Course: How to Lift Pots Off the Wheel — A Beginner's Guide, Topic: Conclusion

Topic outline

Introduction
- Select activity Now that the walls of the pot have been pulled up ...
  
  Now that the walls of the pot have been pulled up and roughly shaped, it's time to go through a series of finishing procedures in order for the thrown vessel to be lifted neatly away from the wheel. There isn’t only one way to do this, and in this tutorial, I’ll show you various techniques together with when to utilize certain ones, what works best for me, and all manner of other tips and tricks.

Conclusion
- Select activity The main thing to remember when lifting pots away ...
  
  The main thing to remember when lifting pots away from the wheel with just your hands is that, like anything else when learning to make pots, it’s a new skill, such as pulling handles, making lidded forms, or assembling teapots. You can’t expect it to happen perfectly on the first few tries, and you shouldn’t be discouraged if you do ruin a few pots when you attempt to lift them off, as it happens to everyone. If you are looking for a more dedicated way of practicing how to lift cylinders off the wheel, just spend a few hours throwing very basic cylinders and then try removing them with just your hands. The aim isn’t to end up with a board of successfully thrown pots; rather, it’s the knowledge you gain from lifting the pots away—some successfully and others destroyed. During the early stages of learning to make pots, it is totally fine and normal if not everything leads to finished, fired pots. Think of practicing like this in the same way a musician practices their scales—focus on improving your technique rather than achieving perfection.