Chris Schafale on mon 20 apr 98
Greetings!
I've been working on throwing bottle shapes lately and am having a
heck of a time with the transition from shoulder to neck on shapes
where there is a very distinct change in direction at this point..
What usually happens is that the shoulder collapses or distorts as I
work on the neck. Does anyone have any hints that can be put
into words about how to avoid this problem? Or any recommendations
for books with good pictures? No videos please, I don't own a VCR.
Thanks for any and all suggestions.
Christena (Chris) Schafale
Light One Candle Pottery
Fuquay-Varina, NC
candle@nuteknet.com
David Hendley on tue 21 apr 98
Chris, you may be too much of a 'purist' for this, but
60 seconds with a propane torch aimed at the shoulder
of a bottle, before working on the neck, does wonders.
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
At 08:40 AM 4/20/98 EDT, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Greetings!
>
>I've been working on throwing bottle shapes lately and am having a
>heck of a time with the transition from shoulder to neck on shapes
>where there is a very distinct change in direction at this point..
>What usually happens is that the shoulder collapses or distorts as I
>work on the neck. Does anyone have any hints that can be put
>into words about how to avoid this problem? Or any recommendations
>for books with good pictures? No videos please, I don't own a VCR.
>Thanks for any and all suggestions.
>Christena (Chris) Schafale
>Light One Candle Pottery
>Fuquay-Varina, NC
>candle@nuteknet.com
>
Laura Conley on tue 21 apr 98
To avoid destroying the shoulder of a bottle while working on the neck, it
is helpful to allow the shoulder to stiffen first. Allow the entire pot to
stiffen before continuing withthe neck, or simply dry the shoulder with a
hair dryer, heat gun, propane torch, etc. It is very important that the pot
dry evenly around the vertical axis - don't let the pot sit in one position
near an air vent, for example, or the following throwing will be an
assymetric mess!
Laura Conley
Boulder, CO
Chris Schafale wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Greetings!
>
> I've been working on throwing bottle shapes lately and am having a
> heck of a time with the transition from shoulder to neck on shapes
> where there is a very distinct change in direction at this point..
> What usually happens is that the shoulder collapses or distorts as I
> work on the neck. Does anyone have any hints that can be put
> into words about how to avoid this problem? Or any recommendations
> for books with good pictures? No videos please, I don't own a VCR.
> Thanks for any and all suggestions.
> Christena (Chris) Schafale
> Light One Candle Pottery
> Fuquay-Varina, NC
> candle@nuteknet.com
Stephen Mills on tue 21 apr 98
Your throwing too thin on the shoulder. Carry more clay up to the
shoulder, and leave it there, you need that extra little bit to give it
support. Don't worry unduly about uneven section. The other point is to
get to that point in the throwing process as quickly as possible before
the clay "wets up" and looses strength.
Steve
Bath
UK
In message , Chris Schafale writes
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Greetings!
>
>I've been working on throwing bottle shapes lately and am having a
>heck of a time with the transition from shoulder to neck on shapes
>where there is a very distinct change in direction at this point..
>What usually happens is that the shoulder collapses or distorts as I
>work on the neck. Does anyone have any hints that can be put
>into words about how to avoid this problem? Or any recommendations
>for books with good pictures? No videos please, I don't own a VCR.
>Thanks for any and all suggestions.
>Christena (Chris) Schafale
>Light One Candle Pottery
>Fuquay-Varina, NC
>candle@nuteknet.com
>
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
home e-mail: stevemills@mudslinger.demon.co.uk
work e-mail: stevemills@bathpotters.demon.co.uk
own website: http://www.mudslinger.demon.co.uk
BPS website: http://www.bathpotters.demon.co.uk
Don Jones on tue 21 apr 98
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Greetings!
>
>I've been working on throwing bottle shapes lately and am having a
>heck of a time with the transition from shoulder to neck on shapes
>where there is a very distinct change in direction at this point..
>What usually happens is that the shoulder collapses or distorts as I
>work on the neck. Does anyone have any hints that can be put
>into words about how to avoid this problem? Or any recommendations
>for books with good pictures? No videos please, I don't own a VCR.
>Thanks for any and all suggestions.
>Christena (Chris) Schafale
>Light One Candle Pottery
>Fuquay-Varina, NC
>candle@nuteknet.com
Chris,
The best suggestion I can offer is to use no water after you have thrown
your cylinder to shape your form. Then use as little water as possible to
shape the neck. All I do is throw closed forms so I have had lots of
practice on this.
I use the metal inside and outside ribs to initially push out the body,
then use my fingertips with no water to refine the shape. Then I start
pushing in the neck and throwing the thickness using very little water.
hope this helps.
Don Jones
claysky@highfiber.com
:-) implied in all messages and replies
http://highfiber.com/~claysky
douglas gray on tue 21 apr 98
Chris,
I've found it very important to keep any excess water off the shoulder while
your working on the neck.
Also, when you work on the neck use as little contact with the clay as possible,
one finger inside and one outside. This will reduce the friction or drag caused
when you touch the clay, hopeully reducing the amount of twisting you get.
Finally, slow the wheel down. Cetrifical force increase on the wheel as you get
taller or wider, so the speed should decrease.
Hope these tips help some. Practice to see which if any work for you. Practice
in this case does make perfect. (Perfect being a relative term!!)
doug
In message Chris Schafale writes:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> Greetings!
>
> I've been working on throwing bottle shapes lately and am having a
> heck of a time with the transition from shoulder to neck on shapes
> where there is a very distinct change in direction at this point..
> What usually happens is that the shoulder collapses or distorts as I
> work on the neck. Does anyone have any hints that can be put
> into words about how to avoid this problem? Or any recommendations
> for books with good pictures? No videos please, I don't own a VCR.
> Thanks for any and all suggestions.
> Christena (Chris) Schafale
> Light One Candle Pottery
> Fuquay-Varina, NC
============================================================================ =)
Douglas E. Gray, Assistant Professor of Art
P.O. Box 100547
Department of Fine Arts and Mass Communication
Francis Marion University
Florence, South Carolina 29501-0547
dgray@fmarion.edu
843/661-1535
Cindy on tue 21 apr 98
Chris,
Practice a lot. A couple other suggestions may help.
Throw fast and/or fairly dry in order to keep your clay from getting
water-logged.
Don't thin out the shoulder as much as you normally would. It needs some
thickness to keep from slumping.
Keep the neck of the bottle fairly thick in order to facilitate the
collaring in process.
When collaring in the neck, use plenty of water or slip on the outside for
lubrication. Any drag while collaring in will tend to twist and collapse
your shoulder. Also use sufficient lubrication for pulling up the neck.
Collar in; pull up; collar in: pull up . . . repeat as necessary and keep
it lubricated. If your neck ends up too tall, you can always cut it off.
One design tip. Unless your design calls for a thin lip for some special
reason, keep a nice thick rim to balance your pot. Just a matter of taste,
I'm sure, but a thin, weak rim takes away from the entire bottle, IMO.
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels
Custer, SD
USA http://blackhills-info.com/a/cindys/menu.htm
Jennifer Boyer on tue 21 apr 98
Hi Chris,
Here's a nifty little bottle throwing trick.....or cheat...I love it:
Throw the bottle shape without the neck part. Just the body of the
bottle, with a small opening that has a fairly thick rim at the mouth.
Let it dry to soft leather hard(speaking of oxymorons) and then throw a
small donut shape that will be your neck. Put the bottle back on the
wheel and put the donut on the bottle with the usual scoring and
slipping. Throw the donut into a nice neck shape......now if my
customers would only BUY those lovely bottles I slaved to perfect.
Take Care
Jennifer
Chris Schafale wrote:
> ----------------------------Original
> message----------------------------
> Greetings!
>
> I've been working on throwing bottle shapes lately and am having a
> heck of a time with the transition from shoulder to neck on shapes
> where there is a very distinct change in direction at this point..
> What usually happens is that the shoulder collapses or distorts as I
> work on the neck. Does anyone have any hints that can be put
> into words about how to avoid this problem? Or any recommendations
> for books with good pictures? No videos please, I don't own a VCR.
> Thanks for any and all suggestions.
> Christena (Chris) Schafale
> Light One Candle Pottery
> Fuquay-Varina, NC
> candle@nuteknet.com
--
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jennifer Boyer jboyer@plainfield.bypass.com
Thistle Hill Pottery
Powder Horn Glen Rd
Montpelier, VT 05602
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dannon Rhudy on tue 21 apr 98
Get a copy of the latest "Pottery Making Illustrated". There is
a whole article on bottle making, with pictures, suggestions,
remarks.
Read it, practice, read it, practice. Once you get the hang
of bottles, it's kind of like getting the hang of a bicycle.
Hard to remember NOT knowing how.
One of the greatest difficulties that beginners often have is that
they make the shoulder TOO FLAT, and the weight of the neck or
just the clay itself, collapses it. Make a more gentle
transition, and then exaggerate on the next, and the next, etc.
You'll find the critical curve for your clay. You'll learn faster
than you imagine.
Dannon Rhudy
potter@koyote.com
----------------------------Original
message----------------------------
Greetings!
I've been working on throwing bottle shapes lately and am having a
heck of a time with the transition from shoulder to neck on shapes
where there is a very distinct change in direction at this point..
What usually happens is that the shoulder collapses or distorts as
I
work on the neck. Does anyone have any hints that can be put
into words about how to avoid this problem? Or any
recommendations
for books with good pictures? No videos please, I don't own a
VCR.
Thanks for any and all suggestions.
Christena (Chris) Schafale
Light One Candle Pottery
Fuquay-Varina, NC
candle@nuteknet.com
Mudnjoy on tue 21 apr 98
> I've been working on throwing bottle shapes lately and am having a
> heck of a time with the transition from shoulder to neck on shapes
> where there is a very distinct change in direction at this point..
> What usually happens is that the shoulder collapses or distorts as I
> work on the neck. Does anyone have any hints
Try throwing a bit drier, the wetter the clay the softer. Practice throwing
with fewer pulls, the longer the clay is worked the softer. Have you ever
puffed air into the rim of a thrown bottle to round out the form? It's a
kick. Place your lips on the lip edge, pucker & let her blow.
Joy in Tucson feeling sun & wind burned after a day helping a friend install a
custom door.
Lee Love on wed 22 apr 98
Use a throwing stick. They are a wonderful invention.
/(o\' Lee In Saint Paul, Minnesota USA
\o)/' mailto:Ikiru@Kami.com i
' http://www.millcomm.com/~leelove/
Lili Krakowski on mon 31 dec 07
Rogier's answer was excellent--but I would take it much slower.
A bottle starts as a cylinder brought in at the top. What, roughly
speaking, is a lamp base or vase shape.
It requires practice , this bringing in, and Rogier described the method
perfectly. It is a six-point choke,
and, between chokes, the fingers gently "rethrow" the neck so as to make use
the walls are even and
not even a bit crimped. At the end of every choke and every rethrowing the
rim is recentered.
Practice this vase shape over and over. Do not at this point worry about a
neck.
Just focus on making a cylinder, and closing it in at the top. Along the
way you can
make a gallery on the neck so that you can make a lid to sit in it. Nice
pot
for storing things that basically are "poured" out: beans, lentils,
rice,chocolate chips!
Now that you have mastered the closing in, start closing in lower down on
the cylinder,
which will--can you believe it?--give you a short neck. Practice this over
and over
again till it feels natural.
At this point you start practicing "bellying". You bring up your cylinder,
and about
1/3 to 1/2 way to the top exert a bit extra pressure with your left or
inside hand. VERY
slight pressure. The cylinder will bulge outwards, the right hand rides
along to
control the bulge, and both hands move inward, preparing the very top for
collaring--as the choking process is called.
Again, between collarings, just make sure there are no crimps.
Here the movements you learned making bowls come into play.
The bottom of your bottle will be shaped like a bowl, the upper part
will gradually go in as for a bottle.
As you practice this...and it will take time....you will learn just
the right proportions ON the cylinder for going out, and coming
back in. Ribs will help.
Now if you want a very long neck, you are best off doing it as
a separate operation. In other words once you have learned to throw
a shortnecked bottle, it is easy enough to fit a thrown neck
onto it.
The blowing into the bottle is a great idea, it lifts the shoulder of the
pot and makes it into a more attractive curve.
As to throwing with throwing stick. Yes, a broomstick will stick,
but only if you forget to cut a ridge or groove down it. If this does not
appeal to you, get a piece of halfround molding to do the job.
Curved throwing sticks also would help....
One thing to remember in throwing cylinders that will become rounded
bottles--LEAVE EXTRA CL:AY at the very bottom,. In opening up
do not try for the customary L where the bottom meets the sides,
but make it a wedge shape....This extra clay not only will help keep
your finished shape from toppling, but also can be trimmed off
for a rounder pot,
Again I recommend Elsbeth Woody's "Pottery on the Wheel"
as a guide...still to be had reasonably on the used book market.
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
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