Pottery: How to Make Salt & Pepper Shakers

Check out my other pottery videos at / evolutionstoneware . Click subscribe to know when I post new videos. I'm sorry I can't easily respond to comments left on youtube. Please direct question to my Facebook page Evolution Stoneware Pottery or email me through my website www.EvolutionStoneware.com. This is an instructional pottery video on how to throw stopperless salt and pepper shakers on the potters wheel by Janis Hughes in the Evolution Stoneware Pottery studio. It's meant as a teaching tool with discussion about what I'm doing and why I'm doing it that way.
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[@EvolutionStoneware]

Thanks! It's fun to try different shapes, and it helps you remember which one holds salt and which one holds pepper when they're different from each other.

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Hmmm, I like the idea of having the cutaway to help people understand. That would help in the classroom too! Just this week I had a new student say she watched the video several times but couldn't understand how the salt comes out.

[@MargaretAnnScrooby]

Nice to see how my shakers are made. Thanks.

[@winstonlim8]

Wonderful idea to make them in different shapes!

[@heidiw4078]

Thanks for the video Janis. I just saw some of these the other day and was wondering how they made. Googled it, and up came your video. Once I get caught up, I'm going to give it a try.

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Oh, that's awesome! I really like these shakers, & when I taught classes everyone enjoyed this project because they're so novel. I think you'll have fun with them when you have time to tackle it. Let me know how it goes! 🙂

[@winstonlim8]

You're absolutely right again. I think i should try glazing them in either different colours or else adding different kinds of sprigs as decorations if they're going to be glazed in different colours.

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Excellent idea on the sprigs! I like it.

[@createniks]

Hey Janis, Thanks for posting this. We made a pair just to see if it would really work and it's awesome.

[@elfwerx]

nicely illustrated ! i've made these before, not much interest from locals for them here. i like them and think they're pretty darn cool. maybe if you cut one in half, it would help reveal the negative space/chamber for folks to understand the salt shaking principle. i bisqued one i had cut in half, and set it next to the ones i tried to sell, to aid in the understanding...but...maybe customers didn't like me calling the 'cone' a "funnel"...?...; ^) thanks for taking the time to post the video!

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Yep, I stand to work at the wheel because I have lower back issues. Standing helps me a lot!

[@Maryzlem]

Such a great idea! Tried one last night...Can't wait to make some more.

[@EvolutionStoneware]

hi Mary, that's awesome! let me know how yours turn out. I use a Shimpo RK Whisper wheel raised on cinder bock so I can stand to throw.

[@Maryzlem]

+EvolutionStoneware I finished the salt shakers. Some work better than others. Could use a smaller hole in the center of a couple. Great for salting water for pasta, etc. facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10207791791690948&set=a.10207399246917574.1073741871.1178995874&type=3&theater

[@EvolutionStoneware]

+Mary LeMieux -They look fantastic! I'm glad you tried different shapes. It's really the best way to decide what you like. Thank you for sharing the picture with me. Yay!

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Until I made some I didn't think of it either. But if they totally match in shape and glaze, you have no idea which is salt or pepper without shaking them to find out. I learned my lesson the hard way on that one!

[@wendytaylor7801]

Hi Janis :) Love your videos, you've taught me a lot, thank you! I made some piggy shakers. I'm going to make more and leave the inner cone open, wish me luck. ;)

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Thanks for the kind words Wendy! I love hearing that my videos have been helpful. Hope your new shakers turned out to be fantastic!!! :)

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Thank you so much Keebeler! Now I'm off to check out your pages :)

[@winstonlim8]

I hadn't thougt about that but you're right, of course. I was thinking mainly of the decorative effect and how a pair would look on the table. I'm not the most practical person around, I'm afraid.

[@EvolutionStoneware]

I just do a little hand trimming with a knife around the inside edge at leather hard. The way I throw them doesn't require any other trimming. If you need to trim it, you can throw a ring of clay called a chuck that you can invert the shaker on to hold it in place upside down while you trim it or perhaps use a Giffin Grip to hold it suspended upside down. If you're mindful when you throw them, they don't need much trimming, though.

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Thanks Sylvie!

[@EvolutionStoneware]

I hope you make some awesome shakers!

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Kerryann, my best guess is that the bowl wasn't fired hot enough to seal or vitrify the clay when it was glazed. Heating it should kill the funk causing the smell, but I wouldn't use it for food. That's a bummer!

[@EvolutionStoneware]

You can leave a hole if you want, but it's harder to be sure it's the right size. If the hole is too big, salt will come out like a tidal wave. If the hole is too small, you will hardly get any salt out. To avoid that I use a drill bit (1/8 inch, I think), to make the hole at leather hard. There are some videos of people who have a method for sizing the hole while throwing. I think I saw one that used a bamboo skewer?

[@SylvieCPhotoCouteauSuisseProd]

Great video !!

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Thank you!

[@bellisimahollywood]

Janis are you standing? I love how you manage clay ♥

[@MrNosterp]

you forgot to poke the little hole in the bottom for the salt to come out of, you just taught us how to make a bomb that will explode when put in the kiln

[@EvolutionStoneware]

I put the hole in when it is leather hard as I explained. :)

[@MrNosterp]

oh, sorry, very nice design I made two of them yesterday

[@hplohish]

i think it would be a good idea to show the product in use.

[@EvolutionStoneware]

I just do it later because with the drill bit I can get a precise diameter for that hole. Some people have luck leaving it open while throwing, but I just go by the instructions in the magazine article and use the drill bit at leather hard. Does that make any sense?

[@clearfitness12]

I was able to put mine upside down into a cup I have with a opening that held the shaker in place will I trimmed.. there's always a way;)

[@elfwerx]

i tell folks that the 'pouncing' lifts the salt up and bounces [some of it] back down the funnel. and that i shake it onto the palm of my hand so i don't over salt.

[@davidgoldberg8238]

I've gotten people in my pottery class interested in these salt & pepper shakers and now they want to know what size drill bit you use?

[@norberto1597]

Gracias, genia!!

[@chrismccuan5027]

How big to you make the hole? Like I'd 8th of an inch too big?

[@EvolutionStoneware]

1/8 inch is good!

[@kerryann.donnelly]

on a bowl I have, the bottom that is not glazed has a really bad odor, do you know what causes that and is there anything I can do or do i have to throw the bowl away? Thank You!

[@chythediamond7146]

Does pottery calm you down when your mad I would like to know

[@OmaOmaO]

Cheyenne Sisney if you don't mind messing up here and there when making something on the wheel it can be very therapeutic.

[@joshuagallup3005]

For me it doesn't it's more of a finesse thing that requires calm, slow movements, but then again to each is own.

[@wirehunter86]

If you use it for food, maybe some food got stuck and bacteria has grown on it. U can prob put it in the kiln, heat it up to burn it away.

[@taniayong]

This is a great video, thanks! Do you pour glaze on the inside of the vessel as well? Or do you just glaze the outside?

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Tania Fleming With this design, you can't get glaze out from the inside if you pour it in, so only glaze the outside. If you fire your clay to vitrification, it will be safe for salt and pepper.

[@zhengdaisy860]

Can you use a microwave oven as a keln?

[@dcbell2011]

How do you trim these on the bottom? Since you made the top rounded, you wouldn't be able to turn it uplside down on the wheel to trim.

[@RuneScapeProBotting]

You can make a large bowl that can hold it while it's upside down on the wheel

[@dlk1952]

Janice,why don't you leave a hole in the cone when you're throwing it instead of making the hole later?

[@saphiredragon6496]

Could you use air dry clay? Great tutorial, by the way! :)

[@EvolutionStoneware]

I'm not sure the air dry clay should be used with food items unfortunately.

[@joshuagallup3005]

Could be crumbly

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Nope, I microwave will not do for food safe pottery. I fire my work to over 2200F in an electric kiln. Unfortunately you need special equipment.

[@mariannegregersen9831]

Hello, I just saw your wideo, how do you put the salt into the shaker ?? thank you

[@EvolutionStoneware]

If you turn it over and pour salt into the cone, it'll go inside through the little hole at the tip and fill the inner reservoir.

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Y usted!

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Check out 1min14sec.

[@winstonlim8]

Thanks. But first I've got to make a couple of shakers...

[@EvolutionStoneware]

Do you facebook? Send me some pictures when you make some! :)

[@ongphungvan4533]

Hay qua