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How to throw a pitcher on a pottery wheel

This article is taking into consideration that the prospective potter has taken private lessons with a master potter or at the very least a workshop class in wheel-work. My clay of choice is earthenware, specifically Buncombe white although I prefer Highwater's speckle brownstone. Porcelain requires much more experience as it is a more delicate type of clay so we will stick with the basics here.

The most important part of throwing pottery on a potter's wheel, manual wheel or electric wheel, is to ensure the clay is pliable. In order to produce pliable clay, it is necessary to wedge clay using either the press and twist method or the ram's head method. It is best to wedge the clay approximately 100 turns ensuring no air bubbles exist in the clay or else all your hard work will simply explode or at the very least crack when firing in the kiln.

Once you are certain the clay is free of air bubbles, form a cone shape or a ball shape from the clay making certain not to reintroduce air into the clay form. It helps to press the clay back and forth on the wheel-head or bat although in the case of making a pitcher, a bat is the best method since it is rather difficult to remove the pitcher from the wheel-head without a thorough working knowledge of moving moist clay from one place to another without disfiguring the piece. If working on a manual wheel without bat pins, it is necessary to create a bat pad using a wedged ball of clay to form a pad beneath the bat and ensuring the bat is even on the wheel. If it is not even, then the pitcher will not be even. Electric wheels generally come with bat pins so it is a matter of matching the bats to the pins then compressing the bat firmly yet carefully to the wheel head.

Set up the pottery wheel with a bowl of water, preferably warm water in order to keep the hands and fingers as free flowing as possible, especially for those of us with arthritis. Keep a natural sponge and an elephant ear sponge handy by placing it into the bowl of water along with a piece of chamois cloth cut in a small strip. Some people attach a small fishing cork to the chamois to make it easier to locate when needed. Place a variety of ribs and cut-off tools within reach. Do not forget to place a beach towel or old bath sheet across your lap to prevent clay from going everywhere and to allow for drying one's hands when necessary.

Begin by throwing your lump of clay as near to the center of the bat as possible. If possible,

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