QotW: How do you level the bottoms of thrown pieces?

[Pres]

QotW: How do you level the bottoms of thrown pieces?

I have been working on some chalices lately, trimming the bowls and the stems before joining and got to remembering how . . . . in the day I would use a needle tool to the level pieces up, whether the were thrown off the hump or on a other wise. In the first days of learning to throw I threw on the venerable Randolph motorized kick wheel with the cup heads where a plaster bat would fit for throwing. They were marvelous as the next day things would be dry enough to remove and trim and then move on. Then came working with metal wheel heads, and trimming of and removing the pots from the wheel or working on a wooden bat. Seems I always got things a little wonky and out came the needle tool to even small things up. Then at Penn State someone introduced me to the hack saw blade held perpendicular to the pot held by both hands to level the pot. . . Wow!  To this very day, any throwing with leveling needed is done in the same manner. Double that if throwing off the hump, as I whip out 20 cups in an hour and worry about level in the trimming. Same works for plates as 12" of surface with a cutting wire is not always level!

QotW: How do you level the bottoms of thrown pieces?

best,

Pres

[Roberta12]

Well Pres, that sounds slick!  I think I need a visual!

[Hulk]

Trimming feet for almost everything, hence I leave clay for that at the bottom, also, wiring off, quite often, leaves a step.
I'll wire off when the top portion is stiff enough to handle, then set the pot on a plaster bat to dry out the bottom.

So, once set up to trim, after the first pass, I'm using the needle tool to establish level (height) and round (width) foot ring.
The needle tool goes right in - it doesn't follow the contour of the work.

[Min]

I rarely need to level the base of a pot, if the pot has a foot ring (most om mine do) I don't try and level the entire base. I trim as usual then when I have the foot ring trimmed to width I trim a bevel into both the inside and outside of it then just use a loop tool to cut off the tip of it. Since it's just a very small amount of clay getting cut off it's easy to hold the tool level to do this.

 

[Mark C.]

small forms like mugs and other with no feet are thrown on plaster bats and no leveling is needed as the clay pad is flat and so is the plaster bat. If the form is not lever we tap it level on a plater bat.

Trimmed foot forms are do not need any adjustment ever  . When I switch to larger forms not on plaster bats (over 8#s ) I use a wire to cut and trim the bottom  foot.

This all is second nature after a few decades in the business

Edited April 29 by Mark C.

[Kelly in AK]

If it’s bad I’ll use a needle to even the rim, but I might try that hacksaw trick. 
For the foot, trimmed stuff takes care of itself. Untrimmed pieces will often get a rolled foot, hold the (leather hard) piece at a 45° angle and roll it around on the edge of the foot. If something sits unevenly when dry I’ll get a ware board wet and slide the piece around on that to knock down the high spots. This occasionally happens even on trimmed work.