gjudson on thu 2 jun 05
What great advice. I'm going into my studio tomorrow and pull handles!
I've managed to get some acceptable handles on some mugs--but it always
feels like I just lucked out! I've done enough to realize that what =
Dannon
just wrote is the best advice I've had. Thanks--I'll report back next =
week!
Gay Judson, San Antonio, TX
Dannon wrote:
> Here's mine: don't make anything
> else for a day or two or however many it takes. Instead,
> wedge some clay, prepare some handle "pugs" for pulling,
> and pull handles. Don't try to make them fit anything, don't
> worry about saving good ones, or wonder how to fix poor
> ones. Just pull handles. By the time you have pulled two
> hundred or so you will note that they are improving, that
> you have determined how much water you need to pull the
> handle without getting it too wet, and what your particular
> clay body is capable of. Pull another hundred or two. Note
> the difference between the first one you pulled and the last
> ones. Pitch them all out, or re-wedge, or however you
> deal with scrap. For the last fifty, attach them to a cylinder.
> It can be a cylinder you've thrown, or a coffee can or
> whatever is handy. Again, don't try to keep anything -
> that puts your attention in the wrong place. You'll be
> very surprised at how much you'll learn in a short time.
marianne kuiper milks on thu 2 jun 05
Here goes a ceramics 101 issue that I haven't mastered
yet and as a consequence end up with many handle-less
mugs and pitchers,
Somehow the handles, after I pull them or otherwise
shape them, are so mucky and sluppery that I can
hardly put them down and are totally covered with
crud. (Make that slippery)
I will wait, lay them down flat (so they can crack at
the bend later...) or curve them and lay on the side,
at which point they seem to disintegrate. I use
Standard 119, 213 (the porcelain) most of the time.
Of course it is me...but what to do? Once the
"handles" are equal in wetness to the pots (covered
until needed) they look like a 5yr old finished the
work, pretty similar to my efforts to decorate a cake.
Help..PLEASE?
Marianne, wallowing in mud.
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Kate Johnson on thu 2 jun 05
>
> Somehow the handles, after I pull them or otherwise
> shape them, are so mucky and sluppery that I can
> hardly put them down and are totally covered with
> crud. (Make that slippery)
>
> I will wait, lay them down flat (so they can crack at
> the bend later...) or curve them and lay on the side,
> at which point they seem to disintegrate. I use
> Standard 119, 213 (the porcelain) most of the time.
> Of course it is me...but what to do? Once the
> "handles" are equal in wetness to the pots (covered
> until needed) they look like a 5yr old finished the
> work, pretty similar to my efforts to decorate a cake.
Hi Marianne--
well, I'm no expert on this, but close enough to Ceramics 101 that I
remember how frustrating this can be! I make my handles and attach one end
(the top) to the edge of the table and allow them to drape over. Then I
use the blow dryer on them until they're less mucky. I can pretty well
guage when they and the pot are about the same degree of wetness that way,
and it's not so messy. No laying them on their sides to get distorted,
either.
I just cut the upper end at the angle I need to attach to the pot, and
fasten the bottom at a nice shape--if I need to, using a blow dryer again to
make them stop changing shape where I want them to.
This is not a terribly speedy method and the production potters are probably
going "HUH?!?" but it works for me...
Best--
Kate Johnson
graphicart@epsi.net
http://www.cathyjohnson.info/
Art, History, Nature and More at Cathy Johnson's Cafepress--
http://www.cafepress.com/cathy_johnson/
Graphics/Fine Arts Press--
http://www.epsi.net/graphic/
Ann Brink on thu 2 jun 05
Hi Marianne...here's how I make (tidy) handles:
When I've pulled a handle and it's ready to come off the pug of clay, I
pinch it off a little above what I plan to use for the handle. Grab that
thicker part & stick it down on a bat in such a way that you get a nice
curve to the handle. You can avoid touching the handle- I guess that's when
you've been smearing them.
When the handles have set up enough to attach, I cut the tops where I want,
checking the angle of the cut to have it correspond to the angle of the
attach point. The excess of the tail is cut or pinched when you attach it.
I know what you mean about the cakes, tho! Maybe if I took the same care
with a cake as I do with handles, I'd get better results....
Ann Brink in Lompoc CA
> Here goes a ceramics 101 issue that I haven't mastered
> yet and as a consequence end up with many handle-less
> mugs and pitchers,
>
> Somehow the handles, after I pull them or otherwise
> shape them, are so mucky and sluppery that I can
> hardly put them down and are totally covered with
> crud. (Make that slippery)
>
> I will wait, lay them down flat (so they can crack at
> the bend later...) or curve them and lay on the side,
> at which point they seem to disintegrate. I use
> Standard 119, 213 (the porcelain) most of the time.
> Of course it is me...but what to do? Once the
> "handles" are equal in wetness to the pots (covered
> until needed) they look like a 5yr old finished the
> work, pretty similar to my efforts to decorate a cake.
Andrew_M_Casto@PROGRESSIVE.COM on thu 2 jun 05
Marianne,
3 suggestions...
1. Pull the handle right off of the mug/pitcher, etc... i.e., when the mug
(for this example) is just firm enough to handle without bending too much,
attach a small lug to the place where you want the handle to start from,
then pull as normal and attach at the bottom of the mug where the handle
will stop. This takes a bit to get down, but I find it nearly always makes
for a stronger handle. Once the handle is on the piece drying can be a bit
tricky, as the handle will be fresh and the pot will be nearly leather
hard. I do have them crack off every once in a while if it is too dry in
the studio.
2. If you don't want to pull the handle off the piece, then try to keep 1
hand dry and clean while you are pulling the handle off your lump of clay
(and this is usually the hand holding the clay, not the one pulling). Once
you have pulled the handle, stick the lump of clay to the edge of a table
(canvass or something absorbent will stick the best) and then cut the
handle off with a needle/pin tool, "catching" with the dry hand. Then stick
this handle to the table as well (in the sunlight is best), and wait for it
to dry to a reasonable workable level to add to the pot. I used to pull
several at a time, so the edge of the table would have about 20 handles on
it...by the last one, the first few would be ready to use put on the pots.
3. You can also quicken the drying speed of the handles with a propane
torch...easily purchased (maybe $20?) at a home improvement store. This can
be used with the above method as well...(usual disclaimers on hot burning
things).
I find in general that the "neater" I can keep things, my hands included,
while I'm working, the better the work comes out. This is especially true
with handles for me. Without a clean dry hand to adjust the handles with,
then you're right...you get mucky fingers, handles, tables, everything.
Marcia Selsor on thu 2 jun 05
I learned from a friend who was apprenticing with Byron Temple when
his studio was in the east.
If you pull one long handl cut it into 2 inch lengths. Trim your
pots. Line the pots up, score where the handles are to go.
Then, take a 2 inch section, score the end where you'll attach it,
wet each spot with a wet finger or slip. Stick the 2 inch section
onto the pot and start pulling quick strokes. Thre on one side, three
on the other. Wet you hand every few times. To practice this
technique, throw a tall cylinder and try to fit as many handles as
possible onto that cylinder. If you look at the archives there was a
thread a few years back suggesting it takes 1000 mugs vefore you get
a good handle. So don't worry. You probably need to practise a lot.
Marcia Selsor
On Jun 2, 2005, at 8:33 AM, marianne kuiper milks wrote:
> Here goes a ceramics 101 issue that I haven't mastered
> yet and as a consequence end up with many handle-less
> mugs and pitchers,
>
> Somehow the handles, after I pull them or otherwise
> shape them, are so mucky and sluppery that I can
> hardly put them down and are totally covered with
> crud. (Make that slippery)
>
> I will wait, lay them down flat (so they can crack at
> the bend later...) or curve them and lay on the side,
> at which point they seem to disintegrate. I use
> Standard 119, 213 (the porcelain) most of the time.
> Of course it is me...but what to do? Once the
> "handles" are equal in wetness to the pots (covered
> until needed) they look like a 5yr old finished the
> work, pretty similar to my efforts to decorate a cake.
>
> Help..PLEASE?
>
> Marianne, wallowing in mud.
>
Steve Slatin on thu 2 jun 05
Marianne --
As you can see, there are nearly as many solution to
the problem as there are potters. Some part of your
problem may come from touching the handle too many
times. I was taught a process that may help.
1 - Always start with relatively stiff clay. It will
be firmer, and possibly thinner, when it's worked
enough to bend into a good handle. Also, stiffer clay
will shed slip more readily.
2 - Preshape the clay (either whacking it by hand or
thwacking it onto a bat) into the general profile
you're after, to reduce the number of strokes required
to pull the handle.
3 - Don't use too much water -- as long as the handle
is slippy enough to pull, use the slip, and 'ride' the
slip down the handle to the end, cleaning off excess
slip from your pulling hand as necessary.
4 - When the handle is ready to bend, whack the pug
down hard enough on the end you're holding in your
non-slipped hand so it will stay in place for a minute
or two.
5 - Clean & dry your hands and a pin tool thoroughly
6 - Crosshatch and slip the attachment spot.
7 - Cut off the handle with the pin tool on the angle
that leaves an attachment piece of the right size and
shape, 'dropping' the handle down into the clean, dry
hand that should hold it while it's being attached.
8 - Immediately attach to the pot.
There are, of course, a million ways to pull a handle,
and this is not a uniquely successful way to pull
handles. These steps, though, address your issues --
#1 gets you clay that won't disintegrate so quickly
and will require less water to shape, #2 reduces the
deterioration required to get a good handle, #3
preserves the texture of the clay and 'cleans' the
surface, #4 gets it out of your hands whenyou need
both free, #5 keeps you from mucking up a clean
handle, #7 reduces the number of times you handle the
handle, and #6 and 8 are just necessary process.
Best wishes -- Steve Slatin
--- marianne kuiper milks
wrote:
> Here goes a ceramics 101 issue that I haven't
> mastered
> yet and as a consequence end up with many
> handle-less
> mugs and pitchers,
>
> Somehow the handles, after I pull them or otherwise
> shape them, are so mucky and sluppery that I can
> hardly put them down and are totally covered with
> crud. (Make that slippery)
Steve Slatin --
Frail my heart apart and play me little Shady Grove
Ring the bells of Rhymney till they ring inside my head forever
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dannon rhudy on thu 2 jun 05
>
> Somehow the handles, after I pull them or otherwise
> shape them, are so mucky and sluppery that I can
> hardly put them down .....
You will no doubt get a great many suggestions about
your "handling" problem. Here's mine: don't make anything
else for a day or two or however many it takes. Instead,
wedge some clay, prepare some handle "pugs" for pulling,
and pull handles. Don't try to make them fit anything, don't
worry about saving good ones, or wonder how to fix poor
ones. Just pull handles. By the time you have pulled two
hundred or so you will note that they are improving, that
you have determined how much water you need to pull the
handle without getting it too wet, and what your particular
clay body is capable of. Pull another hundred or two. Note
the difference between the first one you pulled and the last
ones. Pitch them all out, or re-wedge, or however you
deal with scrap. For the last fifty, attach them to a cylinder.
It can be a cylinder you've thrown, or a coffee can or
whatever is handy. Again, don't try to keep anything -
that puts your attention in the wrong place. You'll be
very surprised at how much you'll learn in a short time.
Early on, folks hate that advice, but you'll go from poor handles
that ruin good work to competent handles that enhance
your work in a matter of a day or two. Worth the time
and attention. You only need to decide, and then just
practice. Fortunately or unfortunately, ceramic skills are
about practice. And more practice. Handles are particularly
important, and worth every effort you make. A great handle
makes an ordinary piece extraordinary. A poor handle on
an otherwise good piece makes a disaster. Lots of folks make
good handles - and lots don't. Look in your books at handles
that appeal to you, and work toward that. Or, go online and
look at websites, see whose work makes you smile. Want a
quick example? Look at Tony Clennell's web site. Tony knows
handles.
regards
Dannon Rhudy
Jean Cochran on fri 3 jun 05
Hi,
Just for the fun it, you might like to look at my web site, in the part
where it shows me working in my studio. I have some photos of me pulling
and cutting handles and of them being applied. You can see that I do them
approximately 25 at a time. Hope it will be of use to someone.
Jean Wadsworth Cochran
www.foxhollowpottery.com
www.kycraft.ky.gov/craftcgi-bin/index.cgi?busid=186
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