Pots come in different shapes and sizes, and the art of making them is called Pottery.
Modern pottery mainly involves machinery and automatized processes.
However, we’re sharing today how to make pots with no special tools required.
Andy Ward teaches us how to make old-fashioned Pottery.
He’s taking pottery back to basics.
It’s a work of the hands.
First and foremost, the best tool that you will be using is your hands.
Aside from that, you will need these other tools already available at home.
Here are a few helpful items:
- Pairing Knife – Good for cutting rims and edges.
- Butter Knife – For scraping the outside surface of the pot smoothly, or reaching out from the inside to get something out.
- Spoon – You can use the back of it to burnish the outside surface.
- Old Credit Card (or any kind) – Another useful tool for scraping along the surface of the pot.
- A working base – any base that you can place your pot on and work on it. It’s either a Puki or just plywood.
- Round Scraper (made of any plastic) – Mainly used for scraping the surface and making it smoother.
There are also basic pottery tools that you can buy and they are usually sold in kits.
The workplace doesn’t have very special requirements, either.
You can do it anywhere at home. Just make sure that you clean and remove the excess clay, dirt, and grime after.
Another thing to consider is the fire option to harden the clay. The common ones are fireplaces or chimneys, however, kitchen ovens are not advisable.
Now for the real fun part.
Forming the pot.
Get a handful of clay and flatten it to form a flat circle. Andy used a Puki as the base since he was making a bowl in the video.
Place the flattened clay into the bowl and slowly form its sides along the edges.
A “coil” of clay is then added to surround the top edge.
This will make the “rim” later.
Pinch the side of the coil going into the inside surface of the clay to bond.
Turn the base Pookie upside down to remove the molded clay.
Do this slowly.
Pinch the outside seam of the coil and the clay base to bond.
Now use a dampened scraper to smoothen the inside surface.
Scraping is a beautiful process.
Next, trim the rim using a pairing knife however you want it.
Dampen your fingers to smoothen the cut edge.
Remove it from the puki base and leave it overnight.
Now, we’ll really make it shine.
The following day, you should have a fairly hardened clay for stone smoothing.
You can use a spoon if you don’t have a smooth stone.
Dampen it with water and go over the whole pot. This process will further smoothen the pot and fill in any small gaps.
Do this on the inside surface as well.
See it coming together?
Once smoothing the surface is done, you can place it in the oven for an hour.
The reason for this step is to remove the moisture that could cause breakage during firing.
The last step is the firing process.
Prepare a set of bricks and coal or firewood outside the house to make a furnace.
Start a fire and place your clay pot inside, make sure that it is not in contact with the fire source directly.
Leave it for a few hours before removing the pot from the fire, and there you have it.
See how Andy’s craftsmanship earned him the spotlight in the step-by-step video below!
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