QotW: Is trimming just a clean-up job for you, or do you use it to enhance the bottom of the pot in some way?

[Pres]

Last week @Bam2015queried: As I was trimming a pot last week, I started wondering if others trim pots just to clean them up and establish a foot, or is trimming part of the creative process for you?  I like when I have extra clay (thicker walls & bottom) and can change the intended look of the pot depending on my mood that day.  Following this train of thought I believe is interesting so. . .

QotW: Is trimming just a clean-up job for you, or do you use it to enhance the bottom of the pot in some way?

I have always used trimming to finish the bottom of forms. Large jars, would often use a little bit of clean up and trimming to remove some bottom thickness used to support the form during excessive shaping. Bowls and plates would have material removed in the same way as the shaping would need a little extra to support the walls that could be trimmed off later. In the last several years though, I have used shaping to make the pots like bowls, and smaller jars and such more dishwasher friendly. Part of this is old school. .  a proper pot is footed, part is through an evolution of my thinking about form. Often now, my feet have blended edges on the inside of the foot ring where no water can gather, and often a 3-5 cut outs of the foot ring that allow the form to lift from the table somewhat. It's just an aesthetic thing, but I like it. These things really don't take much longer to do if you are footing anyway, and IMHO make a difference in the final piece.

 

best,

Pres

[Pres]

We had two answers to this question in the Question of the Week Question Pool.

Bill Kielb

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Posted March 25 · IP  (edited)

I have become lazy and try and throw everything with minimal trimming. If I can pre-trim most of the excess clay off before removing from the wheel I will. I still like a very well defined foot though; albeit minimal. Not something to grip and glaze with. I actually don’t mind trimming but have gotten into this habit over time.

Edited March 25 by Bill Kielb

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Magnolia Mud Research

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Posted March 26 · IP 

  On 3/25/2022 at 6:14 PM, Bill Kielb said:

I ... try and throw everything with minimal trimming. If I can pre-trim most of the excess clay off before removing from the wheel I will.  I still like a very well defined foot though; albeit minimal.  

ik ook.

LT

 

[neilestrick]

I trim a foot ring into the bottom of every pot that I'm able to. Some form make it too difficult to impossible, but I avoid a flat bottom whenever I can. It just looks more finished.

[Pres]

I have also been a big supporter of the beveled undercut on the bottoms of forms. I find that even a flat bottomed form benefits from a 1/4" beveled undercut on the bottom of the pot for several reasons: 

• The bevel at the bottom makes an easier clean up job for glaze when cleaning to fire for glaze firing.
• The undercut  hides the unglazed area of the pot
• The undercut also separates the pot from the table, an aesthetic thing IMHO
• easy and quickly done before cutting from the wheel, or when trimming.

best,

Pres

[Mark C.]

45 years ago I trimmed every pot bottom As a production potter I still trim most forms with feet (I think a foot adds to the form) and glaze the bottoms if the foot is tall enough.

Nowdays I do not glaze many flat form bottoms like pie plates and chip and dip dishes . I still trim a foot and glaze the bottoms of dinnerware /platters

I use a tool to add a drip line  and undercut to mugs (no trimmers) and sponge holders and spoon rests

Most of my smalls are no trimmers these days-you learn to add the undercut and drop edge to the thrown form when throwing-these include mugs -all sizes and spoonrests and sponge holders. I do trim salt cellars and honey pots

I trim all other medium and large pots. so most of my 30-35 forms get trimmed except for the smalls

All bowls are trimmed as well-no matter the size.Most forms take longer to trim than throw

[oldlady]

i do not throw much anymore, have found slab pots more fun to make and easier to sell.  but i love to trim bowls.   i do it with a strange tool that you would not thing of as a trimming tool.  it is the huge open circle on one  end of a wooden handle that has a smaller circle at the other end.   they are no longer sold or made by kemper.  since i form the bowl as a standard planter shape and insert a disc vertically to make the pot spherical, a lot of excess clay winds up being pushed down past the circumference of the bowl.   i find that inserting the circle tool at the very bottom of the excess and  inserting it absolutely flat and tilting it up as the wheel goes around fast will remove a huge amount of clay in one step.  the pot then dries on the duron bat until it lifts off and i do a foot ring to finish it.

i think final trimming is fun and i try to do a very fine line spiral from the center out.

Edited April 4, 2022 by oldlady

[Callie Beller Diesel]

I went from initial intro to clay in HS straight into a college program, so early on I was taught to consider whether or not any given form needed trimming, and if so, why. My instructors also tended to frown on too much trimming as they said it was a sign of poor throwing skills. There’s a lot of technical reasons why that last might not be true, and lots of pottery making traditions where that attitude would be considered patently absurd. There’s also some forms that are easier to make or are more structurally sound if you throw them thick and trim afterwards. Think  very wide serving pieces with a shallow interior curve. 

But if you’ve got a nice box of pre-prepared clay formulated for throwing, you don’t need to trim a foot ring onto every mug you make unless it’s a design element. Recentering a piece takes time, and if the design is served well by simply rounding the edges and smoothing the bottom with a silicone rib, why take on the extra work? It’s less work in the long run to get your walls and bottoms even in the throwing.

I was taught to view foot rings either as a functional necessity (to allow drainage on a berry bowl for instance), or as a pedestal to elevate or give visual lightness to a piece. A consciously chosen design element. I do put foot rings on most serving pieces, and a couple of teacup-inspired mug designs, and any bowl with a curved interior.

I find other ways of finishing the bottoms of other mug designs, storage jars, or anything with a more angular transition from horizontal to vertical. Any flat bottomed pot still gets some form of finishing, it just might not be with a Do-all.

[Denice]

I was taught that trimming the bottom of the pot was part of the balance, stand and overall design of the piece.  I enjoy trimming,  if I was a high production potter I am sure I would find it tedious after awhile.    Denice

[shawnhar]

On 4/3/2022 at 3:56 PM, Mark C. said:

Most of my smalls are no trimmers these days-you learn to add the undercut and drop edge to the thrown form when throwing-these include mugs -all sizes and spoonrests and sponge holders.

All bowls are trimmed as well-no matter the size.Most forms take longer to trim than throw

Same for me.

I don't trim unless I have to, I give my pieces a visual foot while throwing and be done with it.

[Hulk]

Absolutely, the pots definitely work, very nice.

As for qow, there are some pots I don't trim, but not many.

I like
a) to establish the ring where the finger catches on the bottom, particularly for unhandled ware, so there's a closed angle between thumb and fingers (I have "bad" thumbs)
b) to trim the portion within the ring to match the contour of the pot, which typically has a slight arc to it, which then flattens a bit in drying
c) to glaze the portion within the ring
d) to burnish the clay, particularly the bare part
e) to tool the portion within the footring
f) chatter mark

Hence, both, it's clean-up, for there's clay to remove, and enhance, per I like, above, however, trimming is just part of my process, and the ring is mainly practical for me.
As for being part of the creative process, yes, I believe so. The humble portion - it's part of the pot, after all! 

Here's the mug I brought with on my trip - the size I like, just over ten ounces.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Hulk
size

[Pyewackette]

I'm nowhere near as experienced (or skilled) as any of you guys, but I like a foot on the bottom of pretty much everything, both as a potter and as an end user.  I would never buy a mug or bowl or anything else that just had a flat bottom.  That's too much contact with the table for one thing. I actually have a NICE table that I wouldn't want to risk marring.  The foot also gives you a stand-off when your cup is full of hot tea or coffee or toddy. Flat bottom? 100% you need a coaster for that.  Even cold - condensation on my mahogany table?  GET THEE BEYOND ME SATAN!

I don't know why but I DO like trimming.  And while I'm a pretty neat thrower, turns out I'm a VERY MESSY trimmer.  Not sure how that's going to work out when it gets cold and the wheel has to come back inside.

Now if I could just get my foot trimming mojo back.  Yesterday I (accidentally) turned a bowl into a cactus/succulents pot.

[Denice]

Harbor Freight has some big blue plastic tarps  that are inexpensive,  sometimes they have a sidewalk sale and give them away.   Put your wheel on one and hang a  couple on the wall,  clean up everyday so you don't track clay around.   Throw a little drier by just wetting your hands not the clay,  keep a small wet sponge in your hand to squeeze some water on the clay.    I had a professor teach my class to throw this way.    When I trim clay that is starting to get too dry I have a bigger mess.   Winter is many months away,  you have plenty of time to plan your throwing inside.      Denice

[Magnolia Mud Research]

Yes & Yes!
trimming is not limited to wheel ware.
much of my ware is "trimmed" with a sharp spoon. 

LT
 

[Pyewackette]

@Denice Throwing, I'm good.  I use very little extra water when throwing, which has helped a lot with the too-soft clay we keep getting at the studio.  But trimming!  Yesterday I was trimming a bowl-now-a-cactus-pot-because-hole-in-the-bottom and pieces were flying EVERYWHERE.  WAY messier than throwing!  But the tarps (and I have a lot of them already, assuming they didn't get left in the move) I have, so maybe that will help capture the trimmings.  Or making a pan from a garbage can - I saw that somewhere or other ...

BTW wetting my hands in the reclaim bucket is how I got that allergic reaction to somebody-or-other's lotion.  Now I keep my own reclaim bucket and add it to the studio's when I'm done LOL!

@Magnolia Mud Research That makes me think of the line from "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" where the Sherriff of Nottingham says "I'll cut his heart out with a SPOON!"

"A spoon?"

"Because it'll HURT more!"

[Syncrasis]

I just can't leave a form un-trimmed. I even trim the bottoms of my coasters. I have fun playing with depth and concentric rings, especially around my logo stamp. It's a lot to put on the underside of a piece but I just don't feel I've finished it if there's not something to see when you turn it over. 

Sometimes I like to play with sharp undercuts and glaze drips too.  It's safer than drips on a vertical wall.

 

[Pres]

@Syncrasis, try to make your bottom undercut a little more, leaving a deeper ledge down there to catch the drip.

 

best,

Pres

[Syncrasis]

On 9/4/2022 at 11:42 PM, Pres said:

@Syncrasis, try to make your bottom undercut a little more, leaving a deeper ledge down there to catch the drip.

 

best,

Pres

Thanks, I'll give that a try! Admittedly, a few of my other cups of this shape had drips that ran off so that will help further reduce the risk.

[LeeU]

OK, I'll play. Here's my latest footed bowl. It is turned upside down and does double-duty. Lee's idea of making "footware" last and earn it's keep.