Harold Castor, head of the Sculptors and Ceramic Work­shop.New York City, dem­onstrates here how a wide-necked bowl is thrown on a wheel.Widely known as one of this country's leading ceramists, he often appears on leading network TV shows, and his students come from all over the world to learn Workshop's famed methods.

There are dozens of different types of potter's wheels, ranging from the simple kick wheel to the modern electrically driven ones which are rather expensive but are adaptable to many uses because of the numerous accessories that come with them.The kick wheel is suitable for beginners.It can be purchased inexpensively or is easily constructed in any home workshop.The wheel head is set atop a steel shaft.A horizontal-moving treadle is attached to the bottom of the shaft.A simple wood or steel framework holds the shaft in an up­right position.By moving the treadle with your foot, the wheel head is made to spin.You can slow down or speed up the wheel by varying your kicking.

Whatever type of wheel is used it should have a head which can be removed.Sev­eral heads can then be provided, one for regular work, one for finishing, and so forth.The head or plate on which the pot­ter works is made of plaster of Paris.You can use plaster bats as wheel heads with lugs or inserts to hold them in place.Un­less they are perfectly smooth and level, however, your work may be thrown off.When you have finished a piece, remove the bat and leave the soft ware on it to dry.Then you'll be able to throw more models on fresh bats as the first is drying.

Throwing

The first rule of successful throwing is to make sure your clay is properly wedged.This is of utmost importance.The clay must have an even texture and be abso­lutely free of air bubbles and foreign mat­ter.The smallest bubble can be enough to throw your work off.Once a piece loses its shape in throwing, discard it for a new piece of good clay and start again.

Throw the clay down firmly so that it adheres to center of the wheel.Wheel goes counterclockwise from 200 to 300 rpm.Keep hands and clay moist; water acts as lubricant between hands and clay.

Top right, first hand position is with hands cupped, bringing clay toward center of wheel slowly and firmly.Moisten clay continuously.Arms of the potter should be firmly established on rim of splash pan so that irregularities in piece on wheel can be evened out.Practice this procedure.

Second hand position, at right, is with the right hand held so that the palm is vertical, and with the left hand horizontal, parallel to top.With gentle pressure, form the cylinder top and sides.

Before you begin throwing, you must check to see if the bat is both clean enough and moist enough to be used.Plunge it in water and soak it nearly to saturation.If the bat surface remains wet one minute after removing it from the water it has soaked too long and must be dried a little.On a too wet bat, the clay slips and cannot be held in one place.If the bat is too dry, the clay will stick and cannot be moved when required.The proper dampness is secured when the clay can be pushed along the surface of the bat without slipping too easily.Experiment and experience will tell you when the bat is properly moist.

Place a basin of water close at hand.As you throw the clay, you will have to keep it wet by splashing water on it.This will make the clay softer and easier to work while it spins.Again, experience alone can tell you how much water to use on the ware you are throwing.Too much mois­ture will cause the piece to collapse; too little makes shaping almost impossible.

Take a ball of well-wedged clay about three inches in diameter.In placing clay on the bat, slap it down fairly hard, as near to the center of the wheel as you can judge.Start the wheel spinning at a rapid speed.As the wheel is revolving, put both hands on the clay.You are now ready for the first step in throwing, called centering.

As the clay turns under your hands, you will feel its unevenness.The object of centering is to eliminate this vibration, so that as the wheel and clay revolve there is no thumping against your fingers.Your hands on the clay will cause the rotation to slow down rapidly.But before the wheel stops spinning, remove your hands and splash water on the clay as a lubricant.Keep the wheel spinning at as constant a speed as possible, adding water whenever you feel too much friction between the clay and your hands.Press the ball of clay firmly with both hands until you get the feel of the clay running smoothly.

Brace the left elbow against your side and, wetting the hand, press the ball of the thumb and the lower part of the palm against the clay.Keep the left forearm rigid.Use the right hand to sprinkle water on the clay.You will notice that the clay is thus forced into the center of the wheel.

Right, left hand is kept parallel to the left side.Cross the right hand and then project lingers into the hollow formed by the thumbs.Interior is widened and brought out to its de­sired diameter by holding left hand firm.As can be seen in photo, cylinder begins to grow.

After the cylinder has been formed, place one hand on each side of the clay, with thumbs in center.Exerting a gentle downward pressure, force the thumbs downward.See photo below.

With the fingers of the right hand pull the clay toward you, at the same time pressing inward with the left hand.As the hands come together the clay will rise into a cone.Do not pull it upward but let it rise of its own accord as it is squeezed.Now bring the hands over the top and, with the thumbs together, press down again.Lumps and irregularities will be felt in the clay and the operations of spinning up and down must be continued until these disappear.All the time you are working with the clay, keep it liberally sprinkled with water.

Let's assume that you are throwing a vase.This calls for a cylindrical shape.Your clay must be properly centered, how­ever, before you can model anything on the wheel.Always start your wheel turn­ing before you start working with your hands and always remove your hands while the wheel is still running.If you remove your hands after the wheel has stopped you are likely to throw the piece out of line.

Now moisten both hands and clay.Grasp the clay lightly but with sufficient force to give you dominance over the clay.You will find it helpful to steady your hands some way.Brace your elbows against your hips, or use arm supports if necessary.Do not bend your wrists.

Encircle the clay with your hands.Press the right thumb firmly toward the palm to form a cup-shaped hollow.Raise the right hand slowly, still keeping a light pressure on the clay with the thumb.The clay will rise with your hand.Now insert the two first fingers of the left hand into the hollow and hold them against the wall.Slacken the speed of the wheel a bit.Bend the forefinger of the right hand and press the second joint and the knuckle against the outer wall to oppose the fingers which are inside.Press the thumbs together to steady the hands and raise both hands up­ward together.

In photo at left the left hand is shown palm opened, and two outside fingers (second and index) of right hand are supporting the clay piece.Position then changes to one below.

After photo step above, left-hand index finger is wrapped around the thumb, and right hand applies gentle pressure.Now lift clay cylinder evenly and surely.This process is repeated until desired height is reached.At each pass of the wheel, the cylinder rises.

The fingers inside and out­side the clay should be kept at a definite distance apart so that as the hands rise, the clay wall is brought to a uniform thick­ness.The thumbs must go straight down or the walls will flare out.Be sure to leave enough clay at the bottom to make a base.

Repeat the action of the fingers inside and out.Begin at the bottom and take a closer grip of the clay and draw up the walls as before.At all times have your fingers directly opposite each other with a wall of clay between them, and your right thumb resting lightly on the top rim.Give the clay a chance to adjust itself as you move your fingers.The thinner you make the wall, the taller will be the cylinder.If you feel any place in the wall that is slightly thicker or thinner, exert more pressure for a thick place and less for a thin place.

Once you have started the movement from bottom to top, carry it through to completion.You can feel the roll of clay moving to the top.If you stop before reaching the top, you will leave a ridge of thickness where you stop.Even if you strive to keep the walls of the cylinder ex­actly the same thickness from top to bot­tom, the base and lower part of the wall will be slightly thicker.This is how it should be, since this part will be cut away on the outside in the turning or trimming process.

Never lose control of the top edge of the cylinder.The weight of your right thumb gently resting on the top edge is enough to keep it even.At no time exert too great a pressure any place except in the first cen­tering.Let the wheel do most of the work.If you prefer a curved or tapered wall on the vase instead of a straight vertical wall, apply slight pressure where needed.If you want the top of the wall to flare outward, for example, hold the fingers of your left hand against the inside surface, keeping the right hand directly opposite on the outside for support.For a concave curve, press the outside surface of the wall with the right hand, keeping the left inside for support.To widen the top, so that the wall is straight but not vertical, hold your hand lightly against the entire length of the inside sur­face, at the same time supporting the out­side.This is a delicate procedure and is not recommended for the beginner.

In top photo at left.Harold Castor begins the shaping of the cylinder and the bowl now shows signs of taking its eventual, and graceful, form.

Above, rim is formed by holding second and third fingers of left hand on inside of bowl, at top.Thumb and first finger of right hand are outside and just below rim of bowl.By applying a little pressure on the fingers inside bowl, form clay over right-hand thumb and finger, to make the lip.

By resting the right-hand wrist on the splash pan you can keep fingers in bow-like position; left hand holds right one to steady it.Now form hip.

Castor desired to give hip portion of vase a tex­ture.Decoration can be added later on and can be highly effective over areas previously treated in this manner.To achieve a texture, apply a saw-toothed blade tool, or even a piece of hacksaw blade, to outside of piece while it is revolving.

When the piece has dried to a leather-hard con­dition, you are ready to cut the foot.The ware is centered on the potter's wheel upside down, and is anchored securely in place with several pieces of moist clay.Foot is formed by cutting off excess clay, leaving rim of desired diameter.

It is not possible to finish work to per­fection by throwing.The clay is too soft to handle and for proper finishing the piece must be turned over to get at the bottom.For this the clay must be leather-hard.As soon as the piece is thrown, wipe off the excess moisture, remove the bat from the wheel head and allow the ware to stand until it can support itself.As the piece begins to dry, it will separate from the bat.Now place the leather-hard vase upon a clean bat.You are now ready to turn the vase.

Turning

If you have left sufficient clay at the base, you can turn a small foot—that is, hollow out the bottom slightly, leaving a rim around the outside for the vase to rest on.First look inside the vase and study the curve in the bottom.This is the general contour you should try to cut on the out­side of the base.Pick up the vase and lightly mark on the bottom the width of the foot to be cut.Try to remember the curve of the inside bottom so that you may cut enough from the outside to conform to the inside curve.

Turn the vase upside down on the new bat.Your first problem is to center the piece on the wheel.A pencil line may be drawn on the bat.Hold the pencil at the edge of the vase where it touches the bat and rotate the wheel slowly, holding the pencil in this position to make a circle slightly larger than the vase.Check to see if the piece is perfectly centered by doing this: Take the pencil in your hand and steady your arm by holding it firmly against your side.Let the point of the pencil barely touch the vase.Turn the vase slowly.If the vase is centered prop­erly the pencil will touch it at all places as it rotates.If the piece is off-center, carefully move it until the pencil does touch at all points.Hold the vase in place by pressing at least three clay balls around the perimeter.These will keep the vase in place when the wheel is rotated.Other­wise centrifugal force would send it flying off the bat.

Start the wheel spinning rapidly.With a cutting tool, starting at the center of the base and working out, cut out to the mark you made for the foot.Don't cut too deeply at first.It is better to go back and cut again.Use the tip of your tool and cut at right angles to the bottom of the vase.If the wheel is not turning fast enough you will be plagued with ridges.Keep your wrist firm and hold the tool steady.

A small rim about one-quarter of an inch thick should be left for the vase to stand on.Trim a contour on the lower outside which follows the inside curve.

Cross-sectional view of turned vase shows how thickness of walls are controlled by finger pressure.

From "Craftsmanship in Clay" by Karl Martz

An experienced thrower reduces the final work to a minimum.The more expert you become at throwing a piece the less cutting you will have to do when turning, except at the base.Do not expect to correct or re­move throwing defects when you are turn­ing.A piece must be thrown correctly if you want a worth-while ware upon its completion.

After you are satisfied with the foot you have cut, clean the vase with a damp sponge while it is still spinning on the wheel.Apply the sponge to inside and outside surfaces to smooth off small pieces of clay and to dampen the wall slightly, which makes it easier to see how much additional cutting is necessary.Use a thin, flat, wet sponge, which you rest upon your fingers and work over the surface of the vase just as though the sponge weren't there.Never dab with the sponge.If more cutting is necessary, use the sponge again to remove the tool marks.Be sure you do not gouge or score too deeply.

If the piece requires a spout or a handle, these can be formed by the coil method and welded in place with mending slip.You may, if you wish, leave the marks that de­note wheel work, or these may be fettled off with a damp sponge while rotating the wheel.

Do not expect to become an expert with the potter's wheel overnight.It requires much practice.There is, however, no rea­son why you shouldn't develop enough facility with the wheel to produce excellent wares after a while.All it takes is pa­tience and determination.And the result, you'll find, is more than worth the effort.For there is nothing quite like the thrill you'll feel while transforming a lump of clay beneath your hands into a beautiful ceramic ware.

These directions cover the general prin­ciples, but everyone will find ways of hold­ing his hands or working the clay that will be more comfortable for him.No two pot­ters use the wheel in precisely the same way.But all of them stick closely to these basic rules for working with the wheel.Two or three hours of watching a ceramist throwing and turning will teach you more than a dozen books on the subject.If at all possible, visit a studio which is equipped with a wheel and see how it is used.At least be certain to study the step-by-step photos on these pages before you actually start throwing.

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