Fig. 17. Wheel head with detached bat.
Throwing is not an easy operation to describe but the following instructions in the form of lessons will, with a large amount of practice, enable the student to become fairly expert. Every opportunity should be taken to watch a good potter at work. There are a thousand and one little tricks in the position of the arms, hands, thumbs and fingers which are impossible to describe but which can easily be copied. If a kick wheel be used some time must be given to practicing the motion without using clay. The action of the foot must become subconscious or automatic like the pedaling of a bicycle so that simply to will a change of speed is to accomplish it.
Fig. 18. The progress of a clay ball on the wheel.
Lesson I. Take the bat about to be used, plunge it in clean water and soak it nearly, but not quite, to saturation. If the bat remain wet one minute after being taken from the water, it has soaked too long and must be dried off a little. The effect of a wet bat is that the clay slips and cannot be held in one place. The proper dampness is secured when the clay ball can be pushed along the surface of the bat but does not slip easily. This condition is important and should be secured by experiment, because if not right, good work will be impossible.
PLATE I. Throwing.—Lesson II, 1.
PLATE II. Throwing.—Lesson II, 2.
Lesson II. Place a small basin of water close at hand. Take a ball of clay about three inches in diameter. Set it on the center of the wheel as nearly as can be judged. Now spin the wheel at a fairly rapid rate. Brace the left elbow against the side and, wetting the hand, press the ball of the thumb and the lower part of the palm against the clay. The left forearm being kept rigid, the clay as it revolves will be forced into the center of the wheel. Use the right hand to sprinkle water on the clay that proper lubrication may be maintained. With the fingers of the right hand pull the clay towards you, at the same time pressing inward with left hand and so squeezing the clay. As the hands come together the clay will rise in a cone. Do not pull it upwards but let it rise as it is squeezed. Now bring the hands over the top and with the thumbs together press down again. Lumps and irregularities will be felt in the clay and the operations of spinning up and pressing down must be continued until these disappear. Repeat the exercise of centering with a fresh ball of clay until it can be accomplished with ease and rapidity. The clay so used is not wasted. The superfluous water may be dried off upon a plaster bat and the clay wedged up for use again.