Each one of my crystalline-glazed mugs is fired on a pedestal and dish to catch glaze runs that are common during crystalline-glaze firings. After the firing, the pedestal and dish are removed, leaving a base that requires further finishing to remove any sharp edges or rough spots before the mug is complete.
To ensure the base of each mug is perfectly flat, I begin by grinding it on a 120-grit diamond disk attached to my potter’s wheel, with water continuously running over the surface to reduce dust. Before starting, I draw lines with a marker across the mug’s base (1). As I grind the mug on the wheel, the marker lines gradually fade, which indicates that the entire base is flat (2, 3).
1 Use a marker to draw lines across the entire foot.2 Hold your mug firmly while water continuously lubricates the sanding pad attached to your wheelhead.
3 Check for progress periodically.
Once the base of the mug is ground flat, I like to take the process one step further to improve the aesthetics of the finished piece. As a next step, I move on to wet sanding the base using diamond pads (4), starting with lower grits and gradually progressing to 7000 grit for a smooth, glass-like finish. I secure the mug in a Giffin Grip to hold it steady while spinning the wheel at full speed. I spend only about a minute with each pad before moving to the next. This method ensures a perfectly flat and polished base (5).
4 Once the marker lines are gone, switch to finer and finer grit diamond pads to achieve a glass-like finish.5 Once the marker lines are gone, switch to finer and finer grit diamond pads to achieve a glass-like finish.
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Each one of my crystalline-glazed mugs is fired on a pedestal and dish to catch glaze runs that are common during crystalline-glaze firings. After the firing, the pedestal and dish are removed, leaving a base that requires further finishing to remove any sharp edges or rough spots before the mug is complete.
To ensure the base of each mug is perfectly flat, I begin by grinding it on a 120-grit diamond disk attached to my potter’s wheel, with water continuously running over the surface to reduce dust. Before starting, I draw lines with a marker across the mug’s base (1). As I grind the mug on the wheel, the marker lines gradually fade, which indicates that the entire base is flat (2, 3).
Once the base of the mug is ground flat, I like to take the process one step further to improve the aesthetics of the finished piece. As a next step, I move on to wet sanding the base using diamond pads (4), starting with lower grits and gradually progressing to 7000 grit for a smooth, glass-like finish. I secure the mug in a Giffin Grip to hold it steady while spinning the wheel at full speed. I spend only about a minute with each pad before moving to the next. This method ensures a perfectly flat and polished base (5).
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