We continued to work on teapots this week. Today we worked on the spout. Gary showed us how to throw a spout on the wheel. You only need a tiny amount of clay, maybe 1/4 pound. You can also throw it off the hump.
You center, and then open, and you can open all the way to the wheel (but don't have to; it is easier to take it off the wheel when you're done if you leave a lot at the bottom). Then, to open, you have to open more at the bottom and then try to keep the top as narrow as possible. You kind of pull toward your opposite shoulder. To compress the clay a bit toward then end, you stick a thin rod of some kind in there (like the other end of the needle tool) and angle it so it's against the inside wall. Then take one finger and run it up the outside along where the stick is. You also probably need to do a fair amount of choking to narrow the top up even more. Finally, slice the very tip off with the needle tool. You want to keep the edge sharp so that it pours well. If the spout opens up at the end, like a tulip, you will get your hot water to come spraying out everywhere when you pour.
So when I finished making two spouts, I cut them and put them to dry a bit on a board. Then I trimmed my round form for the teapot. I left a lot of clay on the bottom, but I wasn't sure how far down I'd opened it, so I was conservative when trimming and ended up with an interesting double ripple effect for the foot. I also trimmed my two pint glasses. (They'll probably shrink down to smaller than pint sized, sadly.)
I also threw a couple other things, but they didn't come out. I got another weird collapsing thing that might be fun once it's glazed, we'll see.
Finally the spouts were dry enough to attach. You cut the bottom of the spout off at an angle that will fit the shape of your pot well. Then you hold it up to the pot and trace around where it will go with your needle tool (just enough so you know the shape, not to cut anything out). Then you perforate the area you traced so that there are several small holes that the water will flow through on its way out of the spout. Then just slip and score the spout and the traced area, and attach it! I had to cut the bottom off my spout twice cause the first time made a kind of awkward angle. The second cut was much steeper and fit much better. Actually, I should confess that Gary made the second cut for me cause I was standing there trying to fit the awkward spout on and it wasn't working, and I had a confused look on my face. Thanks Gary!
Next week, we'll attach a handle and it will be ready to fire! I'm so thrilled.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
so excited about the teapot! I'm going to have to try that during the summer course I intend to take....
how big is the pot part?
Unfortunately, the pot itself is pretty small. It'll probably be a tea-for-one kind of pot. Also, I meant to say that although I threw several lids and spouts, I only used one of each on the pot. The idea is to throw several and then choose the one that looks best for that pot.
Post a Comment