Texturing Tool for Hand Building

Texturing clay edges prior to joining can be a time-consuming job but not with this little invention. Buy a small rubber furniture castor from your local hardware shop (make sure it is rubber and not plastic) and insert wire staples, evenly around the wheel so it creates a tread. When rolled over wet clay it produces a series of parallel grooves. The staples usually enter the rubber leaving a small gap between it and the surface of the wheel, which is an ideal depth for the texturing. If the staple goes in too far use a screwdriver to pry it out a little. Straight line texturing works better than cross-hatching as the grooves mesh into each other like cogs and knit together more firmly.

Thanks to Linda Rosenthal for this tip courtesy of Dianne Peach