I love tools! In a slightly obsessive, borderline hoarding, in need of an intervention kind of way. I have hundreds of tools which I’ve collected over the years but lately I’ve been feeling like maybe I need to scale back a bit. So in an effort to have less clutter and be more organized I’ve decided to pare down my stash. I’ve compiled a list of my most essential tools to share with you. What do I mean by essential? Well, these would be the tools I’d take with me if I was going to a residency or to teach a workshop. The ones that I couldn’t live without. I’ve decided to focus solely on small tools for hand building or surface decoration for this post. Also, I should mention that these tools would be in addition to those listed in my post Pottery Tools for the Beginner.
Sherrill Mud Tools rock! I always use the medium sized yellow and small red rib on everything I hand build. I use the yellow one to smooth out and compress my slabs. The red one is more flexible and perfect for blending and finishing edges or refining surfaces. This is especially helpful for smoothing out the joins and erasing seams. The two pictured here are the shapes and sizes I use the most. You may find that a different shape or size works better for you and that is just fine.
Dolan 220s Clay Knife. Dolan has a wonderful line of clay knives and trimming tools. For hand building I find myself grabbing their 220s clay knife the most. The blade is sharp and makes clean cuts but not a sharp as an x-acto knife so you have less chance of cutting yourself. The simple straight wooden handle is easy to hold. If you are looking for the same type of clay knife but with a more ergonomic handle check out their 220C knife. It is exactly the same as the 220S but the handle is curved to fit the palm. I have both and they are great but for some reason I like the 220S better.
Color Shapers. These are just the best! I use then to clean up all of my joins and seams. They are the tool to use for smoothing out the slip on handle attachments, when adding sprig molds or embellishments. It is so easy to give your work a more refined look by simply using these tools to clean up your work. The soft tip ones are perfect for working with soft clay and once the piece is leather hard I switch to the harder tips. They are mostly used by painters and pastel artists but more more people are discovering how wonderful these are for clay!
Hole Making Tools. I first discovered these when I was at a ceramic residency in Vallauris, France. All the potters there used this style so I thought I’d try it. I bought one and brought it home with me but soon I wanted more sizes. You can imagine how thrilled I was to find that these are now available on Amazon. I love that they are only half tubes instead of the usual tube style hole cutter. With these the little clay core will just pop right out and won’t build up inside the barrel! You gotta make holes right? So why not get a set so you can make lots of different sized holes. Great for berry bowls, teapots, luminaries, planters…
Diamond Core tools makes some of the highest quality hand tools. Two of my favorites are the P8 Palm Carver and the L3 Diamond stylus tool. I use the P8 for all of my sgraffito and carving. The blade is exceptionally sharp and works best on leather hard clay but you can even use it on bone dry pieces as well! The small size fits exactly in my hand and it come with a foam cover that makes it easy to hold.
The L3 is my go to tool for mishima. It has two different sized ends so you can carve a thinner and a thicker line which is nice if you like to change your line width to create more visual interest. I treasure these tools and I have to warn you that they are a bit pricey but so worth it. I have never had to sharpen mine and they are handmade here in the US.
Hake Brush. Pronounced as “ha-kay” This brush is great for applying underglaze, slip or glaze evenly to large areas. The soft bristles hold a lot of liquid so your brush won’t run dry as quickly.
Sumi brushes are the best thing for applying underglaze in a painterly fashion to the ceramic surface. They hold a lot of liquid for their size so you won’t be re-dipping into your medium. I like to use these for lettering or creating fine painted-on line work.
Both the Hake and Sumi brushes are easy to clean and the long handles fit perfectly into vases or cups to store them. For longer lasting brushes always dry them flat first before standing them up on their ends.
Large rolling pin. A good wooden rolling pin is a must for getting good slabs. I have a 12″ and a 18″ rolling pin and use both daily. I like the ones with the bearings in the handles so it rolls smooth. Pair this with a set of slab thickness strips and you will always have nice even slabs. They are also great for flattening coils to make rims and feet and for rolling in fabrics, leaves or other materials to create texture.
Clay thickness strips. Before I had my Bailey slab roller I made all of my slabs with clay thickness strips and a rolling pin. The thickness strips come in a set of 8, 24″ long strips, two of each thickness; 1/8″, 1/4″, 3/8″ and 1/2″. You can find them at through most ceramic suppliers. I happened to find this set(pictured right) of the clay thickness strips, needle tool and rolling pin set from amazon.
Well, there you have it my must have list of tools for hand building. I suppose I could give away all of my other tools and just keep these but…….. I don’t think I’m quite ready for that although I am sure I could donate a few that I have duplicates of to my local clay center. I hope you find a new favorite tool on this list and I’d love to hear what are your Desert Island Tools.