How to center clay on the potters wheel

This video was created to help high school students and other pottery beginners learn to center clay on the potters wheel.

[@user-kf6bf3st2d]

Hi, Christine . I'm Hitoshi . I'm a Japanese. It has been hard for me to center clay for four months. Centering clay is my Devil for now. Your video is my angel to help me. Thank you so much.

[@artfuldodg]

Hitoshi-san, I have the exact same problem! Its been 1.5 months and counting. Tip: don't look at the clay when you're trying to centre. Look away. I find that if I look at it, my eyes and hands just go round and round and i cannot stabilise. Kanbatte ne!

[@wotshish]

the words on the screen the entire time really helped me remember what I was watching

[@User-to7nb]

BEST COMMENT OMG AHAHAHAHAHA

[@pavones1]

I seriously didn't even notice they were still there until reading this and now I can't unsee :O

[@vaughnwolf101]

Lmaoooooo

[@erikadean5164]

I wish the writing went away ... it was so distracting, my eyes kept focusing on it

[@christinestunkard4944]

Of all the videos I have seen, you have to be one of the best since you discuss each step in great detail and the photography is excellent. You see and hear the whole lecture. You are a fantastic teacher. Bet your students love you.

[@davidschwartz9636]

After watching this video, I totally agree with what Christine has said. Thank you so much for taking the time out to help people by making this video. - I'm definitely going to subscribe, as I feel sure I'm going to learn lots about pottery from you. Regards to you, David

[@michaelmartin6040]

I’ve watched many tutorials on ceramics and yours for me is definitely the best . Great camera angle, clear concise instruction and explanation. My abilities have improved enormously thanks to these no nonsense tutorials. So many thanks.

[@appy1594]

Yours has been the most helpful video so far. Especially the part where you teach how to tell if the clay is centered by cupping the top.

[@simplydee4522]

Thank you very much taking the time to make this video but also for an easy to follow process. Please consider making videos on hand building because you are a great teacher.

[@susyfrench2970]

Hi, again, Christine. Once again - excellent step-by-step guide (the best I've seen). Please make a video on how to trim a pot as your teaching and videos are SO good.

[@LoLo11]

Thank you SO MUCH for this video. I had a couple of bad habits I was never corrected on, and YOU fixed em! I centered today like a CHAMP, thanks to you! Hurray! Thanks, thanks, THANKS! #following!

[@drumcdoo9050]

Hi Christine, just watched your 'How to trow a cylinder on a potters wheel' video and found it so good I had to watch your 'Hw to centre video' These are so much better than other videos on the same subject and having tried out your demonstrations found that after a days experimenting I have come forward in leaps and bounds. One thing I'm still trying to fathom is how to get best height of stool for working to avoid back ache and position arms at best angle. Thank you for explaining every step on the way and keeping things simple...

[@SC-rb2jr]

The big advantage here is that the video keeps the process very simple. Many Thanks.

[@michaelanthony3270]

When centering the wheel needs to go at full speed

[@TwoGuysThrowingPots]

Great instructional video! Thanks for sharing and explaining every step!

[@tosetoseeveryday3666]

Thank you for your sharing technique. Especially, how to check its center. I will try this myself. You are the best.🙏👍

[@RubinaMerchant]

That was very well explained! I took pottery classes and centering was a crucial but never explained so well. Thanks! xx

[@mahrtiniano3420]

Amazing. Thank you for all the tips! I'm from Brazil and the way you explains it is awesome!

[@user-fw6vr8be6q]

Very informative and useful. Thank you!

[@dewittcoats2166]

D.C. I was surprised when I saw your video. I recognized why I am having problems with my centering. I believe if I practice what I saw on your video I will be able to center. I think I will learn more by following on KZbin. Thank You.

[@catfoodsoda]

when learning how to throw my teacher never told us how to center our clay and it kept making my hand rock back and forth and I didn't know why until now! this is so helpful!

[@christinecaswell2740]

Glad I could help!

[@TeresaGagne]

Thanks. I'm posting this to our guild's fb page so the students can see. Very helpful.

[@carolp5830]

Very helpful. Thanks.

[@lylemarsh1738]

excellent video for a beginner!!

[@ashleysorio5082]

Another way to check if it's centered is going FULL SPEED, get it WET, and move your finger SLOWLY from the bottom up or the top down👍 my teacher taught me that way. But the way she shows it is a good way too.

[@HellfireMT]

I wish I would have watched your videos before my first class last night!

[@rhosymedra6628]

very helpful, thank you!

[@Jay-py5wd]

“you can place your hand right on the wheel, it won’t hurt you” tell that to the huge friction burn patches on my hands

[@DameFosk]

thank you very much !!

[@nabogaridaniel3917]

Nice work

[@olgaLampcov]

What pottery wheel do you use? Brand and where to buy it? There are so many on the market and prices vary so drastically, so it’s easy to just see what I am looking for (which is the one just like yours) and get that one. Thanks. Your video is amazing!

[@inkedtopaz]

How much wrist strength does throwing pottery require?

[@MonaLisaLivesHere]

How do you keep your jeans so clean?

[@intothemoat]

Throw at slower speed :)

[@ginabeana3469]

i have heard from many sources that you should avoid having either elbow in the air and they should stay pressed against your body/thighs...but you say its okay for the pushing hand's elbow to be in the air?

[@tamirgidon]

מקסים תודה רבה

[@nathanpalm9143]

This is a great video. May I use this in a presentation for one of my classes? I will cite and give credit.

[@christinecaswell2740]

Yes, please feel free!

[@donivers9454]

how do you keep your wheel so nice looking

[@christinecaswell2740]

I clean as I go! Sometimes the visual noise of lots of clay all over distracts me, so I often wipe the wheelhead as I work.

[@PostedForYou]

So if you didn't throw it in the middle of the wheel and it needs to be pushed over, we push it over inch by inch by pushing it down and bringing it up over and over again until we finally get it centered?

[@ranjieshnair]

Where do I get the potters wheel

[@christinecaswell2740]

There are lots of places to purchase them. Google "ceramic supply" and you will find lots of places that sell wheels, kilns, clay, etc. Wheels can be expensive to ship so find the one closest to you and see what brands they carry. A decent new wheel with enough power to work properly (cheaper ones cause so much frustration!) will be between $500 for a tabletop model to $800- &1100 for a full sized professional model. Tabletop models by Shimpo, Creative Industries, and Quark have plenty of power for 99% of projects- they can't handle HUGE amounts of clay to make enormous pots- but most beginners are not making those anyway!

[@bobthebuilder3985]

Don’t slam it down just place it in the center then pat it

[@christinecaswell2740]

It is true that patting it down works, I recommend slamming it down because I have found that beginners often are too gentle and then their clay comes off in their hands when they begin to center. But I advocate doing whatever works for you!

[@bobthebuilder3985]

Christine Caswell when I was a beginner I had trouble slamming it in the middle same for the other students so our teacher decided to pat it down

[@taniakokosalaki]

What kind of bloody clay are you people using???? My clay does not do that shit! It literally just does not move like that! It SUCKS! Ive bought 3 different types and none of them looks or feels like that..

[@christinecaswell2740]

I felt exactly the same when I first started! Each clay behaves a bit differently. The clay in this video is Laguna #65 white stoneware ^6. For beginners I think terra-cotta is great too- I like Laguna #20.

[@jackiemorrison6024]

Hands are out of video at times

[@nowirehangers2815]

So

[@syafiqferoz9524]

penipu

[@stevejpm1]

Wrong..dig your right elbow into your side make it rigid.push in with that hand then down with your other hand.

[@christinecaswell2740]

I always encourage students to watch as many different people's techniques and experiment with different ways of doing things. This is one way I have found effective to teaching high school beginners. But we are all different- do what works for you (as long as you aren't setting yourself up for a future injury!). Good luck!

[@stevejpm1]

@@christinecaswell2740 I know the approach is different in a studio pottery.i was a repatition thrower for CH Brannams, my great uncle taught me and he worked there as a thrower for 55 years.i could throw anything up to 400 peices a day and would be millimetre perfect in height width and thickness.it was all about speed as I was on piece work,the more I made the more I earned.nearly all the big pottery's here in the UK are gone now.it was hard work but I enjoyed every minute.i sometimes do some wheel work at a local school as they have four wheels and no one to use them,it's like riding a bike you never forget how to throw a pot.my best Friend who past away lately used to make really big pieces on the wheel using weights of up to 50lb.keep on throwing pots you are very good .

[@horatio3727]

More than one way to skin a cat my friend?

[@sybillestahl8646]

stevejpm1 Agreed. I brace my right elbow against my hip bone.