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Covered Casserole Dish: Trimming the Dish and Lid Creating a ceramic casserole dish and lid, Part 3 of 4 From "Throwing Clay" episode DTHC-210

Figure A

Master potter Bill Van Gilder is making a covered casserole dish. He started by throwing two bowls: The first is a flat-bottomed bowl with a wide rim for the base of the casserole dish. The second bowl is curved and shallow: it will become the lid for the dish. After carefully measuring the diameter of the pieces to ensure a correct fit, they were set aside to dry leather hard. Now they are ready to be trimmed (figure A).

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1. Bill places the bowl on a foam pad attached to a bat: the foam will hold the dish in place and protect the rim while the base is being trimmed. Because the foam is dry, there is no sticky surface to hold the pot in place. He gently pressures the bowl in place with his left hand.

2. He puts a wide bevel on the foot, imitating the slightly rounded form on the inside of the dish.

3. When making bakeware, an even wall thickness is needed from the rim to the center. An even wall thickness ensures even thermal expansion and prevents cracking as the piece heats and cools (figure B).

4. The pot is still heavy where the wall meets the base. Bill trims away more of the clay and tests the width of the walls, using his fingertips to determine whether the wall and floor of the dish are even and uniform (figure C).

Figure B

Figure C

	Figure D
	Figure E

5. He dampens the surface of the dish before using s soft rubber rib to smooth the clay.

6. Next he moves to the lid, which he designed with a flat top. He trims the lid and burnishes the surface of the clay. If he didn't burnish the clay, pits would show in the surface; they would prevent the glaze from filling in, and little holes would eventually appear in the surface (figure D).

7. He checks the clay for an even thickness and a light weight. Again, he keeps in mind the need for an even cross-section of clay, which ensures good thermal expansion.

8. Bill next cuts handles in the base of the dish. He uses his fingernail to make marks along the rim at 3, 6, 9, and 12 o'clock. From numbers 6 and 12, he moves around approximately 5" and, using his fingernail, takes a tiny nip out of the clay at each place.

Figure F

9. He places the edge of a small cookie-cutter on the fingernail marks and punches out a half-circles of clay (figures E and F).

10. When the four half-circles are cut out of the rim, Bill uses a cheese-cutter to cut away the excess rim between the ends of the handles.

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