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Covered Butter Dish: Trimming the Bowl and Fashioning Knobs Creating a ceramic butter dish, Part 2 of 4 From "Throwing Clay" episode DTHC-208

(Continued from page 1)

	Figure H
	Figure I

8. When the pieces are trimmed, Bill turns his attention to making the knobs for the lids. The first knob is made in stages from very soft clay. Using the tip of the undercutting tool, he scores the top of the lid, creating a rough-textured surface that will help the knob attach to the lid (figure H).

9. Next, he rounds and smoothes a small piece of clay, making sure the surface is extremely smooth; if the surface were rough, air pockets could become trapped between the knob and the lid, creating an inferior bond that would cause the pieces to explode in the kiln.

10. Bill applies a small amount of water to the textured surface on the lid. The water, as it soaks into the clay, will act like glue, bonding the knob to the center of the lid.

11. The thickness of the lid is less than 1/4". Bill has to use soft clay to make the knob; if he used stiff clay, he could collapse the lid just by sheer force as he does the final shaping of the knob (figure I).

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12. He adds a small amount of water to the knob, being careful not to let the water run down on the lid. Pushing his fingers underneath the bottom of the clay knob edge, he narrows the cylinder, flattening and stretching it out. As he flattens the top, he supports it with the index finger of his right hand, pushing the clay downward over his finger with the fingertips of the left hand (figures J and K).

Figure J

Figure K

13. He wants the rim of the knob to have a slight angle downward and inward, allowing easy access for the fingers to grasp the clay. Bill runs a fingertip underneath, keeping one fingertip on the edge, before slowly moving his first finger downward and inward, beveling the handle edge. He uses the back of his fingernail to create a light line, or decorative element, halfway down the knob (figure L).

14. After sponging the lid clean, he burnishes the surface with a soft rubber rib before lifting it off the pad.

15. Because the knob is a thick piece of clay, he cuts an air-release hole in the base of the lid. The hole prevents the possibility of the knob blowing off the lid during firing (figure M).

Figure L

Figure M

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RESOURCES :

Kilns
L & L Kilns
Website: www.hotkilns.com

Clay
Highwater Clays
Website: www.highwaterclays.com

Extruders
American Art Clay Co. Inc. (AMACO)
Website: www.amaco.com