Decorations and Softening Leather Hard Clay

MARCH 1980 – Decoration

Try children's crayons (even the new synthetic kind) for decorative wax resist. They require no heating and the resulting mottled glaze effect can be quite attractive.

An expired plastic credit card makes an excellent throwing rib or slab cutter. For additional versatility, one edge of the card can be notched to make a texture and sgraffito tool.

Use a steel drill bit for drilling holes in leather-hard or bone dry clay. These bits come in a variety of sizes, and their keen cutting action will not damage fragile ware.

MARCH 1982 – Decoration

Oiled stamps: When you require intricate, impressed decoration from metal, wood or plastic stamps, coat these with vegetable oil and they will easily release, with no clay stuck in the stamp's fine detail.

Stamping decoration: A plastic dry-cleaning bag [or cling wrap] may be placed on top of a clay object prior to impressing with a bisque stamp to produce a smooth edged decoration and prevent clay build up on the stamp. Using the plastic, even nonporous objects such as tin cans, bottle tops, cake cutters, and forks can be impressed; deeply textured surfaces provide the best decoration.

Smooth foot rims: After trimming the foot of a heavily grogged piece, brush the surface with matching fine slip to provide a smooth finish and afford protection for tabletops and other contact surfaces.

Restoring leather hardness: An easy way to make ware softer again without fear of cracking is to line the pot inside and out with wet newspaper, leave it this way for a day and then it is ready for trimming.

Driftwood tools: Find driftwood on the beach and convert it into modelling tools for making pots. The wood is especially hard, smooth and holds sharp edges well. It allows the forming at no expense, of any tool needed, either by picking up a suitable shape or sanding it to fit specifications.

Courtesy COLLECTED WISDOM | 50 years of handy hints from the Ceramic Study Group, Australia