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Articles Tools
and Tool Making for Porcelain The making of porcelain, while precise and detailed, offers the ultimate challenge to a potter. It can use all the skills of tool making, throwing, turning and mold-making. The finished result is the ultimate reward. Alistair
Whyte is a potter from Victoria, Australia. His five-year apprenticeship
in Kyoto, Japan, culminated with working under Katsuno Hirokuni during
1981–2.
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one side is the upright measure through which there is a threaded adjustable
shaft of steel turned to a point on the end. To use this gauge you must
measure the internal depth of what you are about to turn, then allow for
the thickness of the base and the foot rim. Take this measure from the
glass base to the point of the shaft of steel to measure the total height;
this will leave a mark on the inverted piece pushed against it. When turning,
the item, such as a bowl, is inverted over the chuck on the wheel using
the middle finger of your left hand to support the bowl in the center
as it is turned. It is wise to use a rubber finger protector otherwise
you will soon wear away the skin on your finger. When you are satisfied
with the thickness of the bowl, the final process is to use a wide brush
dipped in water to smooth the surface while the bowl spins on the wheel
head. This takes away the fine turning marks and leaves a clean surface
that needs no further attention. If the piece is sufficiently thin you
can see light through the piece held in front of a lamp after using the
water brush. I like to use molded handles and spouts for cups and teapots
and I make all my own molds I begin by carving the required shape and
then proceed to make a slip mold. For handles I have started to make tree
molds where the one mold. Holds up to four handles. This saves time. To
be efficient I also make a master mold from which I can pour further molds
when needed because molds deteriorate over time and must be replaced.