Leatherhard pots, my favorite time to handle the pottery!

For me, the best time (and most efficient, as well) to handle pots is when they are 'leather-hard' (some people call it the cheese-hard) phase.  Enough of the water has evaporated from the body of the pot, yet the clay is still not to the dry stage. I can stick a fingernail into the surface, or, more importantly, I can smooth, with firm pressure from my fingers, any areas which will be rough after the bisque firing.

smoothing around the handle

 I really like to handle the pots at this time.  There is something about the cool, smooth surface It is firm, but responsive, and not dry or scratchy.  And it is when I make sure that all defects are fixed before the next stages.  Here are some mug forms, --being made for an order---, in two of the stages.

the foot, trimmed

A tray of finished, leather-hard mugs

  The first few photos show the leather-hard stage which is the final wet stage.  The last is a photo of the thrown forms, having dried overnight under a plastic wrap, now continuing to firm up so that the bottoms can be trimmed. 

mugs drying out so that the feet may be trimmed

throwing two-part pitchers--stage one

throwing the ring (a)

scoring the top edge of the lower section (c)

scoring the top edge of the lower section (b)

upending the ring onto the lower section (d)

the two parts, together....(e)

joining the top clay to the bottom (f)

I'll try to do this in two posts (though I probably should have done a video)-----When I throw an especially tall form I have various ways of making it easier:  here I'll talk about tall pitchers.  First, I throw the bottom section and take it off the wheel, on its bat, to dry to a soft-ish leatherhard.  Later, when the bottom has stiffened slightly, I measure its opening, and throw an open ring (a) that will fit onto the top edge of the bottom half.  This ring is also taken off the wheel, while still on its bat.  Since I've left the bottom half on the bat, not yet cut off,  I don't have to re-center it.  I now put it back onto the wheel.   Then I take the thrown collar/ring and flip it upside down (d) and onto the moistened (b & c) top edge of the lower piece (centering it). After that, I cut the bat away from the ring (using fishing wire) and then smooth (f) some of the clay in the top ring downward, onto the bottom form---I do this both inside and out.  Now I have a taller piece:  the lower half is stiff enough, though thin, to support the upper half, and the upper half is soft enough to be thrown, still, without distorting the lower half (which I'll show in the next post).