The wise way is to start slowly, to save money and avoid confusion.You'll

There is a vast variety of tools and A equipment now available to the ce­ramics hobbyist.Suppliers' catalogues are jam-packed with paraphernalia for the amateur workshop.After paging through one of these catalogues, the beginner is apt to be overimpressed with the necessity for fancy tools and equipment.Fact is, however, that very few implements are can't-do-withouts for the beginning ce­ramist.

A working surface covered with a piece of oilcloth, wrong side up; one or two simple modeling tools, a knife, and about five pounds of clay are all you need to start shaping your first object.The cost of these is negligible.Most clays, for example, can be bought from retail dealers at about 15 cents a pound.

Build your collection of tools slowly, adding items as you need them.It is likely that you will do your first clay-craft in a local studio or classroom, under the guidance of a professional teacher.It is not probable that you'll begin sculpting or casting your own pieces in a mold.Instead, you will be supplied with greenware, a fettling knife, brushes, colors and glazes.You will remove the mold marks from the greenware, smooth the surface, add some decoration and glaze.Then the professional ceramist will fire it for you in his kiln.

After you have learned to do this, which shouldn't take more than one or two lessons, you may want to take the green­ware home and finish it there.In all likeli­hood, you will buy the few necessary tools from your teacher.This will be the start of your own home workshop.

Of course many new ceramists begin by immediately furnishing a complete studio, from clay to kiln.In most cases this is not advisable for two reasons.First, there are financial considerations which would frus­trate this grandiose plan of action for most people.Second, it is more prudent to wait and see what type of equipment is best suited to your personal needs and desires.The clay worker who wants to specialize in hand-sculpture will not require the very same tools and materials as the one whose skills and fancy lean toward pottery.

When you select a site for your work­shop, make certain it is not exposed directly to extremes of heat or dampness.

Need only a few tools.

Good lighting is also important, contribut­ing both to the ceramist's comfort and to the quality of his work.Running water, or easy access to water, is also desirable.Until you start to accumulate a sizable collection of tools and equipment, and want to set up your own workshop, your kitchen should serve the purpose.

Many tools you will be able to make easily for yourself; others you will find already at hand about the house.No matter how far you advance in the ceram­ics art, you'll find the most useful tools are your fingers.Every other modeling device is employed simply to supplement the work that can be done with your hands.When shaping a piece of clay, tools will only assist your fingers.They will not accom­plish anything that can't be done with your fingers.

Equipping Your Workshop

Here's a list of materials you will find useful in your workshop: an inexpensive rolling pin which can be purchased at most chain stores and toy shops: pie plates: toothpicks; building plaster; an orange stick; a piece of ordinary, unsoaped steel wool; a sheet of grade 00 sandpaper; a paring knife; a scraper or spatula; a coarse sponge and a small facial sponge; some crocks or large Mason jars.You probably have most of these things already in the home.

One of your first projects will be decorating of greenware (see page 68).requiring little more than glazed tile, sponge, brushes, colors (those in photo are Ceramichrome).Below, to scratch a design through slip, sgraffito tools are used.

A plastic or crockery pitcher will also find use in the workshop, as will a galva­nized pail and a few cheap mixing bowls.If a pitcher is not readily available, you can substitute a large tin can with a lacquered inner surface.By pinching the rim of the lidless can, you will form a pouring spout.

If you plan to do much work with solid clay, it will be worth while to make yourself a wedging wire.Before clay is shaped it must always be wedged.This is a method of mixing a mass of clay thoroughly by cutting it in half and slamming the two pieces together on the work surface with the cut edges in opposite directions.This is done in order to remove all air pockets and holes which would cause a piece to explode when fired, and to secure an even consistency.

A wedging wire is used to slice blocks of clay into two.Of course a knife can be used, but not as handily or effectively.This device is easily constructed by attach­ing dowel handles to the ends of a 12-inch piano wire, about 18 gauge.

The more ambitious ceramist can go a step further and build a wedging board, which serves the same purpose but is a more permanent fixture in the workshop.You can make a simple one by construct­ing a 6-inch deep wooden box measuring about 15x26 inches, and fastening at the back an upright post measuring about 1x2x18 inches.At the top of the vertical rod, secure a piece of non-rusting wire, not thinner than 12 gauge.The other end of the wire is stretched to the front of the box and fastened taut.Use a turnbuckle or a wingnut to tighten the wire.

The wedging board should be weighted by filling the box with plaster (mixed, per­haps, with gravel or small rocks).When using the board to cut clay, always start under the wire and draw the clay toward you.Thus, any bit of clay flicked out by the wire will be thrown away from you rather than hitting you in the face.

For decorating purposes, you will need several soft-hair brushes with which to apply colors and glazes.These can also be used for applying liquid clay (or slip), for mending and general modeling or shaping purposes.The brushes can be of average quality, such as imitation camel's-hair watercolor brushes.Both pointed and flat-tipped brushes should be in supply.Num­bers 3, 5, 8 and 10 will serve almost all re­quirements.

Ceramic scraper and tex­turing set has sgraffito scraper, palette knives, angle scraper knife, tex­turing tool, curved scraoer, needle tool, and a fettling knife; price is under $4.

Wooden modeling tools also simplify the shaping and decorating of a clay object.It is easier to push the clay into rough form with a mallet or a block of wood than with the fist or the heel of the hand.After the roughing-out has been completed and the large masses are shaped, more detailed modeling begins.This calls for a few wooden modeling sticks about 6 to 8 inches long, with thin, flat blades.The blade ends are used for cutting, smoothing and shaping surfaces and for welding fine lines.The round ends are used for welding coils to­gether and for all-around modeling and shaping.

A scratch-point is helpful in etching de­signs in a clay body.Almost anything with a sharp point can be used effectively—an orange stick or any piece of doweling which has been sharpened to a point.You can, if you wish, buy metal scratch-points in most stationery stores.These will fit into any penholder.If you want to do sgraffito work—decorations formed by cut­ting or scratching through an outer coating of slip to show the clay underneath—a scratch-point is a handy implement.

As you progress and want to try new decorating methods, you'll probably at­tempt slip-trailing, a method by which you achieve designs in relief.Slip-trailing is much like decorating a cake with the words "happy birthday." A hand irrigating syringe with a hard-rubber nozzle and a bulb can be used for this technique.Cost is less than a dollar in the local drugstore.

Wire-loop tools always find their way into the ceramist's workshop because of the varied uses to which they can be put.Again, they are valuable tools for carving sgraffito designs.Also they are used for smoothing the surface of pottery and sculp­ture, especially for cutting down high places and for hollowing out hand-shaped figurines before firing.Select three or more loop tools of sizes varying from 8 to 10 inches long, and with different shaped loops.

When working with molded greenware, you will need a fettling knife and/or an elephant sponge to sand off the mold marks and to smooth surfaces and edges Cellulose sponges or fine sandpaper car also be utilized.

Plaster Bats

Although oilcloth is a satisfactory work surface for the beginner, a plaster bat is much more desirable.It not only provides a sturdier support, but it also keeps ob­jects moist while you are working on them.Unglazed biscuit tiles, 4x4 and 6x6 inches, are adequate for most projects.They may be purchased from a ceramics supply house for a few cents apiece.

Plaster bats are easy to make yourself.This is a valuable project for the beginner because it provides a background of ex­perience for casting and mold-making.Bats can be made in any size, and a variety of sizes are needed.

A 12-inch pie plate makes an ideal mold for a round plaster bat.The first step in making such a bat is to fill a container with the amount of water that the pie plate will hold.Add powdered plaster of Paris and stir to a molasses consistency.The liquid plaster is now poured into the pie-plate mold.Agitate the plate gently to free the plaster of air bubbles.At least 24 hours will be required for the plaster to set and dry properly.

Set of twenty wood modeling 1 tools of polished hardwood come in plastic kit.cost about $6.50.Both this set and one shown on the facing page are made by Craftools, Inc.

You follow the same instructions for making a square bat, but instead of using a pie plate you use a square form, perhaps a medium-size cardboard box.

The plaster bat is a porous platform on which you can work.By sprinkling it with water as you work, you can keep the piece on which you're working in a moist, plastic state for a long period of time.By the same token, a bat can be used for the reverse purpose—to dry a piece of clay which is too moist for immediate work.The porous surface will extract excess moisture from the clay.

Other Materials

A whirler or banding wheel is also a sound investment for the ceramist who has advanced far enough to furnish his own studio.Primarily such a wheel is used for decorating pottery.The top turns freely and so makes it possible for you to rotate your work constantly.By holding a paint­brush against the surface as it spins, you can paint straight and even bands of color on such things as vases and mugs.A whirler can also double as a small potter's wheel for forming pottery pieces and small ceramic figures.

After you have reached the stage where you have made or acquired your own molds, you will need an assortment of heavy rubber bands to hold together multi pieced molds while casting greenware.Cutting cross-sections out of old, discarded innertubes should supply you with more than enough.

Your studio should also have the afore­mentioned crocks or large glass jars for holding moist clay and slip.The one-gallon jars used for packing pickles can be utilized for this purpose.

A sieve is also among the much-used workshop implements.The obvious use of the sieve is to strain partially hardened lumps and impurities from slip before pouring it into a mold.

Closely resembling the strainer is the scratch-box, which is used for a much different purpose: to level the irregular edges of pottery.A scratch-box can be quickly made by nailing together four 18-inch boards to form a box.Across the top, tack down a sheet of grit cloth.By holding a piece of greenware perpendicular to the cloth abrasive, and carefully rubbing it across the surface, you can even up the bottoms and tops of pottery.

If you want to get the most out of your tools, you should take good care of them.Keep them clean.Don't leave them soaking in water but wipe them with a damp cloth and then dry thoroughly.Metal tools should periodically be wiped with an oil-soaked cloth to prevent rusting.Plaster surfaces such as bats and wedging boards should be kept dry and clean.When you are through with them, you should wipe them dry with a damp sponge to remove clay particles.

All tools deserve good treatment and any ceramist worthy of the name has as much respect for his tools as for the clay.

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