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Hello I was hoping for any help on the trimming of pinch pots on the wheel, I met another Potter at my local studio who does this and she offered to show me but we keep missing each other. Do any of you know how to do this and what kind of specific equipment or tool do I need? A plaster or bisque slump mould? What kind of bat system do you need?

I am new to ceramics and have recently started teaching art is a school two days per week. The other art teacher is also not a ceramicist. The current practise in the school it to discard clay ‘waste’. This is loads of clay so I have been working on recycling. I have dried discarded clay and rehydrated it for over a fortnight in a large bucket and made two large plaster bats to dry the rehydrated ‘slip’. Two questions: 1. Despite having been cast five days the plaster bats feel slightly cold to the touch - does this indicate they are still drying and not ready to use? 2. I have used one of the bats to begin the ‘drying’ process of firming up the rehydrated clay over night and flipped it onto the second bat this morning. All seems to be fine but the original bat now is damp from the clay sitting overnight. I have more rehydrated clay to process. Should I wait before sitting the next batch on the plaster and if so how do I know the plaster bat is ready to use again? Hope this makes sense!! John

I acquired a Shimpo-West ring-cone popet wheel, which works well (and was an absolute blessing to get from a woman who ran the arts program at an old YWCA camp). I'm having trouble with bats. I tried drilling holes in plastic bats I already had, but I'm having trouble getting a tight fit on the wheel head since the posts are cone-shaped. I do not have the original manual, and the shifting while throwing is not working for me. Does anyone have suggestions for drilling more accurate holes, or even a source for purchasing a pre-drilled bat?

Hi everyone, I've been throwing for a little while now and bought a wheel to keep practicing. I'm working towards a raku fire next month so have been working with a fine grogged raku clay. I can't seem to centre more than 550g of clay on my wheel without it slipping from the center of the wheel. I'm using particle board bats. Not sure if i'm using too much/not enough water, wheel is too slow. Any help to prevent slipping when centering would be great. Thanks