Pottery Tools for the Beginner

This Saturday I was at Vermont Ceramic Supply, my favorite Vermont ceramic supplier (well it is VT’s only ceramic supplier but they are wonderful and I love them!) and couple ahead of me asked what to get for someone who had never done pottery and wanted to try it.  Dick and Delores suggested I help them out since they know that I teach ceramics and run my own studio. I introduced myself and we had a lovely conversation. Both of them work at the local VA and wanted a gift for a colleague who has an interest in pottery. I showed them what they needed, told them about ClayShare, and they left very pleased and excited about their purchase for their friend. I have been thinking about this all weekend and realized that I needed to make this info available for everyone.

So here it is, whether it is for yourself, a loved one, a friend or colleague this basic guide is what you need to get started making pottery.

If you are just starting out I suggest you focus on hand building until you are comfortable with working in clay.  The basic pottery tool kit is great for both handbuilding and throwing on the pottery wheel.

Basic Pottery Tool Kit

Here is what It comes with: a clay wire (for cutting your clay from the bag or cutting pieces off the wheel) wooden rib (for smoothing and shaping clay), wooden clay knife (for cutting clay and the rounded end is perfect for adding volume to hand-built forms), needle tool ( for basic trimming and scoring), wide loop tool, double ended ribbon tool, (really these two I only use when trimming thrown forms), a metal rib (so good for smoothing the surface) and sponge (a must have for finishing your edges).

Fettling Knife

A fettling knife will allow you to make sharp precise cuts in the clay. Perfect for cutting out templates, evening edges and trimming. They come in two different style blades, hard and soft. I use the hard one since it does not  flex like the soft one does.

Serrated Rib

A serrated rib is great for scoring areas for joining. Sure you can just use your needle tool but this makes the job much easier and faster. Some pottery kits may have this tool included, if not you won’t regret picking one up for yourself.

Here’s one that will do just fine.

Rolling Pin

I know it’s not a traditional pottery tool, but a  good old traditional wooden rolling pin is great for rolling out slabs of clay. Any rolling pin will do, I use a 12″ rolling pin for making most of my clay projects. They do come in larger sizes but they can be unwieldy. I like the ones that the body of the rolling pin turns separately from the handles but a solid one piece rolling pin( also called a French rolling pin) will work as well.

This rolling pin will get the job done.

Now add clay, a white earthenware for starters is best and a ClayShare membership and you are ready to roll! Pun completely intended!

I will be doing more posts soon with lists of all the tools I use and more about choosing clay but I wanted to keep this list short and sweet and get everyone started making happy little pots!