Coil Building and Throwing a Tall Vase on the Pottery Wheel

This video shows how to make a 18 inch tall, straight-walled vase by throwing a base and then adding coils of clay Then, after joining the coils, the vase is thrown, shaped, and cleaned up.
For this video, I started with an 8 pound base and I had three additional coils that weighed 4 pounds each. These coils were wedged, rolled out, and made into a circle prior to sitting down at the wheel.
This video is about 30 minutes of throwing at the wheel condensed into 9 minutes.
This is one of my favorite ways of making larger vessels on the pottery wheel. This technique can be modified to suit your needs-start with any amount of clay to form your base, and then build from there. You can use this way of building to get more clay on the wheel, and then shape the vessel however you want.
Have fun trying this out and thanks for watching.
Timecodes:
00:24 Centering and opening the 8 pound base
01:28 Adding coil #1
02:03 Adding coil #2
02:36 Adding coil #3
03:15 Pulling the walls
04:12 Standing pulls for more leverage
06:17 Removing slip and shaping with ribs
07:09 Trimming excess clay from lower half of vase
08:00 Final shaping and adjustments
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Website: www.merkelhess.com/

[@carlosleon9580]

Hi Matt, I noticed that after some pulls the vessel actually became shorter, then you did something and pulled again and it went up, what was that move? I'm stucked at that point: when to stop pulling a large vessel, it always goes from a nice cilinder to wobbly, thanks!

[@merkelhess]

Thanks for your question. Without knowing the exact timespot, my guess is that I "collared in" the piece. This made the cylinder a bit narrower, raising the height of the piece.
When making taller pieces like this, I usually expect to lose some height when I start making the pieces wider.
If you are struggling with keeping things even, you can always pause and let the clay dry a bit. Some people use a propane torch to dry the clay. With practice, you will find a method that works for you. If the clay is getting wobbly or off center, try to let it teach you and figure out how to approach it the next time. You'll get there!

[@carlosleon9580]

Thanks Matt! I think I've seen the torch on some videos, I'll record myself and see whats going on@@merkelhess

[@user-jm4ik4ex8x]

你拉一个的时间起码20分钟，在中国景德镇 可以拉4个 平均4分钟一个 ，太弱了

[@merkelhess]

From Google translation: "It takes at least 20 minutes to pull one. In Jingdezhen, China, you can pull 4, one every 4 minutes on average. It’s too weak."

[@merkelhess]

Thank you for your comment. If the Google translation is correct, you are commenting that I am doing this too slow? Please consider that this is a demonstration intended for sharing this technique with others and also that, rapid production is never the goal of my pottery and artistic practice. Instead, I am focused on my own personal expression and encouraging anyone who watches my videos to find their own voice and style, however fast or slow they may be working. Thanks!