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- 2. They are useful for adding and removing water, smoothing surfaces, and general clean-up of your work area. They can also be used for applying glaze if you want a textured appearance, or removing glaze if you.
- 5. Making pots or other objects using coils of clay. Roll out coils of clay with the palms of your hands before coiling the clay round into a pot shape. The coils can then be smoothed out using a scraper or rib tool to produce a flat surface to the pot.
- 11. Clay that is stiff but still slightly damp. Hard enough to retain its shape but wet enough for further work to be done on it (e.g. joining or stamping).
- 12. Pottery that has been given a preliminary firing to render them hard enough for further work, such as decoration and glazing. The higher the temperature of the bisque firing, the harder the pot will be, resulting in reduced reaction between glaze and body in the final firing.
- 14. The needle tool is a sharp metal needle set in a handle. It is used for cutting, piercing, measuring the depth of the clay, creating patterns, scoring, and finishing fine details. It is a very useful and versatile tool and will be found in any beginner's potter set.
- 16. The oven in which pottery is fired. Kilns can be fuelled by wood, oil, gas, or electricity.
- 17. A hand building technique where pottery is made using slabs of clay. Create the slabs by either pushing the clay out flat with the heel of your hand, beating them out with the side of your fist, rolling them out with a rolling pin, or cut slabs from a cube of clay with a wire. Slabs should be joined when leather-hard using slip and soft clay.
- 18. To make pottery without a potter’s wheel. Using clay slabs, molded clay, clay coils or otherwise manipulating the clay by hand.
- 19. Preparing clay body by kneading and mixing it to an even consistency.
- 20. Making pottery using a potter's wheel. Clay is thrown onto the center of the revolving wheel and the potter shapes it by hand.
- 21. Cones of ceramic material inserted in the kiln which melt at a known point. Used to indicate to the potter when a certain temperature has been reached. Modern kilns have programmers which detect when certain temperatures are reached, negating the use of these cones, however many potters still refer to the cone system when choosing the firing temperature.
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- 1. used for trimming clay pieces on the wheel once they have reached the leather-hard stage. They can be used to shape and finish surfaces and create functional features of a piece, such as cutting a foot.
- 3. The second firing of a pot after the glaze is applied.
- 4. useful for decorating and trimming extra clay off the bottom of the piece you are working on.
- 6. A glass-like substance used to decorate the surface of pottery.
- 7. Length of cheese wire with a handle at each end. Used for cutting clay.
- 8. Liquid clay used for decorating, joining, and for casting.
- 9. A flat disk that sits on the wheel. Used for heavy pieces that would be difficult to separate from the wheel.
- 10. A revolving wheel onto which clay is thrown and shaped. Usually powered by electricity or the potter’s foot.
- 13. Wooden metal or plastic shaping tools used in forming and smoothing pots. Sometimes known as a kidney.
- 15. To heat pots in a kiln to a set temperature to mature the glaze or clay.