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need elementary tips on t pots - espec spouts

updated fri 8 dec 00

 

Sabra Wood on tue 5 dec 00


i am about to attempt my first t pot.

i feel ok about body, handle, lid...

but how about that spout?

any golden rules for design / execution / placement of spouts?

i figure with your input, my 50th will work. otherwise, i could just give up...

thanks.

H.M. Buchanan on wed 6 dec 00


Sabra, the best tea pot tip I've gotten lately (and it's probably from
Clayart) is to reverse the direction of the wheel for half the time when you
are throwing spouts. It stops the twist that shows up in the glaze fire on
the spout tip. I haven't had to smash a tea pot for that reason since.
>
> Judi Buchanan

Hank Murrow on wed 6 dec 00


>i am about to attempt my first t pot.
>
>i feel ok about body, handle, lid...
>
>but how about that spout?
>
>any golden rules for design / execution / placement of spouts?
>
>i figure with your input, my 50th will work. otherwise, i could just give
>up...

Well;

It is a good idea to make sure that spout exits level with , or higher than
the top of the pot. If not, the volume will be mis-stated. look around to
see many examples of teapots which hold far less than they seem to.

Hank

Elca Branman on wed 6 dec 00


several basic rules..Make sure the tip of the spout is at least as high
as the top of the teapot so that when you pour, tea will NOT come out of
the lid opening....also, a small hole in the lid will allow air to enter
as you pour and will facilitate a smooth stream from the spout..As to the
rest, there is a very good book called Functional Pottery by Robin Hopper
that will tell you far more than you want to know at once..see if your
library can get it for you..
Elca Branman.. in Sarasota,Florida,USA
elcab1@juno.com

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Paul Taylor on wed 6 dec 00


Dear Sabra

I will add that if you throw the spout it will twist in a clockwise
direction looking at the teapot from the spout end it DEPENDS on your
throwing style and clay how much you will get the hang of cutting the right
amount very quickly your first guess will probably be right ta just a shade
off center.

you can faff about with a holes that make a strainer but I cut some very
generous holes that do not fill up with glaze.

try to make it so the lid does not fall in the cup while making the tea.

if the tip of the spout dips down slightly at the end-just a little that
you would not notice unless you look carefully - the spout will not drip
after it has been pored. another theory is if the spout has a sharp cut off
point at the end it does not drip but that never worked for me.

If you cut the top off a spout it stops it looking like a cartoon
blunderbust or an elephants "whats it"- also stops the tea poring in a
dribbley mess.

When I did my diploma I ended up in an argument about the teapot shape with
the examiner he insisted it should be round so as not to disturb the tea
leaves this is before the days of tea bags and now when it does not matter
whether teapots pore at all eg the sculptural ones. I did refer to metal
designs I knew that did not have round bottoms, which I think up set him
more. The chap is still a well known potter - it shows you that labels are
hard to get off once affixed. Since then I have learned the social grace of
hypocrisy and have awarded my self a better grade.

I would make a gallery for the lid because when the steam from the pot
condenses it will run down the inside of the pot not the outside.

Decide whether the spout and handle and to a lesser extent lid knob are
going to sit on the form visually or whiting the form like geoff whiting
confusion on this can look odd.

stamp the pot with your potters stamp and paint a decorators mark if you
decorate the pot that looks slicker than scribble - You can see in middle
age one develops ones own silly obsessions.

Do not make the lugs for cane handles too thin and so small that you can
not get the cane handle on the lug at the spout end.

If you are raw glazing them or even if you are not there is no rule to say
you have to glaze the inside first. Raw glazing the outside and then poring
the inside of the teapots glaze out through the spout after the outside has
dried for a day is a good idea to prevent the handles and spouts cracking
when raw glazing.

There must be other suggestions as well as mine and Elcas but that about
covers the mistakes I have made.


Regards from Paul Taylor
http://www.anu.ie/westportpottery

> From: Elca Branman
> Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
> Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 08:01:29 -0500
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Re: need elementary tips on t pots - espec spouts
>
> several basic rules..Make sure the tip of the spout is at least as high
> as the top of the teapot so that when you pour, tea will NOT come out of
> the lid opening....also, a small hole in the lid will allow air to enter
> as you pour and will facilitate a smooth stream from the spout..As to the
> rest, there is a very good book called Functional Pottery by Robin Hopper
> that will tell you far more than you want to know at once..see if your
> library can get it for you..
> Elca Branman.. in Sarasota,Florida,USA
> elcab1@juno.com
>
> ________________________________________________________

Cindy Strnad on thu 7 dec 00


Hi, Sabra.

Several people have advised you on the caprices of thrown spouts. I had to
find that one out myself. I sort of grimace, just remembering how I agonized
over it . . . "did I really put this thing on crooked? ALL of them???" And I
did the same thing with a bottle having a long, narrow neck, a pouring lip,
and a handle. The lip did not end up opposite the handle. Thought I was
losing it, but I finally figured it out.

Anyhow, an alternative to thrown spouts which I like much, much better is
pulled spouts. You get a lot more latitude for variety, and they'll never
twist on you. It suits my style, and maybe it will suit you, too. Just pull
a bit of clay to a spout shape that pleases you (no giggles, Ababi, about
what that looks like, okay?), then let it dry a bit. Cut it in half
lengthwise, hollow it out, and stick it back together. You can get some
really nice spouts this way. Just be sure you make the channel large enough
for the tea to pour easily, and don't forget it will shrink, and have to be
coated with glaze. It's easy to get them too small, using this method.

Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
earthenv@gwtc.net
http://www.earthenvesselssd.com

ILENE MAHLER on thu 7 dec 00


aLSO CLEAN THE INSIDE OF THE POT WHERE THE HOLES ARE FOR POURING HAVE 8
TEAPOTS WHICH ARE GREAT BUT SHARP INSIDE ..Ilene in Conn

Hank Murrow wrote:
>
> >i am about to attempt my first t pot.
> >
> >i feel ok about body, handle, lid...
> >
> >but how about that spout?
> >
> >any golden rules for design / execution / placement of spouts?
> >
> >i figure with your input, my 50th will work. otherwise, i could just give
> >up...
>
> Well;
>
> It is a good idea to make sure that spout exits level with , or higher than
> the top of the pot. If not, the volume will be mis-stated. look around to
> see many examples of teapots which hold far less than they seem to.
>
> Hank
>
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