Studio Notes: Pottery Guides & Tool Tips

Studio Notes

How we'd do it, from first tools to cracked pots. Take what works for you and leave the rest.

Why Does My Glaze Have Pinholes? Causes and Fixes

What causes pinholes in fired glaze, how to tell them from blisters and crawling, and what to change on the next pot.

Why glaze pulls into beads and leaves bare patches in the kiln, the usual causes, and what to change on the next pot.

Why we think every potter should see Seagrove at least once, and how to make a day of it.

Set-up, a step-by-step method, and fixes for the usual centering problems: wobbling, mushrooming, clay flying off.

Drying times by piece type, the cheek and scale tests for bone dry, and why speeding things up usually costs you the pot.

What each stage of clay feels like, what to do with it, and the point after which you can't recycle it.

Cracks almost always come from drying too fast or unevenly. Here's how to slow things down.

A wire, a knife and a couple of cutters handle nearly every cut. Which one, and when.

Mop, fan, liner, wool. Which glaze brush for which job, and how to skip the streaks.

Crisp underglaze patterns with almost no drawing skill. It takes a try or two to get the feel.