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wedging clay

updated sun 17 oct 04

 

Antoinette Badenhorst on fri 15 oct 04


I thought Bruce Freud asked a good question:
"A question please. When you wedge a piece of clay and for this question
assume that you are doing a straight forward "rams head" type of wedging
. After you are done wedging and looking at the clay on the wedging
table which side of the clay goes on the wheel head..the left or the
right or does it not matter. I throw on the traditional right side so
that the wheel head is going clockwise.
--
Best of the Best,

Bruce Freund"

My answer:
"Hi Bruce,
When wedging the rams head (bulls head), your clay moves away from you
and circle on the table back towards you. When doing the spiral method
you get just the opposite; you bring the clay towards you and it moves
backwards. The logical thing to do is to go with the direction that your
wheel head is going. So if the wheel head is going clockwise, you will
put a piece of clay wedged in the rams head method on its left side and
visa versa. Does that make sense to you? I have to say, I do not pay
that much attention to which side I put it on, since it is helping
either way, but the logic way to enhance the direction, will be the one
you started out when wedging."

What puzzled me was that I thought that I am throwing traditionally
"right side", but my wheel goes anti- clock wise. If I teach left handed
people, I change the wheel to clockwise.

Antoinette Badenhorst
105 Westwood Circle
Saltillo, MS 38866
(662) 869-1651
www.clayandcanvas.com

Ivor and Olive Lewis on sat 16 oct 04


Dear Antoinette,
I wonder what advantages one way of orienting a clay billet confers
over another.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis.
Redhill,
S. Australia.