Center Justified Simon Levin
Appears in the May/Jun 2015 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated.
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Editor's Note
In the Potter's Kitchen
In the Studio
Pottery Illustrated
I love throwing and trimming pots off the hump. It’s a versatile technique that fluidly integrates with my studio rhythms. I find that I advocate for throwing off the hump at every workshop. I use it for all forms that I plan to trim: bowls, cups, mugs, and plates, and a few small forms that don’t get trimmed. As with all methods, there are some tips that increase your success rate, and keep the learning curve from being so steep.
I usually wedge up 25 pounds of clay in four-part sections, and then pound these all into one lump on a bat placed on my wheel head and center just the top portion of the mound (figure 1). This becomes my working base. Working off a bat allows me to move my throwing hump when I want my wheel free for other forms. I throw and trim off the same hump. Throughout the day, as the pots made earlier start to set up, I reshape the throwing mound so that I can use it as a trimming chuck. When I have finished trimming, I reshape the same mound and return to throwing. The transition is fluid.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Throwing off the hump does have some limitations. I don’t throw bottles, pitchers, or large jars off the hump because these forms aren’t trimmed. In fairness to accurate and unbiased reporting I made a list of reasons not to throw off the hump:
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