Boondock
Shohin
you don't need any fancy equipment to get started making pottery. A trip to Home Depot or other home improvement store is all that is required. And don't bring alot of money either, because the things you will need to make a nice slab will cost you less than 7 dollars.
There are several ways to roll out a slab of clay. Slab Rollers are professional pieces of equipment costing hundreds of dollars. You can see what a slab roller looks like and a video explaining its use right here if you're interested.
You need three things...
1. something to roll the clay on--I use Reynold's plastic coated Freezer Paper
2. roller guides--I use oak slats, that are 1/4 inch in height. I have one that is 2 inches wide, and one that is 3 inches wide and I use them for alot of other things to make a pot. They should be 3 feet long. These cost 2-3 dollars.
3. a rolling pin--I use a 2 foot piece of 2 inch diameter PVC pipe ($2)
Here's what you need
Oh and of course you need clay. Clay is very cheap. 25 pounds of clay costs between $8 and $10 dollars. Buying in larger amount is cheaper, I usually buy 100 pounds at one time. You should buy a mid-range stoneware clay for cone 6 firing. Here's what 25 pounds of clay looks like. Look in your phone book under Ceramics or Pottery supplies to find clay in your area. While your at the pottery supply business, ask them for a list of place that will fire your pots.
next, use a knife (or better yet a wire cutting tool, which costs about 3 dollars) to remove the amount of clay you want to roll out. This is about 3 pounds. Place the clay between your roller guides and press down. The height of the roller guides determine the thickness of your slab. I recommend 1/4 inch.
roll out the clay just like pie dough
when the clay reaches a smooth, consistent 1/4 inch height, use a metal scraper to smooth the clay, compress the slab, and drive the grog into the slab
here's your freshly rolled out and scraped clay slab
now all you have to do, is wait until the slab loses enough moisture to become leather hard. This will take many hours, and depends on the temperature, humidity and other factors in the environment of your work area.
The best thing to use to dry your slab is a plaster table, but sheetrock/dry wall will do great job
that's it, it takes just a few minutes to roll a slab of clay, once it's leather hard, it will be ready for you to cut pieces out of it and make a new bonsai pot.
You can go to this excellent tutorial to see more information about slab making.
Here's another vid you that might interest you about rolling pins
There are several ways to roll out a slab of clay. Slab Rollers are professional pieces of equipment costing hundreds of dollars. You can see what a slab roller looks like and a video explaining its use right here if you're interested.
You need three things...
1. something to roll the clay on--I use Reynold's plastic coated Freezer Paper
2. roller guides--I use oak slats, that are 1/4 inch in height. I have one that is 2 inches wide, and one that is 3 inches wide and I use them for alot of other things to make a pot. They should be 3 feet long. These cost 2-3 dollars.
3. a rolling pin--I use a 2 foot piece of 2 inch diameter PVC pipe ($2)
Here's what you need
Oh and of course you need clay. Clay is very cheap. 25 pounds of clay costs between $8 and $10 dollars. Buying in larger amount is cheaper, I usually buy 100 pounds at one time. You should buy a mid-range stoneware clay for cone 6 firing. Here's what 25 pounds of clay looks like. Look in your phone book under Ceramics or Pottery supplies to find clay in your area. While your at the pottery supply business, ask them for a list of place that will fire your pots.
next, use a knife (or better yet a wire cutting tool, which costs about 3 dollars) to remove the amount of clay you want to roll out. This is about 3 pounds. Place the clay between your roller guides and press down. The height of the roller guides determine the thickness of your slab. I recommend 1/4 inch.
roll out the clay just like pie dough
when the clay reaches a smooth, consistent 1/4 inch height, use a metal scraper to smooth the clay, compress the slab, and drive the grog into the slab
here's your freshly rolled out and scraped clay slab
now all you have to do, is wait until the slab loses enough moisture to become leather hard. This will take many hours, and depends on the temperature, humidity and other factors in the environment of your work area.
The best thing to use to dry your slab is a plaster table, but sheetrock/dry wall will do great job
that's it, it takes just a few minutes to roll a slab of clay, once it's leather hard, it will be ready for you to cut pieces out of it and make a new bonsai pot.
You can go to this excellent tutorial to see more information about slab making.
Here's another vid you that might interest you about rolling pins
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