Thank you Tim, all of your videos have been so helpful and down to earth learning! You are definitely one of my favorite potter to watch on youtube when it comes to understanding good basic technique. Thank you kind sir!
Wow! I wish I were closer to you I'd take a class with you in a New York Minute...Thanks Tim you're the Best...Great teaching technique ...and it's probably because you Love what you do...Thanks for sharing your talent...I look forward to your next lesson...
You make it seem so easy to do! Eventually over time I will finally become just a great as you! You inspire me to keep trying and get it right! Thank you for all the videos! They're really helping me out! :)
Tim!!! You are awesome!! I'm in a class learning nothing for 2 hours! I have learned more in your videos, watching a couple everyday,,over and over..going to try to use what I have learned from these great videos! You're a great teacher! Wish you were teaching me!! Well thank you for all of your time making these..I'll be on watching and learning as I go .. just hope I can apply in class! She's got a lot of explaining to do!! LOL.. Take care!
Vinegar has the a way of breaking up the clay particles so when the dry they stick together better. there are much more technical answers to that but its the way i think of it.
Tim, I've watched just about every video you've done. I just started a pottery course - you make it look so easy - so far I'm pretty despondent - but I'm not giving up. I only get a couple of hours a week to practice, but with your straightforward style and amazing results - well, I'm in for the long haul! Me and my flexible metal rib of death - you are my inspiration.. Thank you xx
Thank you Tim, you really do help with your straightforward technique and the analogies you use - I just have to find a way to get my hands on clay for more than a couple of hours a week. I'm not going to let it stop me though! Many many thanks!
Gotta tell you - I'm just starting out and have a treadle wheel right now but holy cow, you do these fast..!!! Something to aim for! Looking forward to checking out some of your other videos - thanks! Helen
Thanks for this video! I've only thrown a couple times, but seeing as coffee is my favorite thing in the world, knowing how to do mugs is ..kind of awesome. :)
Thanks for sharing this. I'm just starting to learn how to throw for class and our first assignment is to make a set of mugs. This video was really helpful. :)
The designs are limitless. I start creating a design by looking how a mug is used. You can do the same thing. get a few mugs and pick them up hold them fill and empty them and pick the qualities that you like in a mug and remove the elements that you disagree with and you have a new design that works for you.
Great video, I will try vinegar, I now use magic water and it seems to work well and it's easy to make. Your work is excellent, thanks for sharing. Thanks from Titusville, Florida where it's cold and windy this morning....
hey Tim! thanks for your videos! today is my first day back on the wheel after a 9 year break. I am really super excited and watching your videos before I head to my new studio : ) yahoo!
Another good thing to do with handles is to attach them at the top of the mug just like you did, but then to do a fish tail on the other end of the handle by smearing the clay of the handle twards the bottom at an amgle and then removing what's left over.
A outside surface scraped of slip and nice clean hands allow yo pick them up without complications. as for trimming it is done after the clay has had time to dry to leather hard.
I like a leather hard mug and a handle that has dried long enough that it is hard to put finger prints on it. (but not too dry that the bottom of the handle isnt so stiff that it wont bend or wont press into the mug.
You realize you threw each mug in about a minute? The less time you spend on it, the better it is, I've grown to believe! I made a giant mess with the handles on my teapots last week. I used gobs of slip and then had to trim and smooth it off when it was dry. Cough cough. So vinegar works better than slip?
Oh that's easy. You just hand-build the mug! Just throw a slab of clay, cut a base from the slab, cut a wall from the slab, form the wall into a cylinder or desired shape, score and slip the edge, smooth the joined edge, and score and slip the cylinder to the base. To make the handle, just pull the handle like you would for wheel throwing, or make a fancy coil handle or something.
great tutorials! I'm just starting a course and there hasn't been much "instruction" yet. So hoping this will arm me with some know-how before throwing class. Thanks!
Excellent work, very informative. Keep up the good work. Are you available to answer specific questions and or provide specific videos, for example casseroles and fitting lids to casseroles. Thanks very much, Peter
A start is fifty/fifty alcohol/vinegar 90% rubbing, which has water in it and the vinegar is watery. the alcohol will evaporate off first so adding a bit now and then will keep it even. Tim
I couldn't be your teacher I haven't hit you with the Styrofoam stick of doom. thank you for your kind words. I wish you luck If you have videos of throwing post them. Tim
good instruction, you make it look so easy. Are your handles very hard when you attach them, or is the clay still quite "floppy"? Is there a problem if you use moist handles on leather hard cups?
Well Just a week ago I was trying to fix a problem with leaking in some of my pourers that were unglazed so I used slip with vinegar, pieces were falling off like dead leaves made some more with just alcohol and vinegar and on as tight as could be I use the mix to stick everything together every clay every piece no problems.
hi tim...i love watching you throw...my idol !! when attaching a handle...is the cup leather -hard and the handle newly made (wet) or are both leather -hard? thx...bev in fla.
I'm really enjoying your videos and will probably watch as many as possible on this blustery rainy LA day. I have a couple of questions: What clay are you using and how much shrinkage do you get? I've been firing at cone 10 and found about 30% size reduction. If that's the case, would you still use just over a pound for a decent mug, or would you increase the amount? My mugs are coming out the right size for a four year old...
Thank you for generosity; helping people become better potters. I just read someone's comment that you use vinegar when you throw, not water???? Please explain.
what would be the best way to make a mug without the wheel apparatus? i tried doing it by hand but not so great .. should i put a glass cup on a table and work around it?
It really might only be shrinking 12- 16% there are ways you can measure it. make a 10 centimeter bar and measure it after its dry and after the final firing. But you do need to compensate for shrinkage in the throwing process if you find one pound too small add a 1/4 pound and dry those,
I mix it fifty fifty with 90%rubbing alcohol, white i think. You can use any acidic liquid lemon juice orange juice... do an experiment try attaching three handles one with vinegar one with slip one with water and one with bleach ok four dry them all the same and see which stays on the best.
Do you leave those handles as is, without blending them into the mug? If so, do the handles have any issues with wanting to release from the mug during the bisque firing?
Very informative video. How long do you let the handle dry before attaching to the mug? I have problems with cracking in the centre of the handle. Do you think that is to do with a difference in drying of mug and handle?
Chris Barton if the handle is much wetter than the piece it will shrink more than the pot and something will give. I let them set up enough that I do not leave finger prints but they are still flexible.
Its not so much about how long you need to let them dry its about how dry they are. the mugs need to be trimmed before you add a handle. So they need to be as dry as you need them to trim. The handles I try to use when I can no longer leave finger prints at the bottoms of the handles.. wait too much longer and they will crack as you bend them.
I love your videos, so insightful...how expensive would it be to set up a wheel and mess around with clay to begin learning? I understand the wheel would be pricey but is clay expensive or can you get it at a reasonable price so that experimenting wouldn't make your bank run dry.
50lbs is about $25 for a beginner that would last about 12 hours of throwing. I might be good at showing what to do but being in a class would make a huge difference in how fast you learn.
can you post the ratio of water / vinegar / alcohol you use to make your mix? I have made cups in the past and the thick cracking seem of the handles make them look horrible.
Hello Tim. I've been doing pottery for a couple of years now (coil method mostly) but I'm a begginer thrower. I'm from Colombia so I've been learning all the terms and techniques in spanish, but I'm gonna try my best to translate. I was wondering why do you use vinegar when sticking the parts together. I was taught to use barbotine (in spanish barbotina, when the clay is practically liquid) and it has worked pretty well. What do you think?
11 years later, this video is still helping people. I learned so much from this video. Thank you!
Thanks - I just started throwing - so watching these videos is pure joy!
thanks Tim. I wanted to get my head round handles... yours is the first channel of choice. XXX
Thank you Tim, all of your videos have been so helpful and down to earth learning! You are definitely one of my favorite potter to watch on youtube when it comes to understanding good basic technique. Thank you kind sir!
Tim, I love this video. It is just perfect example of fresh (not overworked) gesture I think they call it. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, Tim. You have a lot of sponges there. I don't think I ever have quite enough.
Wow! I wish I were closer to you I'd take a class with you in a New York Minute...Thanks Tim you're the Best...Great teaching technique ...and it's probably because you Love what you do...Thanks for sharing your talent...I look forward to your next lesson...
Helpful video! I am taking pottery lessons and I appreciate your speed and expertise.
You make it seem so easy to do! Eventually over time I will finally become just a great as you! You inspire me to keep trying and get it right! Thank you for all the videos! They're really helping me out! :)
Tim!!! You are awesome!! I'm in a class learning nothing for 2 hours! I have learned
more in your videos, watching a couple everyday,,over and over..going to try to use
what I have learned from these great videos! You're a great teacher! Wish you were
teaching me!! Well thank you for all of your time making these..I'll be on watching
and learning as I go .. just hope I can apply in class! She's got a lot of explaining to
do!! LOL.. Take care!
Vinegar has the a way of breaking up the clay particles so when the dry they stick together better. there are much more technical answers to that but its the way i think of it.
enjoyed wathcing your smooth fast pace. such flow and rhythm. learned alot.thank you
Tim, I've watched just about every video you've done. I just started a pottery course - you make it look so easy - so far I'm pretty despondent - but I'm not giving up. I only get a couple of hours a week to practice, but with your straightforward style and amazing results - well, I'm in for the long haul! Me and my flexible metal rib of death - you are my inspiration.. Thank you xx
Anytime you have questions or a way I can help, let me know.
Tim, your video's are always so informative I really learn alot from you. I just Wish you would put more on !!
Warm regards from Debbie in Florida !
Thank you! Exactly what I was looking for! Can't wait to see your other videos.
Hi Tim I really enjoy the way u teach your good at it
Nice video. To the point - great demonstration. Thanks.
Thanks so much for your wonderful videos. They are most helpful. I have put them on my I pad and I can go to class and refer to them when I get stuck.
Thank you Tim, you really do help with your straightforward technique and the analogies you use - I just have to find a way to get my hands on clay for more than a couple of hours a week. I'm not going to let it stop me though! Many many thanks!
Thank you for sharing your experience with us beginners. Really appreciate it!
Gotta tell you - I'm just starting out and have a treadle wheel right now but holy cow, you do these fast..!!! Something to aim for!
Looking forward to checking out some of your other videos - thanks!
Helen
your videos are amazing! so helpful. thank you!!
Thanks for this video! I've only thrown a couple times, but seeing as coffee is my favorite thing in the world, knowing how to do mugs is ..kind of awesome. :)
thanks tim...wonderful comprehensive video!
great video, thanks for sharing that. Your commentary is great, your skill amazing, you did it so fast!
great video... i am a new potter so that i am watching and watching it. thanks
Very helpful demo. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing this. I'm just starting to learn how to throw for class and our first assignment is to make a set of mugs. This video was really helpful. :)
You are my idol. Sure wish I could do that so effortlessly. Good video
The designs are limitless. I start creating a design by looking how a mug is used. You can do the same thing. get a few mugs and pick them up hold them fill and empty them and pick the qualities that you like in a mug and remove the elements that you disagree with and you have a new design that works for you.
Great video, I will try vinegar, I now use magic water and it seems to work well and it's easy to make. Your work is excellent, thanks for sharing.
Thanks from Titusville, Florida where it's cold and windy this morning....
Enjoyed your video very much.
More of what... let me know I have run out of ideas. I could do dancing videos or of my fish kermit he loves the camera.
Nicely done. Thank you for sharing.
Great teaching video... I am inspired..
Very informative and helpful. I hadn't heard before of using vinegar.
Thanks,Tim!!!!!
hey Tim! thanks for your videos! today is my first day back on the wheel after a 9 year break. I am really super excited and watching your videos before I head to my new studio : ) yahoo!
Great video, thanks for sharing ;)
Excelente gracias por tù video.
love the soup mug!!
Wow I love it 😍😍😍
awesome vidoes. Thanks so much
u r the best, thanks
Another good thing to do with handles is to attach them at the top of the mug just like you did, but then to do a fish tail on the other end of the handle by smearing the clay of the handle twards the bottom at an amgle and then removing what's left over.
good potting!
Liam
your attitude in the top comment...i like it.
A outside surface scraped of slip and nice clean hands allow yo pick them up without complications. as for trimming it is done after the clay has had time to dry to leather hard.
i think it is a great video.i want to learn more from you.thank for make a video
I like a leather hard mug and a handle that has dried long enough that it is hard to put finger prints on it. (but not too dry that the bottom of the handle isnt so stiff that it wont bend or wont press into the mug.
You realize you threw each mug in about a minute? The less time you spend on it, the better it is, I've grown to believe! I made a giant mess with the handles on my teapots last week. I used gobs of slip and then had to trim and smooth it off when it was dry. Cough cough. So vinegar works better than slip?
Oh that's easy. You just hand-build the mug! Just throw a slab of clay, cut a base from the slab, cut a wall from the slab, form the wall into a cylinder or desired shape, score and slip the edge, smooth the joined edge, and score and slip the cylinder to the base. To make the handle, just pull the handle like you would for wheel throwing, or make a fancy coil handle or something.
great tutorials! I'm just starting a course and there hasn't been much "instruction" yet. So hoping this will arm me with some know-how before throwing class. Thanks!
Check out the help series I have done!
I just noticed; your fingers look awesome. Thems must be sum nice genes you got going on therr.
Excellent work, very informative. Keep up the good work.
Are you available to answer specific questions and or provide specific videos, for example casseroles and fitting lids to casseroles.
Thanks very much,
Peter
A start is fifty/fifty alcohol/vinegar 90% rubbing, which has water in it and the vinegar is watery. the alcohol will evaporate off first so adding a bit now and then will keep it even. Tim
Tim, I'm learning so much from your videos. Would you consider doing one on large casseroles with various handles and lids? Thanks!
janie in Colorado
I will put that on my todo list.
awww!!! i want a wheel sooo bad.. but ill never have one.
Vinegar doesn't shrink and crack as does liquid clay.
I do what is called tap or bump centering. I believe I have a trimming video and if You cannot find one let me know and I will make one for you.
Well I am glad I could make someone maybe.
I couldn't be your teacher I haven't hit you with the Styrofoam stick of doom. thank you for your kind words. I wish you luck If you have videos of throwing post them. Tim
good instruction, you make it look so easy. Are your handles very hard when you attach them, or is the clay still quite "floppy"? Is there a problem if you use moist handles on leather hard cups?
Great mugs! Why do you use vinegar instead of slip?
Well Just a week ago I was trying to fix a problem with leaking in some of my pourers that were unglazed so I used slip with vinegar, pieces were falling off like dead leaves made some more with just alcohol and vinegar and on as tight as could be I use the mix to stick everything together every clay every piece no problems.
hi tim...i love watching you throw...my idol !! when attaching a handle...is the cup leather -hard and the handle newly made (wet) or are both leather -hard? thx...bev in fla.
I'm really enjoying your videos and will probably watch as many as possible on this blustery rainy LA day. I have a couple of questions: What clay are you using and how much shrinkage do you get? I've been firing at cone 10 and found about 30% size reduction. If that's the case, would you still use just over a pound for a decent mug, or would you increase the amount? My mugs are coming out the right size for a four year old...
Thank you =-)
An edge that feels good in the mouth allows a seal to form and is not too thin that it chips.
Thank you for generosity; helping people become better potters. I just read someone's comment that you use vinegar when you throw, not water???? Please explain.
well done
what would be the best way to make a mug without the wheel apparatus? i tried doing it by hand but not so great .. should i put a glass cup on a table and work around it?
It really might only be shrinking 12- 16% there are ways you can measure it. make a 10 centimeter bar and measure it after its dry and after the final firing. But you do need to compensate for shrinkage in the throwing process if you find one pound too small add a 1/4 pound and dry those,
excellent not sure why the vinegar? i was taught to use slip? thx for sharing
because slip is a mixture of clay and vinegar
I mix it fifty fifty with 90%rubbing alcohol, white i think. You can use any acidic liquid lemon juice orange juice... do an experiment try attaching three handles one with vinegar one with slip one with water and one with bleach ok four dry them all the same and see which stays on the best.
why vinegar instead of slip? what does the vinegar do?
The acidity of the vinegar breaks down the clay a bit, and makes it sticky
@silliegirl50 There are videos on the throwing process check out my website to find the videos easier.
Nice! Im learning right now in college :) How do you make the handles so neat?
Phenomenal teacher! Really appreciate your tips and techniques. Only complaint, really just. A tip. Improve your video quality. Thank you thank you.
this video is 11 years old :) i guess there was no better quality back then :D
Do you leave those handles as is, without blending them into the mug? If so, do the handles have any issues with wanting to release from the mug during the bisque firing?
Abbey Thomas nope they are attached blending can actually show up separation more.
Very informative video. How long do you let the handle dry before attaching to the mug? I have problems with cracking in the centre of the handle. Do you think that is to do with a difference in drying of mug and handle?
Chris Barton if the handle is much wetter than the piece it will shrink more than the pot and something will give. I let them set up enough that I do not leave finger prints but they are still flexible.
if the mug is cracking then the clay is drying too fast
Its not so much about how long you need to let them dry its about how dry they are. the mugs need to be trimmed before you add a handle. So they need to be as dry as you need them to trim. The handles I try to use when I can no longer leave finger prints at the bottoms of the handles.. wait too much longer and they will crack as you bend them.
There is a handle video too.
I love your videos, so insightful...how expensive would it be to set up a wheel and mess around with clay to begin learning? I understand the wheel would be pricey but is clay expensive or can you get it at a reasonable price so that experimenting wouldn't make your bank run dry.
50lbs is about $25 for a beginner that would last about 12 hours of throwing. I might be good at showing what to do but being in a class would make a huge difference in how fast you learn.
Do you smooth the top joint of the handle to the mug at all?
I usually mix alcohol but i have left my vinegar mix open for a week or two now its just vinegar.
that looks like 250 which is a raku clay that can be fired to cone 13 with nice results.
can you post the ratio of water / vinegar / alcohol you use to make your mix? I have made cups in the past and the thick cracking seem of the handles make them look horrible.
Hello Tim. I've been doing pottery for a couple of years now (coil method mostly) but I'm a begginer thrower. I'm from Colombia so I've been learning all the terms and techniques in spanish, but I'm gonna try my best to translate. I was wondering why do you use vinegar when sticking the parts together. I was taught to use barbotine (in spanish barbotina, when the clay is practically liquid) and it has worked pretty well. What do you think?
barbotina= slip :)
@toocute4u306 over on the side there is a video called help I can't pull a wall check that one out.
Hi Tim
I was wondering how one makes the hand warmer mugs ....could you tell how it's done???
Hi Shiva, have you used one before?
You need to make one of your own. mine is a baseball bat with thin layer of stryo. =)
Good God, so fast. o.o
how long did you let it dry before adding the handle?
Why did you use Vinegar and not slip to attach the handle?
How do you do your fingers when you raise your mugs?
How were you able to trim them right after? Did you have to wait for them to dry a bit?
lbeltran yep these had set up. I like to wait till they are like a hard cheese
It is a smooth white cone 6, not translucent though. number 66 i think.
Nope I am American.. but a sexy accent? c'mon its just those awesome mugs.
What is the vinegar for? To dry it?
same as slip
Thanks.