Teapots that pour beautifully

[cambriapottery]

I was checking out a teapot I made which visually I liked but it pours with an irrating gurgle. I like spouts that come out forcefully with a nice arch and integrity to the liquid. What are some rules I could explore to achieve this.

[liambesaw]

Lid needs a small hole if your teapot gurgles when it pours

[cambriapottery]

I have to check but I usually put a hole in the lid. Any other suggestions? I actually checked its pouring quality without the lid on.

[liambesaw]

Gurgling happens when the volume of liquid coming out of the spout is greater than the volume of air required to displace it, causing a vacuum.  So if your pot is gurgling when you pour it without a lid on, there must be something else restricting flow.  Maybe there's not enough holes in the strainer?

[cambriapottery]

Very puzzling because I had many holes for the strainer. Maybe the spout is angled to high. I will give it a closer inspection tomorrow  when I am back in the studio. Thanks for your thoughts. 

[neilestrick]

If the taper of the spout widens at any point, it will affect the flow. Flaring the tip can cause issues, too. If the total area of the strainer holes is too small, it will have problems. If there's not enough air being pulled in through the lid hole, it will pull air through the spout and glug, like pouring out of a wine bottle.

[GEP]

Lack of air exchange is only one reason why a teapot spout might gurgle. Most teapot lids are not air tight to begin with, hole or no. 

You can dig through my instagram account (@goodelephantpottery) and read the captions for every post that contains a teapot over the past year. I’ve been in pursuit of a perfect pouring teapot spout, and you can read all of my thoughts on what makes a spout pour well. A nice, organized arc of liquid is one of my goals. I’m not quite ready to declare my spouts “guaranteed dribble free” but a customer who bought one in December reported back to me that the pour was perfect. Still working on repeating that result consistently, but I’m close. 

Edit to add (realized it would be a pain for someone to dig through my instafeed):

Here are the important factors:

1) the spout should taper all the way down to the opening. This creates back pressure as the liquid travels down, creating the arc of liquid. The more tapered the better.

2) longer spouts work better than shorter spouts, more distance creates more back pressure

3) the edge of the spout opening, especially the bottom edge, should be sharp. This prevents the last drop from dribbling down the outside of the spout

4) I try to attach the spout low on the teapot body. This accomplishes two things. It requires a longer spout to do this (see #2), so the opening of the spout is still high enough to accomodate a full teapot. And it makes the teapot start pouring with a shallower tilt of the pot. If the spout is attached high on the teapot, it takes a steeper tilt to start the pour. The shallower tilt makes the teapot easier to use. 

4) I cut one large hole in the teapot body where the spout is attached, rather than punching a series of holes. This ensures there is plenty of liquid flowing. 

5) I don’t put holes in my lids.

To answer your specific question @cambriapottery, I have tried different angles for the spout, but that doesn’t seem to affect the pour. If the angle is pointing upwards too much, it might make the teapot harder to use because of the steep tilt required to pour, but doesn’t affect the pour itself. 

[cambriapottery]

Such useful points, thank you very  much. My first teacher did as you do, one hole not the strainer type. If you did incorporate the multi hole version any idea of ratio to opening at exit of spout. I try and make many and make sure no glaze remains in them. 

[Mark C.]

GEP covered most points well-Mine are all those things except I do put a small hole in lid and I do make strainer holes for larger loose leaf tea in wall of main body but I make sure there are lost of holes and take pains to not let glaze clog them. The tapering and sharp under spout are the key factors fo great pouring and less dripping.

[cambriapottery]

Thanks Mark. When do you make the spout sharp, when freshly thrown or do you cut it at leatherhard?

[Mark C.]

I throw several spouts( Im pick thru them when assembling as I make 3-5 teapots at a time and cut them with a metal edge-the drop edge is sharp. This also means the spouts unscrew a little -so this complicates my spouts more than just a thrown one. They get attached at an slight angle and unscrew  slightly during the firing. I have that angle written as a sketch on the pot shop wall.I'm a little fuzzy as I just came  in from a 6 hour drive from SF but can take a look and explain more later.

As to cutting them I wait until leather hard(not wet)

Here are two very old teapots of mine but they show the spouts and the cuts.The red one is 30 years  plus ago the blue one is about 15 years old

 

[GEP]

1 hour ago, cambriapottery said:

If you did incorporate the multi hole version any idea of ratio to opening at exit of spout.

I haven’t done it that way in a long time, so don’t have much to add. I think Mark answered it best ... make lots of holes. 

I try to throw the spout edge as sharp as possible, but I will sometimes hone them further at the leatherhard stage, and even at the bisque stage with a diamond grit hand pad. It all works. I once did it to a fully glaze-fired teapot with a diamond hand pad. It works but it leaves a blemish. 

[Mark C.]

I use a hole punch for my holes and make them large as the glaze then makes them smaller as its fills in-I make sure they all are open before firing and finger brush the glaze down a bit.

Another tip to make a already crippling teapot better is put an small amount of butter on your finger and wipe the under spout with a thin butter coating at drip edge. The butter makes the water fall back into spout and not down spout. I was told this about 40 years ago when really I started working with lots of teapots. Now it only a 1/2 dozen a year. My logo has a red teapot on it along with a full moon and bamboo.I always try to have a few teapots on booth .

[cambriapottery]

Clever, butter tip of spout. I must try that.  Though getting the spout right is my biggest aim.  I think one thing I can easily rectify is making the holes larger so the liquid can exit into the spout and out. And the elusive force to make the tea come out in a nice manner the other factor.

[Pres]

This may help a bit, I used to teach HS, and this is part of an old hand out now posted on my blog site.

 

best,

Pres