Building a wet slab bonsai pot

[ABCarve]

A firm yellow urethane ribs is used to remove the teeth marks and a softer red rib is used for the final smoothing.

 

[ABCarve]

The pot is flipped over and the tape removed from the newspaper. The plug can then be removed, followed by the newspaper.

 

[ABCarve]

I like to reinforce the inside corners. This is done the same way as I did on the bottom. Plastic film is used on the outside of the pot overnight to let the clay firm up to leather-hard.

 

[ABCarve]

A compass is used to scribe a line to even out the top edge. The excess is cut with a fettling knife.

 

[ABCarve]

To prepare the final surface and to add the feet its flipped over again. The hard corners are slightly round to avoid chipping after it fired. The area where the feet will go is scored to adhere the feet to the leather-hard clay. The joint has a slip applied to the scored surface before the foot is added. Once all the feet have been put on and shaped, temporary spacers (same thickness as feet) are laid in place to support the bottom as it dries as well as the firing process. The newspaper keeps them from sticking to the bottom.

 

[ABCarve]

It's now bagged and moisture is allowed to equalize over night. Total man-hours, including making the plug was 3-1/2 hours.

 

[barrosinc]

Amazing walkthrough! Thanks

 

[ABCarve]

Amazing walkthrough! Thanks

I hope you give it another try!!

 

[barrosinc]

I hope you give it another try!!

Probably today!! I had made the mold last week.

 

[Lionheart]

Thank you for this and the other one. Extremely good information and photos.

 

[ABCarve]

This is a commission I'm working on now. Similar technique but in a different order to accommodate the inset panels. Takes two people to flip it over. As it is now it won't fit in the kiln. The width will shrink over 3" after firing and 1.5" in curing to greenware.

 

[Soldano666]

Dannnng thats a beast. Awesome tutorial you have put together here.

 

[Vinnie Charity]

This is a very interesting thread, and one of these days I'll snag one of the many free kilns that are posted here in Richmond so I can start making my own pots!!!

 

[barrosinc]

Wow!!!

 

[ABCarve]

Wow!!!

Are you making progress?

 

[barrosinc]

Yep! Went to the kiln last week. We should see!! I want to make a new pot with the one piece technique and see how it goes. The one I sent is 50cm so quite large hope it doesn't warp.

 

[ABCarve]

Yep! Went to the kiln last week. We should see!! I want to make a new pot with the one piece technique and see how it goes. The one I sent is 50cm so quite large hope it doesn't warp.

So happy that’s working for you. It keeps getting easier and the pots get better!!

 

[ABCarve]

@Vlad Cruceanu I was thinking of your question so I thought I’d give it a try. I made four of these panels and they took me about four hours. Not a very commercial time frame. It would be ok if you were doing it to make a mold. Someone has to make an original. You can see the wooden rib which is carved to a knife edge and small strips of clay attached to the slab. A piece of matte board has been cut as a template to guide the rib. I’ve covered it with packing tape so it doesn’t slide around on the surface.

 

[ABCarve]

I slowly scraped away the excess clay in multiple passes. A problem is the corners need to be modeled by hand. Once you have it all modeled you can remove the template and smooth the adjoining surfaces with a soft rib.

 

[ABCarve]

You can use the same technique to finish the edge.