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Make a Pottery Throwing Gauge

By: ornamento.blog April 22, 2021April 12, 2021

Art, DIY pottery tools, Pottery tools, problem solving, repurposing, Tool Making, ToolsArt, DIYPottery tools, Pottery and Ceramics, Pottery Throwing GaugeLeave a Comment

One way to make similar-sized pottery plates, bowls and mugs is to start out with a given weight of clay for each item. Here’s a handy chart of recommended amounts of clay needed for certain items. But I have a hard time throwing consistently-sized items even if I do start out with equal weights of clay. It would be nice to make a set of four mugs that are nearly the same size on purpose and not by accident. A pottery throwing gauge is a tool that is supposed to help you do just that. You set the gauges to the height and width you want your piece to be and, if you don’t knock it over, you might end up with an evenly-matched set of bowls or mugs.

I’d never even heard of a pottery throwing gauge until I saw this video by Florian Gadsby on YouTube. I was intrigued needless to say. I love tools but I’m not the kind of person who buys tools willy nilly thinking they can make me a better artist. But I will buy a tool if I think it will be helpful. (I just snagged a KitchenAid mixer on Craigslist and it sure makes kneading bread easier.) And if I think I can make a tool that will be helpful, even better.

So I decided to make a pottery throwing gauge. I gathered up my nut and bolt collection, and my scrap wood. Aside from some wood screws, the only other material I used was a broken set of pottery calipers from the pottery studio. I sawed these in two, to make two positionable gauges which can be used in tandem to measure the height and width of the pot. They fold up out of the way if they’re not needed. I fastened the gauge parts with bolts, wing nuts and rubber washers like these because they make it easy to tighten the wing nuts and position the gauges. I used bigger bolts, washers and wing nuts to attach the gauges to the center post.

My tool list was short: a drill and bits, an electric screwdriver, a metal saw, a wood saw, a ruler, and a clamp to hold the wood during sawing.

The gauges cover a pretty wide range of sizes. I drilled holes in the main post about four inches apart so the gauges could be taken out and repositioned as needed.

I screwed the main post into a crosspiece which seems steady, but I might have to weight it down with a brick when I am throwing pots on an active wheel. I also drew lines at one-inch intervals let me know how to set the gauges. The center post is about 15 inches high.

Wiggling and Faceting: More DIY Pottery Tools

By: ornamento.blog July 19, 2018July 18, 2018

Art, DIY, pottery, Pottery tools, The Clay StudioArt, DIYPottery tools, pottery, The Clay StudioLeave a Comment

I’m taking a throwing class at The Clay Studio this summer with a wonderful teacher. At our last class, we learned how to throw faceted pots. Read more about faceted pots here.

FacetedPots

Some examples of faceted pots we saw in class

Then the teacher showed us a faceting tool with a wiggle wire instead of a straight wire. It left interesting patterns when it was dragged across the clay to cut facets, and there are a number of ways you can drag the wiggle wire through the clay to decorate your pot. Take a look at some examples here.

I have always liked the look of mugs that were cut off the wheel with wiggle wires, but I never invested in a tool to do it. That and the faceting tool got me to thinking. Why not make myself some wiggle wire tools? And that’s what I did.

I made a cut-off tool first. I had an old straight wire cut-off tool that was a bit frayed. I simply coiled the wire around a mandrel and it kept its shape when I removed the mandrel.

If you don’t have a spare cut-off tool, you might try coiling stainless steel wire which is more difficult to do and not as flexible, but if you coil a long enough piece, it should work. I would recommend a 22 gauge or so wire. Crafting and similar type wires are probably too soft and liable to rust. Attach the ends to washers or dowels and voila! a wiggle wire cut-off tool.

For the faceting tool you will need a piece of wood about the size of a small pocket comb, say four or five inches long and an inch or so wide. I cut off part of a paint stirrer that was thick enough to accommodate screws but I would recommend a sturdier wood for a better tool.

I drilled holes to accommodate two flat-head screws and two holes on each side for the screw eyes.

I coiled some 22 gauge stainless steel wire around a mandrel. I recommend that you secure the mandrel and wire in a vise before winding. It will make the job much easier.

Insert the hardware. You might want to add a drop of wood or epoxy glue in the screw hole if you are using a soft wood.

Uncoil the wire. It will be stiff. Make several wraps around the screw eye and feed a straight section through the slot in the nearest screw. You might have to straighten out a bit of the wire with flat pliers to do this. The picture shows you how you should have your screw angled and why a Phillips head screw won’t work.

Stretch the wire over to the next screw and make sure it fits into the screw slot before winding the rest around the other screw eye. Be careful when you cut this wire because it is stiff and can go flying. You can tighten the wire by turning the screw eyes.