired golf professional, I can tell you without debate that core strength and stability are paramount to BOTH activities. Since I have done both since childhood, I understood the relationship of arms close to and connected to the core in golf. In pottery, my left elbow is on my hip and my right on my leg. This affords me the power to use my body/core to center quickly and easily. Further, once that relationship is understood, opening, and pulling becomes SO much easier for beginners. When success is elusive, interest wanes quickly. Keep up the good work. Few instructors ever explain this very important point.
I've found core strength plus core engagement to be essential to just about everything. It's hard to teach if someone doesn't do any other activity requiring core engagement, and even harder to know if they are actually engaging their core or not. But I tell everyone to try it!
Thanks for the reply... and yes, you're right. Athletes are born with the understanding, while others must learn it! Look forward to viewing more of your videos!@@tinkerandthink
DAAUUUDE!!! THANK YOU!!! I never Got the one hand being the supper and the other being the pusher! I thought I was trying to make sure that I had the exact pressure on the pushing down from the top hand and the pushing the side of the clay hand!!! So much easier this way! Just subscribed.
I'm new to ceramics and not great at centering. Sooo...I have been hand building...which I love. But I am going to try your techniques and try to conquer the wheel. I'll never stop hand building...but want it to be a choice and ONE of my skills...not a necessity because I haven't conquered the potter's wheel. Thanks for the great explanation.
Thanks for this video. I've watched some detailed instruction videos but was missing a few pieces of the puzzle this video helped unlock. Once I understood what is was meant to do not just how I was then able to feel it. Everything went so much faster and it was actually centred.
I finally signed up for a local pottery class, something I've wanted to do for a very long time. Oh, and I'm a complete newbie. 😊 Last week was my 1st lesson and the teacher just flew through all the instructions, then put us on the wheel. I had a blast, but what a failed mess!😅 I've been watching tutorials all week. Thank you for these tips! I'm excited to put them to use in class tonight. Thank you! I just subscribed. ❤
I just attended my first pottery class and I REALLY struggled with centering. The perspective of not pushing, but rather holding a steady point will help I think. Booked some studio time to add that perspective :)
Everyone struggles in the beginning! Don't be discouraged. I hope you'll let me know how it goes next time. If you take a quick video of centering, I'll be happy to give any tips that might help you!
I've only been doing ceramics for less than a year and I can tell you after a little while especially with a teacher once you pick up the basics everything starts getting easier
I've been making pots for 57 years, and remember how frustrated I was at the beginning. I don't think of centering as just holding steady.You really do have to push to get that clay to move. I tell my students to lean their whole body towards the central axis of the wheel, using your back, core and leg muscles, and slowly and gradually move the clay horizontally towards the central axis. Keep the other hand on top and push down. Keep your core very still while you do this. Just keep leaning until the clay is centered and then take away the pressure REALLY slowly. And remember, it takes practice! Almost no one gets this the first time out.
I bought myself a 3 hour experience in the wheel. They never explained this. I found I was fighting the clay. It gave a little more success than I was having. But still bad. The clay moved my hands. Eventually the penny dropped and I practiced being totally still. This worked a treat. I then couldn’t lift up the pot walls; and ran out of time. But I like tip 3. If & when I get a wheel, I’ll keep it in mind.
Oh your point on bracing arm/leg/chest - I feel like I'm struggling hardcore with that. I am very physically weak and it feels like when I try to center clay I'm putting so much force in without it doing anything to the clay at all (coning is a nightmare), because if i try to just brace my body and keep my hands steady it seems impossible to keep them in the same position. Is there something I'm missing or do you just have to have some level of physical strength to do it properly
Physical strength helps, I won't lie. But it isn't the only way. A few pieces of advice: 1. Start with a round ball of clay centered on the wheel. No need to slam it down and miss the center. Plop it down and smack it down. The more centered it is to start, the better. 2. Don't try to move the whole mass of clay. Just redistribute the outer, uncentered layer. Try this: use just one finger, braced with the other hand, to press in just one place in the clay; it will center that narrow band fairly easily because you're moving so little clay at a time. Apply that principle to the whole act of centering. 3. Try different hand positiona for centering. Just watch different potters and try what they do. Everyone is different, and you may find something that feels more secure for you. Keep trying! I hope this helps a little. Centering is very hard to learn, but once you find something that works for you it will get easier with practice.
I've never used a treadle, but I find that on an electric wheel I don't need to brace my arm if my core is braced. Throwing with softer clay will also mean you need less force to move it around.
Sell it to me! You are SO lucky to have a treadle. They make pots with much more life to them than electric wheels. Obviously, you can't brace your arm against your thigh while you're standing and moving your leg. You can brace your arm against the splash pan or against your torso, and it will work fine.
Throw a sack of 25lbs of clay 32 inches high, 18 inches wide into a classic shape or a bottle in 4 minutes 11 sec... toss 40 bags a day... 1000lbs lbs...keep yourself busy...be a potter.
I think you missed a major step. When placing the clay on the wheel it helps to slap it into place all the way around. It literally pre centers the clay. I wasn’t self taught but been throwing for plus 15 years. Slapping the clay in place has you hand move the wheel then seal the bottom w your finger should really be the first step to help. All to often I see beginners just throw the clay on the wheel and it’s not even in the center of the wheel. Most people think you have to throw it down and you don’t, just set it. I never learned to push the clay across but only push down into my hand. That prevents aka pushing off the wheel which I have to say you still have to push quite ridiculously hard for that to happen. Having a good strong core does help. Strength really doesn’t mean much. I have a fellow potter and on a great day she is maybe 90 pounds and she can center 25 pounds of clay in no time, and like I we throw really dry. But I’ll have to watch a few more of your videos.
Thanks for the feedback. This isn't a how to video, it's meant to help someone who has learned the basics but is still struggling. It's a video about the concepts behind centering, so it necessarily has more explaining. I tried to show what I mean by "be still" etc. And I pointed out other videos that do a good job of what you're looking for. Guess I should have taken off my shirt to demonstrate flexing your core 🤷
If you want tips on pulling cylinders after your clay is centered, I made a short video on that! th-cam.com/video/Ow1cUkZkBpA/w-d-xo.html
I want to mention that left handed people may have trouble if the rotation of the wheel hasn't been reversed. I struggled horribly through 2 sets of beginner wheel classes. Then at the end of the 3rd try, the instructor that time finally noticed that I was a lefty, flipped a switch on the wheel and suddenly, everything got MUCH easier!!
Yes! Me too! But my wheel only runs counter clockwise, so I had to teach myself to throw “right handed”.
Real asf
Really good instruction - self taught people are always the best teachers (my father was a ceramics teacher and he used to tell his students :its easy after the first 10000)
Ive been working on the wheel for years and occasionally get into a rut not being able to center to my satisfaction...you have just given me a workable solution! Thank you! (and be scandalous !)
Thank you so much for this! Lately I’m feeling like I get worse at centering every time I try, I think it’s letting go too fast!! Also too much pressure in general, I tend to Hulk Smash all my clay… thank you for showing what it looks like when you do it “wrong”, that also helps a ton. So many videos are experienced people doing things perfectly while talking about how they do, which makes troubleshooting really difficult. I’m not that good yet, so I need to see issues that “look like” mine!
I hope it helps! I know what you mean about just watching experts, it can be really frustrating. Remember that strength is helpful, but only if you use it to be more stable! Pottery is not about moving or pushing or pulling clay, it's about making tiny adjustments to the clay and then being stable enough to not let the clay move you. Keep practicing and you'll make progress
I've been struggling to center clay and right before my intro to ceramics class I searched up how to do it and I watched your video and now I can center it!!! Thank you so so much!! 😭 The part where you keep your arms at your inner thigh is what helped me the most! Thank you! 😭😭
Omg the only person I've seen actually explain what it means to brace your arm when centering and not give a 2 second explanation. I've wasted so much clay having no idea how to brace.
I think this is probably the most helpful advice I've heard about centering. Excited to apply it to my next class!
Step one, is, game changing🎉 thank you so much! Following your channel now!
I told Dante (Earth Nation Ceramics) that you called him out. He appreciated it, watched your video, and now he wants to update his video on centering.
BTW, I am a beginner potter (got hooked by my potter son) and I needed to hear this. Now I need to get back to the wheel and try it out.
This was the video I always needed and finally got. Just the first tip, I knew the motions and hand positions, but no one ever explained conceptually what I was doing when centering the clay. Thanks so much for making this!
I watch videos from all of these guys, but especially Hsin-Chuen Lin….he is a master potter….love his videos! 😊😊
Thanks for this! I did take a few classes, but never managed to learn centering prior to using tips I had found on TH-cam. I'm a lot better at centering now than I was before, but I still found myself struggling when it came to bigger pieces. Now that I've watched your video, I see that there were a few subtleties I was missing, so I can't wait to head to the studio and apply these tips!! Thank you :)
Hope it helps! Let me know how it goes 👍
Awesome advice, thank you!
All of your online teachers were also mine, and I am also mostly self taught. Great tutorial! I'm now a new subscriber!
Tip three is something I had to figure out the hard way, but you are 100 percent spot on.
6 minutes and that much info! Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a ton!
Tinker Thinker--- When I listened to your explanation of 'core', I applauded... I've been saying it to everyone who asks for help mastering centering. As a retired golf professional, I can tell you without debate that core strength and stability are paramount to BOTH activities. Since I have done both since childhood, I understood the relationship of arms close to and connected to the core in golf. In pottery, my left elbow is on my hip and my right on my leg. This affords me the power to use my body/core to center quickly and easily. Further, once that relationship is understood, opening, and pulling becomes SO much easier for beginners. When success is elusive, interest wanes quickly. Keep up the good work. Few instructors ever explain this very important point.
I've found core strength plus core engagement to be essential to just about everything. It's hard to teach if someone doesn't do any other activity requiring core engagement, and even harder to know if they are actually engaging their core or not. But I tell everyone to try it!
Thanks for the reply... and yes, you're right. Athletes are born with the understanding, while others must learn it! Look forward to viewing more of your videos!@@tinkerandthink
Thanks a whole ton! So concise and well-produced. Very very helpful.
Brilliant. I needed someone to explain the physics of the process so I can understand it.
super stinking helpful. I don't think concepts are taught enough and this was really well explained
DAAUUUDE!!! THANK YOU!!! I never Got the one hand being the supper and the other being the pusher! I thought I was trying to make sure that I had the exact pressure on the pushing down from the top hand and the pushing the side of the clay hand!!! So much easier this way! Just subscribed.
That's awesome! Glad I could help 🙏
Incredible. Love the troubleshooting which is so hard to do without physical instruction. Self learners need this!!! Thank you
ok ok thats actually real real helpful. never noticed that core part, but that super makes sense
Thank you😃
Thank you, EXTREAMELY helpful.
I'm new to ceramics and not great at centering. Sooo...I have been hand building...which I love. But I am going to try your techniques and try to conquer the wheel. I'll never stop hand building...but want it to be a choice and ONE of my skills...not a necessity because I haven't conquered the potter's wheel. Thanks for the great explanation.
I applaud you! I still avoid handbuilding because it intimidates me. I hope you'll let me know how your wheel time goes!
Great Explanation Ben, thanks fella! 👍🏾
Thanks for this video. I've watched some detailed instruction videos but was missing a few pieces of the puzzle this video helped unlock. Once I understood what is was meant to do not just how I was then able to feel it. Everything went so much faster and it was actually centred.
That's great! Exactly what I hope this video will do
thank you so much. Awesome description. I now fully understand
Damn. That's crazy.
Man, you were my first ceramics teacher
I finally signed up for a local pottery class, something I've wanted to do for a very long time. Oh, and I'm a complete newbie. 😊 Last week was my 1st lesson and the teacher just flew through all the instructions, then put us on the wheel. I had a blast, but what a failed mess!😅 I've been watching tutorials all week. Thank you for these tips! I'm excited to put them to use in class tonight. Thank you! I just subscribed. ❤
That's awesome! How has it been going?
Thank you. That helps.
Thank you ... I haven't tried it yet but it makes sense ❤
Thank you ❣️
I’ve been struggling with centering, so this is very helpful to see and hear! Much appreciated. Also totally off topic: who makes your tee?
Thank you. Very helpful.
i never understood centring untill i used a lathe - the tool is completely ridged when it meets the rotating work the work has to become round
Ugh. I'm having a challenging time centering. I'm really trying to adjust my mindset because I really love hand building
I just attended my first pottery class and I REALLY struggled with centering. The perspective of not pushing, but rather holding a steady point will help I think. Booked some studio time to add that perspective :)
Everyone struggles in the beginning! Don't be discouraged. I hope you'll let me know how it goes next time. If you take a quick video of centering, I'll be happy to give any tips that might help you!
I've only been doing ceramics for less than a year and I can tell you after a little while especially with a teacher once you pick up the basics everything starts getting easier
I've been making pots for 57 years, and remember how frustrated I was at the beginning. I don't think of centering as just holding steady.You really do have to push to get that clay to move. I tell my students to lean their whole body towards the central axis of the wheel, using your back, core and leg muscles, and slowly and gradually move the clay horizontally towards the central axis. Keep the other hand on top and push down. Keep your core very still while you do this. Just keep leaning until the clay is centered and then take away the pressure REALLY slowly. And remember, it takes practice! Almost no one gets this the first time out.
Great tutorial. Thanks!
I bought myself a 3 hour experience in the wheel. They never explained this.
I found I was fighting the clay. It gave a little more success than I was having. But still bad. The clay moved my hands. Eventually the penny dropped and I practiced being totally still. This worked a treat. I then couldn’t lift up the pot walls; and ran out of time.
But I like tip 3. If & when I get a wheel, I’ll keep it in mind.
Ben: I'm not going to be scandalous...
The rest of the internet: Awww :(
Right? We could use some scandal!!
Careful what you ask for...
Thanks- this really helped ❤
wonderful bro, keep going, man.
Well explained, thank you.
What else would you want to see? I'm preparing to make more videos
@@tinkerandthink
I would enjoy watching a tutorial on how to pull a carafe and or bottle please.🌺🌈
@@monicaweber5098 absolutely! keep an eye out :)
@@tinkerandthink thank you🌈❤
I learn so much from you. Thank you so much!
I'm glad! Thanks for letting me know. If there's something else you would like me to cover in a future video, let me know!
I agree
And is it possibility that the wheel is not good, i have impression that my wheel is not strait? Can i make a good piece on wobbly wheel?
This is the most beautiful man I've ever seen.
Real asf
Absolutely helpful. Thank you!!
Really great tutorial video.
Now after you master centering you can get a strong arm.
Oh your point on bracing arm/leg/chest - I feel like I'm struggling hardcore with that. I am very physically weak and it feels like when I try to center clay I'm putting so much force in without it doing anything to the clay at all (coning is a nightmare), because if i try to just brace my body and keep my hands steady it seems impossible to keep them in the same position. Is there something I'm missing or do you just have to have some level of physical strength to do it properly
Physical strength helps, I won't lie. But it isn't the only way. A few pieces of advice:
1. Start with a round ball of clay centered on the wheel. No need to slam it down and miss the center. Plop it down and smack it down. The more centered it is to start, the better.
2. Don't try to move the whole mass of clay. Just redistribute the outer, uncentered layer. Try this: use just one finger, braced with the other hand, to press in just one place in the clay; it will center that narrow band fairly easily because you're moving so little clay at a time. Apply that principle to the whole act of centering.
3. Try different hand positiona for centering. Just watch different potters and try what they do. Everyone is different, and you may find something that feels more secure for you.
Keep trying! I hope this helps a little. Centering is very hard to learn, but once you find something that works for you it will get easier with practice.
This really helped me understand centering a bit better in the physics sense thankyou, what was the name of the Asian instructor you mentioned please?
I'm glad! His name is Hsin Chuen Lin.
what are the channels he recommended in the beginning?
One of them was Florian Gadsby, really good!
I like your videos. seems like you stopped making tutorials though
My students and I thank you.
Unfortunately I have a treadle wheel so have difficulty bracing my arm against thigh because its moving! Any ideas?
I've never used a treadle, but I find that on an electric wheel I don't need to brace my arm if my core is braced. Throwing with softer clay will also mean you need less force to move it around.
@@tinkerandthink thank you 👍
Sell it to me! You are SO lucky to have a treadle. They make pots with much more life to them than electric wheels. Obviously, you can't brace your arm against your thigh while you're standing and moving your leg. You can brace your arm against the splash pan or against your torso, and it will work fine.
What is the name of the potter, Shin Jung Li?
Hsin Chuen Lin. His channel is linked in the video when I mention him (in the upper right corner, I think)
@@tinkerandthink Thank you
cool
Do you also happen to be an engineer? You def give engineer vibes.
😂 when I'm helping newbies on the wheel, my Montra for hands on and off the clay is:
" Shhhh, go slow... you don't want to wake the baby " 🤸🤹♀️🥳🙆
😂 I like that one!
You should almost never use your finger tips wile centering use the sturdy butt or lower palm it gives you more control and stability
what a wonderful chanel, I souscribe & like, salam, peace from algeria
1: tell them what you're going to tell them.
2: tell them.
3: tell them what you told them.
such clear, concise instruction! excellent video. next time take off your shirt lol
LMAO true 😂
And don’t forget to breathe!
I have to remind myself that every single time I am centering as I tend to hold my breath lol
bro looks like if robert pattinson became a master potter
Throw a sack of 25lbs of clay 32 inches high, 18 inches wide into a classic shape or a bottle in 4 minutes 11 sec... toss 40 bags a day... 1000lbs lbs...keep yourself busy...be a potter.
Next time be scandalous!
I think you missed a major step. When placing the clay on the wheel it helps to slap it into place all the way around. It literally pre centers the clay. I wasn’t self taught but been throwing for plus 15 years. Slapping the clay in place has you hand move the wheel then seal the bottom w your finger should really be the first step to help. All to often I see beginners just throw the clay on the wheel and it’s not even in the center of the wheel. Most people think you have to throw it down and you don’t, just set it. I never learned to push the clay across but only push down into my hand. That prevents aka pushing off the wheel which I have to say you still have to push quite ridiculously hard for that to happen. Having a good strong core does help. Strength really doesn’t mean much. I have a fellow potter and on a great day she is maybe 90 pounds and she can center 25 pounds of clay in no time, and like I we throw really dry. But I’ll have to watch a few more of your videos.
2sep22
Hmm instructions unclear. Maybe it will be okay to take off your shirt and show me
oh please, be scandalous.
Too much talking and not any real physical demonstration. I need to see the mechanics and advice in action. Sorry this video did not help me.
Thanks for the feedback. This isn't a how to video, it's meant to help someone who has learned the basics but is still struggling. It's a video about the concepts behind centering, so it necessarily has more explaining. I tried to show what I mean by "be still" etc. And I pointed out other videos that do a good job of what you're looking for. Guess I should have taken off my shirt to demonstrate flexing your core 🤷
Mark Peters does a really good throwing demonstration, and there's no talking. I hope it's still on You Tube.