Handbuilding	Wheel Throwing	Extras
Pinch Pots	Using Tools	Slip Trailing
Coil Construction	Throwing Off the Hump	Slip Casting
Slab Construction	Damascus Clay & Mason Stains	Sprig Mold

Handbuilding and wheel throwing are the bread and butter of ceramics. Handbuilding emerged in the Paleolithic era, the oldest ceramic object being the Gravettian figurines dating back to 29,000 - 25,000 B.C.E. Wheel throwing emerged much later in Neolithic times with the ancient Sumerians and their slow wheels in 3129 BC.
Extra ceramics techniques such as Slip Casting techniques emerged much later in Tang Dynasty China between 619-917 C.E. Germans used sprig molds in the fifteenth century, and sprig molds later became prevalent in 18th century Britain.

• Handbuilding is best suited for geometric and big long-term pieces that require asymmetrical construction.
• Wheel throwing is best suited for the quicker production of symmetrical vessels.
• Slip casting is optimal for the mass production of simple forms.
• Sprig molds can help cast small and intricate shapes in clay.

Pinch Pots

The pinch pot is the most basic of ceramic forms. They can be made tiny or massive and be combined or act as a stand-alone piece. To create a pinch pot, take your clay (in the plastic greenware stage) and slap it into a ball. Then, you will take your thumb and stick it in the ball. After that, start pinching the with your thumb and pointer finger to thin out the clay. Remember to rotate the ball while squeezing to maintain an even wall thickness. Repeat these steps until you reach the desired form and your pinch pot is complete!

Coil Construction

Coil construction is a form of hand building built on a sturdy, flat clay base and built up with coils. To create the walls, one must shape the clay (in the plastic greenware stage) into a ball and squeeze it into a rod. Afterward, roll the rod on a flat surface to lengthen it. If thinner walls are wanted, lightly flatten the rod on a flat surface. Connect the coil to itself to create a ring. To attach these segments, use a scoring tool and water to score and slipping. Coil construction allows for intricate concave and convex curvilinear walls in the vessel, the construction of skeletal supports, and interesting divots and protrusions in the piece.

Slab Construction

Slab construction is optimal for complex geometric vessels and shapes. By rolling out clay in the leatherhard stage of greenware on a canvas with square dowels and a rolling pin we can create flat slabs. As a rule of thumb, the base slab should be thicker than the walls. After rolling, using a pin tool or fettling knife to cut the amorphouse slab to the desired shape. Remember to score and slip using water and a scoring tool to connect the pieces.

Using Tools

Using tools can enhance your wheel-throwing experience. The ribs, modeling tools, and sponges help to smooth out the surface of the vessel. The fettling knife, pin/needle tool, and wire cutter can trim portions of the pot. Loop tools, serrated scrapers, ribbon tools, sculpting tools, and shavers are for reductive work or for patterning the clay. Lastly, calipers are for measuring the diameters of vessels.

Throwing Off the Hump

Throwing off the hump is a ceramics technique which entails using a large lump of clay. One can use one block (25 pounds) of clay to start. First, wedge the block into a gumdrop shape, then slam the clay block onto the wheel head to secure it. Afterward, focus on centering only the top of the mound, leaving the rest roughly centered. Then, open only the centered section of clay and create whatever vessel you desire. Throwing off the hump can be used to mass-produce all manner of pint-sized ceramics, such as teacups.

Damascus Clay & Mason Stains

The damascus/marbled clay look is achieved by mixing mason stains into plain clay and then layering those stained clays with regular unstained clays. An alternate way to achieve the same effect would be to mix terracotta clay with grey stoneware. Whenever working with mason-stained clay or terracotta and stoneware, make sure no cross-contamination of the sources occurs. Do not put the different colors or clays into the same place for reconstitution or pugging. After one throws the marbled clay, use a rib, modeling tool, wire cutter, or sponge to wipe away the homogenous surface, revealing the layering hidden beneath the surface.

Slip Trailing

Slip trailing uses slip (a homogenous mix of clay and water) to decorate the ceramic piece. One can apply the mixture directly to the pot via brush or hand. For example, one can cover a grey stoneware vessel with terracotta slip and then scrape away a pattern onto the piece. Another way to do slip training is by filling a needle bottle or pipping bag and applying intricate ornamentation onto the vessel. By adjusting viscosity, color, and additives, one can achieve different effects.

Slip Casting

Slip casting is a technique where one pours slip (a homogenous mix of clay and water) into a plaster mold and waits for the slip to solidify before removing the completely dried object. Some creations, such as plates, require all the mixture to solidify. However, a hollow vessel only needs the walls to dry to a certain thickness before the slip can be drained and reused in another project. Slip casting can is for easy mass production of a templated object. Slip casts can be intricate or simple, small or large.

Sprig Mold

The sprig mold is a press molding tool used to shape clay. The clay is pressed into the plaster mold and allowed to dry. The work is removed by adhering a small piece of clay to it, or if it is loose and shallow enough, just peeling it off the mold. Sprig molds are a way to fabricate many smaller intricate objects. The work that comes out of the mold may need some trimming around the edges and afterward can be added to a larger vessel or kept alone as nick-nacks. One can make a sprig mold by pouring a mix of plaster powder and water into a container. Wait for the plaster to become thick before inserting a small object halfway or less into the solidifying mixture. Once the mold has dried, remove the trinket, and the sprig mold is ready. Before making a cast of the item, confirm it won't get stuck when the plaster solidifies. One can also stamp their object into a slab of clay, wait for the clay to dry, and then fire it so it becomes a solid mold.