Suzanne Furman on tue 19 oct 99
Hi........I'm smiling and typing but gonna stick my "two cents" in here
anyway.... well everyone's work demands different tools..........so that
should be the answer but will dare to move on......I have been potting for a
while.........over lets say 25 years (that makes me a granny and old enough
to have tried it all)........Well I used to use plaster bats in the
beginning........hmmm heavy....junk gets in the clay....so tossed them eons
ago.........and moved on to bats made out of composite board with a couple of
good coats of varnish.....and have them in all kinds of sizes.........made a
clay pancake on the wheelhead..........create rings by depressing my fingers
in the clay and then making a + thru the whole thing with a tool.....then
place the bat on this.....pound a little to make an air lock and am ready for
business.....have done this for years......is easy on your pocketbook and
they are not real heavy........I think that cleat thing is great and am going
to make some large bats that way so thanks guys.......but NOW I use Plasti
bats for all of my production work....some of the Plasti bats even are
loose........but who cares.......is not a biggie.......I am using clay pieces
5 lbs max....... and the way I put the clay on the bat to begin with the clay
is pretty much centered.........if it flip flops it doesn't do it for
long........I get the piece of clay centered.........the
bowl.......mug.....pitcher or whatever thrown.......and move on.....I like
the idea of putting a little wad of clay to fix....and will try.......but I
do series throwing and moving on is more important than puttsing with
stuff.....Now here is why I really LIKE Plasti bats........the little pot has
a non warped surface... and I keep that pot on that Plasti bat thru the
process of tooling, painting engobes and carving as a non warped
surface.......my forms can't take warping.... if you are putting a warp into
the clay in any of the wet process (that is till it is bone dry)......well
that darn clay has a memory of sorts and likes to remember that
warp.........usually in the glaze firing LOL.......so now my shelving doesn't
have to be meticulously flat for drying.....I use a retrofitted ware cart
(made from a store cart with wooden cross pieces between the large shelves to
give me another level...... and use ware boards 33 inches stuck thru the
wooden pieces or on the cart shelves ($30 at a closing Woolworth's and $15
for the wood and metal clamps.....Cheap but very heavy duty ware cart)....I
changed gradually by purchasing the Plasti bats 2 or 3 every time I made up
an order......and now have enough for a complete kiln cycle........and I
simply love them.....but then again that is what my forms need and they are
very light and that is important for this antique potter.....The ware cart is
right by the wheel.....it holds the work geometrically rather than linearly
and therefor less walking pots around the studio.....Well I am sure this
won't work for everyone.....but has been the charm for me....Take Care
Folks........
Suzanne Kraman
ClayWaves Studio
ClayWaves
Studio Pottery
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