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Throwing On Bats. To Cut Or To Not Cut?


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personal opinion only.  i have used the same Duron bats since the 1970s and do not wire off.  thickness is trimmed if desired after the pot pops off the bat.  this depends on humidity, temperature other variables.  i throw with very little water and anything  i make needs very little trimming, usually a spiral of fine lines from the tool in the footring.  because i use a lot of slips and band the work right after making it, i like having the piece centered exactly like it was when made.  in a series, the same pot might be on and off the wheel several times before i let it dry.  very seldom covered up with plastic, usually just to hold a series overnight to trim in the morning.

 

you might want to try various methods and settle on the one that fits YOU.

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When you say you will "make" some bats, that leaves a lot of open space. I have made plaster bats with a mold that I do not wire off, letting them set up on the bat, I have made plywood bats, that I cut after they have set to cheese hard, and then put a fresh bat on the top of the pot and flipped the entire thing over to remove the bottom bat. This allows more even drying of the piece. So I guess what I am getting at is that whatever you use for the bat material will help determine what you do about cutting off. Absorbent, porous materials, I would leave the pot on, much less absorbent, cut the pot from once the rim has firmed up.

 

 

best,

Pres 

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Just don't confuse which bats are which like I did.  I mostly use non-absorbant bats, so when I drove home from a workshop with my really tall (biggest I have ever made) piece in my car, thinking if I didn't cut it off the bat and kept it moist that was the safest way to transport.  I spent the night and by the next day the piece had dried too much,  self released, and slumped over silently when I was nearly home, putting 2 large dents in the side.  I almost drove off the road when I looked in the rear view mirror and my pot had disappeared!

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If the bat is absorbent enough, you don't need to wire it. If it's not absorbent, do wire it. Personally, I wire with every bat other than plaster, because even with wood/medex bats I will get cracking due to the high shrinkage rate of porcelain. With plastic and other non-absorbent bats you need to wire it right after throwing, and again as it approaches leather hard.

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Good point Neil, the clay you use does effect your drying procedure, and your use of cut offs with bats. I remember how I never worried about wiring off with the raku clay we used at Penn State in the summers. It seemed that no matter what you did the pots always would easily lift from bats without cutoff within a couple of hours, but then it was during the Summer in Central PA.

 

 

best,

Pres

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