Pottery, for Artists, Craftsmen & Teachers

by George James Cox

Jigger and Jolley Work

“Earth I am, et is most trwe, desdan me not, for so ar you.”

—From an old platter.

Dishes, platters, and to some extent bowls, are usually made on a Jigger and Jolley. The jigger has a revolving head, fitted to receive moulds. The jolley has a pivoted arm to which different profiles may be clamped. In factories these things are complicated and go by power, but in a studio where the output of platters and dishes is likely to be limited something simple will do. Where the wheel is strong, well-hung, and fitted with a removable head, a contrivance as shown at Fig. 21 can be fitted by any carpenter, that should serve all purposes.

The vertical supports of the jolley arm should be quite rigid. The arm itself must so pivot that the face of any profile screwed onto it will cross the head of the jigger, or wheel if one be used, through the centre. In other words, the cutting profile must form a diagonal of the circular head. Then, too, it must be hung at a height sufficient to allow a fairly thick block of plaster being used for a mould.

Fig. 21

When making these moulds, the slotted wheel

head or the jigger head is removed and soaped or oiled. Then a circular block of plaster is cast to fit. This may be done with the aid of a roll of linoleum, much in the way described in casting. The paper cone will, of course, be replaced by the wheel head, bedded face up in clay. This plaster block has to be moulded to the exact size of the dish or plaque required. To do this a profile of zinc is necessary. The true section of the dish is drawn full size, and profiles giving one half of the back and front are traced on a stout sheet of zinc. The zinc is roughly cut to shape with shears and then finished with a file to a chisel edge (see cut). The two profiles are then firmly backed with shaped wooden forms, slotted to screw onto the arm of the jolley. The

profile giving the face of the plaque is securely adjusted in a horizontal position, the inner point, giving the centre of the platter, being exactly over the centre of the jigger head. The plaster block, which should be turned down before it sets hard, is shipped back into position, the jigger revolved and the profile gradually pressed down until the true section is obtained, i.e. when the profile is exactly horizontal again. The mould is now removed, trimmed at the sides if necessary, and set apart to dry. It is then ready to use. The mould is slipped into position and revolved to insure even rotation. Then the profile giving the back of the platter screwed onto the arm and both adjusted until the stop allows the profile to rest at just that distance from the mould required by the thickness of the platter. (Fig. 22.)