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Published Apr 21, 2025

A Brilliant Idea for Even Sanding

Creating crystalline-glazed pottery is a mesmerizing blend of chemistry, artistry, and craftsmanship. Because of their high-melt fluidity, steps need to be taken to catch the runny glazes so they don't ruin your kiln shelves. Most crystalline glaze potters place their pots on pedestals that they break off after firing, requiring sanding to smooth out sharp or uneven edges.

In today's post, an excerpt from the April 2025 issue of Ceramics Monthly, Matt Horne shares a brilliant hack he came up with to make sure he sands his pots evenly. Even if you are not a crystalline potter, these tips are great for smoothing and sanding the bottoms of your pots for a nice, refined finish. –Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, editor

PS: Check out the April 2025 issue of Ceramics Monthly for many more smart tips that will help you be more efficient in the studio! Not a subscriber? Subscribe today!

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.
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.
2 Hold your mug firmly while water continuously lubricates the sanding pad attached to your wheelhead.

3 Check for progress periodically.
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.
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.
5 Once the marker lines are gone, switch to finer and finer grit diamond pads to achieve a glass-like finish.

Unfamiliar with any terms in this article? Browse our glossary of pottery terms!
Topics: Functional Pottery

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