Wheel Throwing for Beginners

Lessons

1. Before the Wheel Even Spins

   What clay is, what you actually need to buy, and how to sit at a wheel without hurting yourself.

   • •What this class is and what you'll leave with15 min
   • •The tools you need and the ones you don't (about six bucks of stuff)20 min
   • •Setting up your seat, your water, and your posture15 min
   • •Wedging the clay so there's no air trapped in it25 min
2. Centering, Which Is the Whole Game

   We spend real time here because everything after this is easy if the clay sits still, and impossible if it doesn't.

   • •Getting the clay to stick and the wheel up to speed15 min
   • •Coning up and coning down to work the clay25 min
   • •Elbow into your hip: bracing your hands against the spin25 min
   • •Feeling the wobble stop, and knowing when it hasn't20 min
   • •Centering again, and again, because once isn't enough25 min
3. Opening and Pulling the Walls

   Now the clay is centered we push a hole in the middle and bring the walls up, wet hands and all.

   • •Opening the clay the plain way I trust20 min
   • •The magic ring trick exists and I'm bad at it10 min
   • •Setting the floor thickness so you don't go through the bottom20 min
   • •First pull: bringing the wall up without tearing it25 min
   • •Second and third pulls, keeping your hands wet25 min
4. Throwing a Bowl

   Your first real form, made fast and made ugly on purpose until your hands catch on.

   • •Opening wider for a bowl shape20 min
   • •Shaping the curve from the inside25 min
   • •Cleaning the rim so it isn't ragged15 min
   • •Cutting it off the wheel with the wire15 min
   • •Throwing four more bad ones before you go home25 min
5. Trimming and Finishing

   The boring part where beginners quit, which is the difference between a hobby and a story about the time you tried pottery.

   • •Letting a pot dry to leather-hard and why timing matters15 min
   • •Centering the bowl upside down for trimming20 min
   • •Carving a foot ring without poking through the bottom25 min
   • •Smoothing, signing, and calling it finished15 min
6. Making a Mug You Take Home

   We throw a cylinder, pull a handle, and get a mug ready for the kiln person to fire.

   • •Throwing a straight cylinder for a mug25 min
   • •Pulling a handle and attaching it (mine leans, that's okay)25 min
   • •What glazing and firing does, and why I hand it off15 min
   • •Where to go next if the clay got under your nails15 min

Class discussion