Ann Brink on mon 15 dec 03
Johnny Harper wrote:
I would like some ideas about an essential tool list for a beginning potter.
I have the wheel and am enrolled in a pottery class beginning in January.
I would also like ideas on the best clays for a beginner to use. Thanking
you all in advance.
Johnny Harper
Hello Johnny,
At a lot of classes a kit of basic tools is offered for sale. I think it
includes:
a fettling knife
a pin tool
a small sponge
a wooden rib, right angle rounded
a black rubber rib
a flexible steel rib (use with caution)
two types of trimming tools.
Once you get into it and learn a little of how clay acts, you may accumulate
all kinds of other things...from the kitchen and elsewhere. Have fun!
Ann Brink in Lompoc, CA...I just finished modeling a figurine of a Japanese
child in costume...not the kind of thing I normally do, but a friend of
mine, born in Japan, showed me one of her Japanese magazines with a story in
it about a sculptor making all these figures, and asked me "Could you do
this?" Sure! ...well, that was 8 months ago. Next challenge is the picky
type of decoration I'm going to have to do for the kimono- Jeez.
Hank Murrow on mon 15 dec 03
On Dec 15, 2003, at 6:31 PM, sdr wrote:
> Johnny asked:
> I would like some ideas about an essential tool list for a beginning
> potter.....
>
And Dannon replied:
> A beginning potter does not need many tools. A needle tool, a cutting
> wire, a wooden rib and a leather or rubber one, a trimming tool. Your
> hands.
>
> That's it. More than enough to start. Only other thing you need is
> practice. Time. Practice. Time.
And Hank says;
Don't get a needle tool and you'll learn somewhat faster......and your
pots will be taller sooner. otherwise, Dannon is right, as usual.
Caryn Harper on mon 15 dec 03
Hello all
I would like some ideas about an essential tool list for a beginning =
potter. I have the wheel and am enrolled in a pottery class beginning =
in January.
I would also like ideas on the best clays for a beginner to use. =
Thanking you all in advance.
Johnny Harper
sdr on mon 15 dec 03
Johnny asked:
I would like some ideas about an essential tool list for a beginning
potter.....
A beginning potter does not need many tools. A needle tool, a cutting
wire, a wooden rib and a leather or rubber one, a trimming tool. Your
hands.
That's it. More than enough to start. Only other thing you need is
practice. Time. Practice. Time.
regards
Dannon Rhudy
Earl Brunner on tue 16 dec 03
I buy professional quality darts, and remove the fletching, the body is
brass, the needle is sturdy.
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Mary White
Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 10:54 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: essential tools
Speaking of tools, I've lost my pin tool and I just got a big order
of clay and stuff from the pottery supply place so I hate to get them
to ship me a $2 item. Besides, I know my pin tool will turn up as
soon as I buy another one. I will eventually when I need a few more
things but in the meantime I'm using a wine cork with a darning
needle pushed into it. It's kind of short. Does anyone have a better
suggestion?
--
Mary White
Madeira Park, British Columbia
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Carol Tripp on tue 16 dec 03
I would add; a sponge of a comfortable hand-fitting size.
Why is it new potters love lots of tools? It must be a boon for the pottery
supply houses. I have loads of stuff I NEVER ever use and when I do yearly
clean ups, I find things packed away that I don't even recognize.
Keep it simple.
Best regards,
Carol
Dubai, UAE
>Johnny asked:
>I would like some ideas about an essential tool list for a beginning
>potter.....
Dannon replied:
>A beginning potter does not need many tools. A needle tool, a cutting
>wire, a wooden rib and a leather or rubber one, a trimming tool. Your
>hands.
>
>That's it. More than enough to start. Only other thing you need is
>practice. Time. Practice. Time.
>
_________________________________________________________________
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http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus
Lee Love on tue 16 dec 03
I didn't have a wheel to start with. My wife Jean bought me a wooden
lazy-susan that was inlayed with little pastel ceramic tiles on the top.
I made my first pot on that, coil and paddling to make a 2 foot tall pot
that was burnished with RIO and scraffitoed with a fish design. I later
saw a shape similar to it at a Jomon show at the national museum in Tokyo.
Later that year, for my birthday (I'm guessing almost exactly 13 years ago)
Jean bought me a little shimpo banding wheel to replace the lazy-susan.
I'd recommend a fireclay stoneware to start with.
Lee In Mashiko
(Have been writing too many emails. Been working on the webpage the last
couple days.)
Mary White on tue 16 dec 03
Speaking of tools, I've lost my pin tool and I just got a big order
of clay and stuff from the pottery supply place so I hate to get them
to ship me a $2 item. Besides, I know my pin tool will turn up as
soon as I buy another one. I will eventually when I need a few more
things but in the meantime I'm using a wine cork with a darning
needle pushed into it. It's kind of short. Does anyone have a better
suggestion?
--
Mary White
Madeira Park, British Columbia
Judi Buchanan on tue 16 dec 03
Mary, Just remove the innards from a plastic ball point pen, melt the
tip with a match and quickly clamp your darning needle into the melt
with pliers. I haven't bought a needle tool in 30 years. :>)
Judi Buchanan,Flutter-by Pottery
........................................................................
.
meantime I'm using a wine cork with a darning
needle pushed into it. It's kind of short. Does anyone have a better
suggestion?
--
Mary White
Madeira Park, British Columbia
Lori Leary on wed 17 dec 03
Needle tools: I take a chopstick or similar strip of wood, drive a
small nail in it , then grind the end down with the grinder. I have
some that I have had for years. I just resharpen it occasionally.
(not my idea, I learned this from mel)
Lori L.
Graeme Anderson on wed 17 dec 03
Hi Mary.
My pin tools are made from the long stems of the old elements of an
electric jug. As they are designed to be in water, they don't rust like an
ordinary needle. They also have a ring at the top, in case you have time
to hang it up somewhere!! My present ones have lasted over 15 years so
far, and rarely get wiped clean, generally only if I am changing clays.
They are a bit shorter than when newly made.
Cheers. Graeme.
iandol on thu 18 dec 03
Dear Mary White,
Needles come in all shapes and sizes. Ask for Large Darning Needles. =
They are stout and long, upwards of two and a half inches.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis. Redhill, South Australia
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