Care must be taken with the base. If it is not quite true it should be sandpapered to stand flat. A little experience will soon show when it is in the best state for shaving. If the clay is too soft, the tool jumps, forming ridges, or possibly cuts deeply into the form. If it is too dry, the surface crumbles and the pot is liable to break. When turned in the right leathery condition, the shavings curl off like peel from an apple and all tool marks are
easily removed. A beautiful finish may then be imparted with the leather.
To end the process the shape is reversed in the chuck. Those most important parts, the shoulders and lip, are carefully rounded with a piece of felt and polished with the leather. Properly attended to, this will save much work and disappointment later on. Then with all holes filled up, all ridges, bumps, and sharp edges removed, the shape is signed and put to dry.
For very delicate work in transparent glaze or under-glaze painting, the whole surface may be gone over with very fine sandpaper and polished with the hand. This may be done provided the body is a fine one, for with a coarse body this is apt to leave the surface looking gritty. Some little practice will be necessary in throwing stiff chucks and centring the shape securely, but this once mastered, the method here described will be found to be expeditious and satisfactory for turning shapes.
A proper regard for process points to the desirability of leaving built shapes without a high finish.
Yet they also, if built carefully and stoutly, may be turned down in the above manner. The building up and turning down is somewhat tedious, but it is sometimes the only way by which a craftsman can obtain large shapes. A rather more simple process is to centre the shape upon a whirler and
turn down with a sharp wire tool, finishing off lightly with a sponge and soft leather.
To accomplish this satisfactorily the shape must be fairly soft, as there can be no quick spinning motion to enable the tool to cut cleanly as in the chuck or the wheel. When the head of the whirler
is of plaster, it should be well soaked in water and the centred shape stuck down with soft clay. The hand holding the cutting wire tool must be held steady at a fixed distance from the centred shape and the pot may be sprayed with water blown through a diffuser from time to time, to keep it moist. Some clays will not, however, stand much re-wetting.
