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Ceramic Techniques: 3D Printed Prototypes and Lithophanes

Ceramic Techniques: 3D Printed Prototypes and Lithophanes

Artist Fonda Yoshimoto talks about two different ways of creating ceramic art: one modern — 3D modeling and printing a prototype in order to make a mold; and one old — etching very thin porcelain to take advantage of the translucency once fired.

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How-To: Trashcan Raku Kiln

How-To: Trashcan Raku Kiln

Without risking oversimplifying the matter, I think I can safely say that one of the many appealing aspects of raku pottery is its accessibility, especially in terms of equipment. A raku firing need only achieve 1000°C, which is at the low end of the potter’s temperature scale, and easily achieved in a homemade kiln fueled, for instance, by a propane bottle. The raku kiln pictured here…

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The Leach Treadle Wheel

The Leach Treadle Wheel

Though electrically-powered wheels are of course common, today, many potters still prefer to throw on a human-powered wheel. Whether chosen for aesthetic purposes, out of a sense of traditionalism, or simply for exercise, these human-powered designs usually incorporate a heavy flywheel which is brought up to speed, and kept there, by the operator’s leg muscles. .A step up from the simple “kickwheel” design is the “treadle” wheel, which adds a crank and reciprocating pedal for greater mechanical advantage and smoother operation. And among designs for treadle wheels, the “Leach” type stands out as a popular favorite.

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How-To: Extract and Process Natural Clay

How-To: Extract and Process Natural Clay

This two-part series from Eddie Starnater of Practical Primitive shows you how to extract the clay from raw soil and process it into a material that can be used for pottery. In the first part, Eddie teaches a simple water extraction process that uses a series of mixing and decanting steps to remove sand and silt, followed by pouch filtration to remove excess water. In part two…

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How Ceramic Knives are Resharpened at the Factory

How Ceramic Knives are Resharpened at the Factory

If you’ve ever bought a ceramic knife, it probably came with instructions, in the package, to return it to the manufacturer for resharpening instead of trying to do it yourself. This video is kind of a giant Kyocera commercial, but it does include some cool footage of what this process actually looks like, in case you’ve ever wondered.

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How-To: One Piece Slipcasting

How-To: One Piece Slipcasting

Slipcasting is a molding process for ceramics that can be used to produce hollow forms having a relatively thin shell. It is an ancient, elegant, ingenious technique, consisting of six basic steps…

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Two Turntables and a Firing Cone

Two Turntables and a Firing Cone

From artist Fabien Clerc, this fully-functional set of two ceramic turntables (and a ceramic mixer) called back in the good old days. The work is dated 2009, and appeared in an exhibit at Geneva’s Rath museum.

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