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Thank you for all your answers! I had thought of firing the pot on a slab, I guess it's an alternative to the silica sand/grog. I'll try both methods eventually. I formed the pot using a rope wheel, with no bottom. The thickness of the pot is almost the same everywhere. I find it quite difficult indeed, this one was the third one of this kind. The first one collapsed while smoothing the inside, the second one cracked badly during the drying stage. This one didn't crack while drying but some cracks appeared during firing. I can see some progress and I know that I'll make it eventually. Thank you so much for your kind and motivating words! Does someone have the answer to this question?

The drying went smoothly, I think the problem comes from the tension on the base as you mention. It was fired directly on the shelf, and I hadn't thought of using a bed of silica sand. Sounds like what I was looking for. Btw, for what kind of pots would you use the silica sand? I've just seen it mentioned in another post about tile firing. It doesn't seem necessary for pieces like bowl and cups..? And finally, do you think finely ground silica would do the job, or should it be more sand-like?

Hi everyone, I fired a large pot with an open bottom, and here's the result. Before firing the bottom shape was a perfect circle. Do you know how to avoid this deformation? The pot is 50cm high/45cm wide; I used stoneware, fired at cone 7 Many thanks! Simon

Oh thanks; actually I'll try an thin open cloth first. I'll keep the newspaper strat in mind though, in case I'm not happy with the cloth.

Thank you very much, Bill, Mark and LT, I think your three answers cover it pretty much With that I'm good to go, I'll test the three methods eventually.

Oh that sounds good, so there's no need to cut under the pot with the wire/knife at any time, right?

Hi everyone, I'm currently experimenting making big pots with my rope wheel, and the size of the pot makes it impossible to turn upside down for proper drying of the base. In my case, the bottom is open (it'll be the body of a drum) and I'm afraid that even after cutting under the pot with the knife, the clay will stick again to the plywood bat and prevent it from shrinking smoothly. Does anyone have any advices on how to handle this (either with open or closed bottom)? Many thanks, Simon