Wheel Throwing Series, Step 2: Centering the Clay! Tips for Successful Centering!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ค. 2021
- This is part of the new wheel series I am working on this summer! I am remaking my wheel videos on my new SKUTT wheel!!! Here is a link to my wheel- available from most good pottery suppliers. skutt.com/products-page/potte...
The video is focused on the preparation of the wheel and clay for throwing.
In a nutshell, here are the key points I tell and show my students:
Wheel direction is COUNTER- CLOCKWISE for right handed throwing. Clay spins away from the fingertips, and into the palm of the left when centering.
Step 1) Start with a ball rather than a square
Step 2) Attach the ball firmly in the middle of the wheel head or bat
Step 3) Advice for beginners: Blend the ball edge to the bat to prevent water from creeping underneath
Step 4) Pat that ball into a little mountain shape BEFORE you wet your hands!
Step 5) LOCKING your ELBOWS and HANDS
Elbows to thighs or splashpan if sitting- to side or splashpan if standing
Hands locked together when at all possible thus creating a STABLE TRIANGLE-
Step 6) CONING- Water on ball and hands- Use the LEFT hand to begin centering the base of the clay where it attaches to the bat. ELBOW LOCKED- Hook thumb over top
Step 7) When centering the base with left and thumb over top, slide the left hand upward to pull any off centered areas up and through the top of the dome.
Step 8) PUSH down the clay by pushing it away from you and down with the left hand/thumb.
Step 9) Repeat the CONING process two more times until centered.
CHECK YOUR ELBOWS- ARE THEY LOCKED??
Step 10) Once fairly centered from the coning process (Done primarily with the left hand) then concentrate on the HOCKEY-PUCK prior to dropping the middle.
Step 11) Lock the left hand on the left side of the clay- pushing IN with the heel of the hand- while hooking your left thumb over the top edge to maintain a straight side.
Step 12) Lock the hands together- left on side, right on top, making a 90 degree angle with the hands. Right is in a fist- like you are going to punch- and you are pushing down with the side of the right hand- while locked to the left. Keep left thumb hooked over the top.
Step 13) CHECK YOUR ELBOWS- ARE THEY LOCKED??
My new series will offer new videos with tips and tricks to successfully wheel throw pieces- from beginner to intermediate to advanced. I will be offering a good deal of EXPLANATION within the videos to help people understand the mechanics of why things work the way they do! I often tell my students they learn more from their mistakes than from their successes in throwing. In these videos in my series, I will try to distill my best tips I have learned from my successes and failures, and my students' struggles as well. Two things have led me to becoming the potter I am today. These are the things I want to share with you- to help YOU become a better potter!
Subscribe to my channel to get the latest updates on this video series, AND, subscribe to my NEW wheel throwing playlist too! • NEW Wheel Throwing Pla...
Step 1; WEDGING Clay in Preparation for Throwing (& Preventing "S" Cracks) • Wheel Throwing Step 1;...
Wheel and Tool Preparation for Throwing • Wheel Series: Wheel a...
Step 2; CENTERING the clay on the Potter’s Wheel.
Step 3: Dropping the Middle and Opening • Video
Step 4: Two Ways to Pull and Thin a Wall. • Wheel Throwing Series,...
Check out your local pottery suppliers- I love my favorite local supplier- Cornell Studio Supply in Dayton… give them a call, they’re super helpful! (And tell them I sent you!) cornellstudiosupply.com/
For the great tools, materials, and suppliers I recommend check out this link to a live searchable (control F) Googledoc I continually update with lots of my favorite tools on Amazon using my associate links! docs.google.com/document/d/1X...
I am a public high school ceramics teacher at William Mason High School in Mason, Ohio. (Mason is currently the largest high school in Ohio!) As a potter, I have been working in clay for over 33+ years, and I have been teaching for over 30 years, the past 22 have been specifically teaching high school ceramics. I love what I do! I have my own studio in my home basement, where I work on my personal pottery for my Etsy site; www.etsy.com/shop/KaransPotsA...
I started my TH-cam channel a few years ago, to make videos to help my students if they are absent and miss a demo, or if they would like to explore more advanced techniques independently.
Please subscribe to my channel if you would like to receive channel updates, or would like to learn more about clay and studio processes!
I am in a partnership with Skutt - as they sent me the new wheel to use for the videos! I am not receiving any compensation from them beyond the wheel.
Your students must love you! I'm 50 and just getting into pottery. Your videos are super easy to follow and you have such a patient demeanor!
Thank you I have just come across your videos ! I’m finding this very clear to follow & thankfull to find someone that is clear & easy to understand. I am left handed & had several lessons learning right handed so it’s just teaching my brain to do the opposite to what is normal for me !
Best video for beginners.
Thank you so much, this series is amazing and helpful.
Well explained, thanks!
Thanks for the comprehensive video! Answers a lot of questions.
Liked even before watching, I knew it would be a great helpful video. 👍🏻😊
Very helpful info to revisit. Thanks for making your videos widely accessible!
This video helped me more than any other....and I've watched a lot!
I’m so glad!!!!
Thank you so much for this video! I used your advise for centering today and it help me a lot. I find your videos very detailed and you cover everything very clearly.
That’s awesome!! Yay!!
Thanks a lot!
Love your videos!
Only thing I didn't hear you mention, unless I missed it, was to never take your hands off the clay too fast.
You’re absolutely right- I can’t believe I didn’t mention that!!! Lol! I was kicking myself after I got it up and published! I’ll be sure to cover that in pulling!
I never would have mentioned it except I knew you were making this for your students.
For whatever reason, I center with the opposite hands. Do you see any issue with this? I have only been throwing off and on for about a year.
The opposite hands- my kids have less control- and less of the centrifugal force helping by rotating into the locked heel of the left hand. But, hey- whatever works best for you!!!
I want to try it the other way... you make centering look so nice! 😅
Hi all. On the video you say, "hunks of clay are somewhere around 1 1/2..." Is that 1 1/2 pounds?? You say this around 4:40 in the video. Very helpful so far! I wish Could take your in-person class :). Thank you for your generosity in sharing your knowledge.
Oh, yes- sorry for the ambiguity!! That's in pounds. Here in the US, that is what my kids are most used to! (I also give them the description, try using a piece about as big as your fist- that seems to help quite a bit and then they don't have to be worried about measuring.
@@KaransPotsAndGlass Thank you so much! So helpful! You really are an awesome instructor. If you had a Patreon thing, I would pay you!
The problem I have with centering is that I cannot for the life of me get the last little wobble out of the clay - I'll be 98% centered and never quite get it right. I will cone and cone and cone and still have a slight wobble - both on my home wheel (a Shimpo VL Whisper) and the wheels at the school where I take classes (I've used a Skutt and Brent wheels). My guess is that i cannot get the base of the clay centered and therefore no matter how many times I cone it, it won't ever center. Someone else can come behind me and center my lump no problem so I know it's not a wedging issue or a wheel issue.
I can sit for hours and just never ever get it right. I just tried to throw for 2 hours and never got a single lump centered. Any advice would be so helpful!
Jennifer- I apologize- I JUST saw your comment from months ago!! My BIGGEST suggestions would be: 1) lock the elbows tightly, so you have no elbow wobble, and 2) While pushing with both hands, push a little harder with the left down at the base of the clay... again with the elbows locked... this greater pressure on the side where the clay meets the bat is the biggie most of my kids need help with. Also, many, many time I can walk up behind a student who is struggling, to push on their left elbow and hold it steady, and that often does the trick. That left elbow stability is key!!!
I have this same problem. I can't get rid of that final wobble. I'm a total failure.
Hola consulta ;se puede reparar una fisura en una pieza horneada (sin esmaltar)
Have you upgraded the "drive" for your wheel. I bought a used yet new skutt wheel and found out the offer an upgraded electronics controller. Just wondering if you don't have or have the upgrade when you purchased or after the fact. Thanks for the great video on centering.
Yes, when I got mine, I did get the SSX controller. It's awesome!
When I try to cone I almost always end up with a little volcano at the top. Somehow I pull up sides and the tip is down below in a little hold I’ve made?? Help!!
This is such an important thing to learn!! When I teach my beginners, I emphasize that they must put pressure on the outside corner- to push it diagonally toward the center of the base... that helps to prevent the volcano in the center! Reach out through my fb page or instagram if you want to have some more indepth explanation- sometimes I lose comments on youtube as there are so many!
How can I print your steps to keep them on my wall for reference while I’m learning. I’m awful at centering. Ty
Here you go! This is a link to a printable Googledoc! docs.google.com/document/d/1KWr6TMEXKy5HhXRpqZc_qEvpJwnSbjA7iN0bEbkeXCA/edit?usp=sharing
When I have tried conning it always folds over in itself.
If it’s folding- try more or just different pressure with the side hand- putting pressure where the fold wants to happen, but if you keep consistent pressure at that location, the folding or creasing can’t happen!
I dont understand why you speed up your video when you are supposed to be teaching us the beginning steps of how to centre clay ! I'm pretty sure me and other first time learners will not learn how to centre our clay in three viewing and a speeded up viewing by you. It all should be at regular speed so we can keep playing and replaying the video. Please dont think I'm being rude, I just wanted to tell you my view as a new learner to the pottery wheel (please excuse the spelling, I am dyslexic and im trying to use the spell check on my tablet).
Thanks for the feedback, Lynsey- I have found because the video was over 20 minutes already, I find that my audience retention goes way, way down at that length. Also, many people won’t watch longer videos. I only sped up the successive times when I recap. Perhaps just start the video again from the beginning? My students especially don’t have the attention span for even this length of video!
Perhaps I’ll try a future one at all regular speed!
I've also found TH-cam gives you the ability to slow down/speed up videos. See settings.