Editor's Note: Desert-Island Tools Holly Goring

Appears in the Jul/Aug 2023 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated.

You’ve played the desert-island tool game before, right? You know the banter that often starts among ceramic artists while working away in a communal studio, while firing a wood kiln for many hours, or even late at night while trying to fall asleep (I’m a nerd, I know). Well, if not, here’s the deal: what is the one ceramic tool you would want with you should you be stranded on a deserted island (the absurdity of course is that you would also have clay on the island to prompt the need for a tool)? The various answers usually start out as a nice discussion, one person claims their carbon knife steel trimming tool is gift from the gods, while another one argues how their metal serrated rib is the best multi-purpose tool available because it can be hacked into a bazillion other tools. Someone else brandishes a soft, bright-colored rib and claims the discussion is over. And there is always that one person who has to say, “my hands.” Myself, I love a good needle tool. It is the superhero of any toolbox. It pokes, scores, cuts, trims, draws, I could go on forever. Without fail the now heated debate evolves (or often devolves) into each studio mate rummaging through their toolboxes and finding an obscure artifact, then extolling the virtues of a piece of twisted plastic, a metal chop, or a chamois the size of quarter, while the rest of us ooh and ah. These are good times in the studio because tool talk never gets old among ceramic artists. 

This issue is devoted to all things tools and the ingenuity on the following pages is strong—how to make them, how to use them, and where to source them. Erik Wilson shows us how he uses the sharp edge of his favorite trimming tool as the perfect carving device. Carol Harris teaches us how to adapt an airtight plastic container into a simple tabletop damp box. Dan Ingersoll first does a simple alteration to a polymer rib so he can create rounded edges on slabs. Then, he goes to the extreme and demos how to upcycle old windshield wiper blades into beautiful cutting tools to make handles, lids, and beveled joints. Finally, we round out the issue in Pottery Illustrated with a list of kitchen utensils that can be repurposed into the perfect, cheap clay tools. 

Whether you buy your tools, make your tools, or just use a needle tool for everything (like I do), this issue has something for everyone. Cheers!