The equipment for turning consists of a board support, a turning stick and a set of tools. The board is of soft pine, eight or ten inches wide and two feet high and is set upright at the back of the wheel frame opposite the workman. It may be screwed in position if it does not interfere with the throwing, or it may be set in a socket so as to be removed when not in use. Its purpose is to support the end of the turning stick. The stick is an ordinary broomstick in the end of which is a sharpened nail. In use the end of the stick is held in the left hand and the point is pressed into the board at any required height. The right hand, holding the tool, is rested on the stick just as the hand of a painter rests on the mahl-stick.
The turning tools are of soft steel.[H] They are purchased unshaped and the potter must learn to bend and file them to suit himself. A section of bench should be set apart for filing and care must be taken that the steel dust does not get into the clay.
One of the cylinders, with the bat upon which it was thrown, is now taken in hand. Many beginners try to turn their pieces without detaching them from the bat, trusting to the original adhesion to hold the piece in position. This is a very unsatisfactory plan. A fundamental principle in craft work is that the mechanical difficulties in manipulation should be met and overcome at the first. If one trusts to some method which is apparently easy one walks with crutches and there will come a time, if progress is to be made, when such helps must of necessity be abandoned and then the learning must be begun again. Therefore the student is advised to face the mechanical technique at the very beginning. The cylinder may be turned on the throwing bat, but there is a better way.
The piece should not become so hard that it will release its hold on the bat but with a long bladed knife it should be cut away. If the knife be held close to the bat a separation is easily effected. Set the leather-hard cylinder upon a new bat which is slightly damp and which runs true, on the wheel. The first problem is to center the work. A pencil line may be run upon the bat making a circle just the size of the cylinder. Then as the wheel is revolved it will be seen if the piece runs true. It is quite unlikely that this will be the case. Perhaps the bottom is true but the top circle is untrue. In other words, the axis of the cylinder is not upright. Turn the cylinder upside down and try if it will run any better. If it does the work may be begun in this position. If it does not, turn it back again. Now take a pencil and hold it with a steady hand so that it just touches the near side as the wheel goes round. Lift up the edge of the cylinder on the side marked by the pencil and slip a morsel of clay under it. Revolve the wheel and try with the pencil again. In this way raise or press down one side, keeping the bottom circle in the center until both top and bottom are running as nearly true as they can be made. This, so far, refers only to the horizontal planes. If one side is higher than the other it does not matter at present. Now take three small pieces of soft clay, and, holding the cylinder firmly with one hand, press them down at equidistant points in the angle where the piece joins the bat. This serves to hold the work in position. A square turning tool of small size is the best to begin with. It is held in the fingers as a pen is held but more firmly. The right hand rests on the turning stick and, the connection between hand and stick being as rigid as possible, both are moved together. This is better at first than moving the right hand freely for to do so will surely result in irregular work.
The tool should be held so as to cut with one corner at first and it is well to take one cut, remove the tool, take another cut and so on. The object should be to feel the clay and to test its resistance. No one can be a successful potter who does not cultivate a sympathy for the clay. The tool is to cut, not to scrape. That is, the cutting edge is to be opposed to the revolving clay. The point at which the tool touches the clay is opposite the center or at the same distance from the operator as the center of the wheel is. If nearer to the workman the tool will not cut; if further away, it will scrape and pull (Fig. 5, page 50).
The first efforts should be directed towards acquiring skill. The student should endeavor to make a cut at any desired point without regarding the effect upon the shape of the cylinder. In other words the clay is used merely as a practice piece. It is not to be preserved. It is a good plan to keep on turning the first piece until it is all turned away. Too many students fail because they wish to have a piece to keep. He will make the best ultimate success who cares nothing for the preservation of a dozen or two cylinders or other shapes, but uses them merely as exercises in manipulation. If the student is over anxious to avoid spoiling his work, he grows nervous and so loses control of his tools and material. To set no value on the practice pieces themselves begets confidence and this is the surest aid to success.
After two or three cylinders have been centered to the pencil line the attempt to center one free-hand may be made. Place a cylinder on the wheel but not quite in the center. Spin the wheel at a medium rate. Fix the attention upon the eccentric motion, trying to forget the circular motion. As the cylinder appears to move from side to side tap it lightly with the hand so as to drive it towards the center. In all probability this will result in driving the cylinder off the wheel altogether. Some little practice is needed, but if persevered in the result will be a power of convenient and rapid centering which is never forgotten and which is the greatest possible help to successful work. One may practice with a wooden cylinder or even a tin can if the weight approximates that of the clay pieces.
Fig. 20. Turned feet. A B C, feet for small pieces. D E F, feet for large pieces. G H I, common faults in foot finish.