How Do You Throw A Large Bowl On A Pottery Wheel?
Typically the larger an item made on a potter’s wheel the more difficult to make. Greater mass spinning equals greater momentum. This greater momentum of an object is often too much for the weak unfired clay to take and stay coherent. That’s why there is a need for a guide that deals specifically with large items thrown on a potter’s wheel. In this guide we will use a simple bowl, but the principle for most objects is still the same. To throw a bowl or a plate, you do not need to form a cylinder. Center the clay and open it as usual. Then, instead of bringing the wall straight up, make a bowl shape by widening the opening and bringing the walls up and outward at the same time. With most large objects, the clay should be brought outward or upward, but it is very difficult to do both as it puts too much clay away from the piece’s center of balance. Use the heel of your right hand to enlarge the opening and force the wall outward. Your left hand supports the clay on the outside, fingers k
