QotW: What form of foot do you use on vertical forms?

[Pres]

Once again I will try to elicit a question that raises a little discussion. Often I wonder as it seems folks take time to think before posting as much of the posts come later in the week. Maybe it takes time to get under your skin enough so that you have to post to kill the itch!

This week there have been discussions of runny glazes, failing glazes, and other problems with glazes. I have had some problems over the years with some runny glazes especially when used over other glazes. I loved the colors created by these layers, but hated the fact that often I had to quit the glaze line of the culprit 2/3 from the top of the pot. Back in those days, I was using commercial glazes and not really cognizant of the methods of modifying a commercial or other glaze. That has changed a little.  However, are there other options?  In a discussion of late I suggested changing the foot of the pots being thrown to alleviate much of the over run that caused problems. Often though even these need other measures to come to a good solution.

These thoughts got me to wonder. . . . what type of foot do people use on their vertical forms? So I did a quick sketch of feet that I have seen on vertical forms and would like you to comment on the type of foot you use and maybe even include a picture.

QotW: What form of foot do you use on vertical forms? Is it one of the ones listed or other? Please include pictures if possible.

best,

Pres

[Mark C.]

My foot is a glaze catcher-its a no trimmer on most forms but on trimmed forms like bowls its even larger.You can see it on my pots on my photo posts.

for the no trimmers its put in with a wooden tool on the wheel . With my runny rutile glaze it has to be there.

[Denice]

I do more hand building than throwing so I don't have any inventive ways of creating a foot.   Your number 4 is the way I would trim for a runny glaze, number 2 I would use this for quickly made cups.   I made bisque molds for recycled glass casing  I  had to break the molds off of the fired glass,   I  had seventy of them to make.    Number 7 is the look I like to trim on more elegant well balanced pot.    Denice

[Hulk]

Most everything like the seven.
The glazes I'm using don't move much.
The slight groove at the juncture of the wall and foot does serve as a glaze catch, however, I'd started doing that to make it easier to get a sharp glaze edge*.

There's a spiral mark between the chatter marking and the edge of the foot, which could help as a glaze catch.
The spiral and chatter marks are mainly for interest and to provide a bit of texture for grasping.
The foot ring itself provides edges for fingertips, particularly for washing (slippery!)...

* I tape the foot ring off with masking tape.
Tooling the top edge of the foot ring provides a nice sharp line to tape to.
The tape gives me something to hold on to when pushing the ware down into the glaze.
I pull the tape whilst the glaze is still damp, much less dust, and a cleaner edge.

I'm dipping the outside glaze(s), upside down, hence controlling the glaze layer near the foot ring is straightforward.

[Mark C.]

One thing of note is how important your foot can be to your work. I feell it gtakes time to develop ones own foot style . I mentored a person in Canada for a long period of time (over a year) with her finding her foot-that is the one that fits her work. It hard to develop ones own style of feet -it comes over time. The temp you fire at and the forms you make all fit into this thought process. My feet are ones I developed in the 70s and have refines slowly since then. My 70s feet are similar to my 2023 feet. I have my own style and each potter need to find theirs.

Its a very important feature of the pot

[Pres]

Strangely enough, over the years lips, and feet have been important paths I have followed. As @Mark C.says each potter has to find their own way of doing it. All of us probably started with #1 when learning, and then modified as we became more aware of the importance of feet. . . . and lips.

 

best,

Pres

[Mark C.]

On plates its got to not chip, same with bowls-no sharp edges. It need to hold the pot off the table and catch glaze if thats in your temp range. It needs to last a lifetime of use without chips.

It take lots of work to get this one figured out and at the same time make it yours.. I always say at least 5 years and thousands of pots. I look back on my earliest work and it substandard foot wise and it was low fire in high school. The glaze did not run but the foot was an after thought not part of the whole work.

Edited October 3, 2023 by Mark C.

[Callie Beller Diesel]

All of my teachers in college were pretty focused on form, so we were forever and always looking at feet and rims as important design points in every piece. They’re small details that can either make or break a good pot. The chapters on feet and rims in “A Potter’s Workbook” by Clary Illian are the main reasons I recommend it to anyone starting out making pots. 

These are the 3 profiles I’ve been using the last few years. If a piece is more or less cylindrical, I favour a rolled foot that creates a little shadow underneath the pot, so it doesn’t look like it’s glued to the table. Teacups get a trimmed and altered foot, because they’re supposed to be a little bit fancy. I used to do most of my bowls with the unaltered version of the teacup foot rim, but lately I’ve been playing with creating an upside down S curve on my bowl feet. 

I also will leave at least a little exposed clay on most of my pieces, because I think the clay itself is really lovely, and I like contrasting it with the glaze. Feet tend to be a logical place to do that. 

[Kelly in AK]

My main concerns are about the foot bearing some relation to the form. It’s the conclusion of a line that starts at the rim and ends at the point it touches the table. The feet on my pots vary. Some don’t have “feet,” proper. Others are distinctly footed. I just want them to look right, it’s not always successful.

I usually have an unglazed exterior, soda firing takes care of the outside, or terra sigillata on the local clay, so I’m seldom fighting glaze drips. Nirvana is when the foot is shaped right, I’ve preserved the wire marks from cutting the pot off the wheel, and I’ve managed to carve a lovely deep logarithmic spiral from the center to the inside of the foot. All while removing the right amount of excess clay to make the pot balanced. I aim for it every time, happens about once every never. 

Two things I directly avoid are the suction cup effect @Callie Beller Diesel refers to and sharp/crisp angles (“That’ll chip in the sink.”). 

[Pres]

The foot that creates a shadow at the bottom of a pot is excellent in so many pieces as it keeps the pot from looking  like it is part of a table/counter/ what have you. However, when you introduce a foot ring, you bring in a new problem. . . how will the foot ring drain in the dishwasher or even after hand washing and set drying in a dish rack? Just thought @Kelly in AK not criticisms.

 

best,

Pres

[Mark C.]

On 10/6/2023 at 8:58 PM, Pres said:

The foot that creates a shadow at the bottom of a pot is excellent in so many pieces as it keeps the pot from looking  like it is part of a table/counter/ what have you. However, when you introduce a foot ring, you bring in a new problem. . . how will the foot ring drain in the dishwasher or even after hand washing and set drying in a dish rack? Just thought @Kelly in AK not criticisms.

 

best,

Pres

I have found that water just drys or drips off when putting away dishwasher tall feet. It's never been a big issue-yes water collects but it goes away when picked up.

[Pres]

I guess I'm one of those that unloads the dishwasher from the top down. . . water dripping on other pieces. My answer to this is rounding the inside of the foot ring or cutting grooves in the ring to allow drainage. Just and aside from a practical solution to maybe a non existent problem. .. . Depends on how you look at it.

 

best,

Pres

[JohnnyK]

For me, it depends on how I feel at the time I'm trimming each piece. Here are 3 pots with 3 different foot applications: one is stepped. one is "standard" with a shallow bottom, and the Jug has just a bevel. Occasionally I'll use a shaped credit card tool to form the foot while I'm throwing...

[Bill Kielb]

Not the greatest pics and all test bowls I could lay my hands on. The one on the right was from a no drip lip video so thrown and test decorated in a hurry, ended up using it for years.  Always ground with a diamond pad very smooth. Paranoid of scratching someone’s furniture.. They actually evolve from right to left where early on more pronounced foot and later (Left) minimal and always glazed inside these days. Unless it is an intended feature I like a minimal foot ring. Of course having glazes that don’t move is super helpful. Funny all of these quick thrown “test bowls” ended up as something very useful on a daily basis for us.

Edited October 8, 2023 by Bill Kielb

[Pyewackette]

I trim foot rings almost exclusively, but they don't always look the same.  Sometimes I use a foot trimmer thingy like the one Dirty Girls makes.  I still trim inside it.  I cut a line into the clay above the foot as a glaze catcher.  If a piece has a flat bottom that is a sure sign I made the bottom to thin.

I once had an instructor who attempted to push me away from trimming footrings.  He was quite insistent.  I was quite intransigent on the issue.  I won.  It's my work.  Plus the guy sells his pitchers for like $200 a pop - if you're getting $200 a pop you have time to trim a foot ring IF YOU WANT TO.  I certainly don't get $200 (or anything at all) for a piece but I will still trim a foot ring because I WANT TO.

As for the dishwasher thingy, lots of machine made stuff does the same spill-the-icky-dishwater-all-over-the-silverware thing.  If I ever sell a piece, I will be recommending against putting it in the dishwasher.  If you do it anyway, its on you to counteract that.

Edited November 16, 2023 by Pyewackette