Course: How to Lift Pots Off the Wheel — A Beginner's Guide, Topic: Step 11: Throwing on Batts

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.

Step 11: Throwing on Batts
- Select activity 11.1 The next method is throwing on batts. This is...
  
  11.1
  The next method is throwing on batts. This is when instead of throwing on the metal of the wheel head, you instead throw on these platforms.
- Select activity 11.2 After the pots have been thrown, instead of l...
  
  11.2
  After the pots have been thrown, instead of lifting the pot away itself, you can lift away the pot on the batt, and that way, you don’t actually touch the freshly thrown and very soft vessel when you lift it away.
- Select activity 11.3 I have a variety of different sizes of batts ...
  
  11.3
  I have a variety of different sizes of batts for different shapes, and typically, I only use them if the pot is wider than it is tall or if it’s a shape that’s particularly complex, like the body of one of my angular teapots.
- Select activity 11.4 First, in order for the batt to be attached t...
  
  11.4
  First, in order for the batt to be attached to the wheel, I need to throw a pad of clay onto which the MDF boards can be attached.
- Select activity 11.5 To make these, I make sure I’m using well-wed...
  
  11.5
  To make these, I make sure I’m using well-wedged clay and center it thoroughly, as I don’t want this pad of clay to be uneven; otherwise, the throwing batt I attach on top of it will also be uneven.
- Select activity 11.6 I center the lump of clay and squash it down ...
  
  11.6
  I center the lump of clay and squash it down with the aim of creating a disc that’s about a centimeter thick.
- Select activity 11.7 How wide this disc is depends, of course, on ...
  
  11.7
  How wide this disc is depends, of course, on the size of the batt you’re using.
- Select activity 11.8 I then scrape clean the slip on top, pressing...
  
  11.8
  I then scrape clean the slip on top, pressing it down and keeping it nice and flat.
- Select activity 11.9 I also bevel the edge just for neatness’ sake...
  
  11.9
  I also bevel the edge just for neatness’ sake and give the top one last pass over with my metal kidney to scrape away all the slip.
- Select activity Video Step 11

Topic outline

Introduction

Step 11: Throwing on Batts