Stop Cracking When Drying Pottery | Tips From a Pro | Salvaterra Pottery | Weaverville, NC

Here are several things we have learned along the way to prevent cracking and dry our pots in a reasonable amount of time. We have seen it all! So watch clear til the end because the tips keep coming!
Salvaterra Pottery is a professional working studio in Weaverville, NC, just outside of Asheville. We make our living by creating and selling pottery. Learn from someone who has been doing this for over 25 years.
Please subscribe, See us Instagram and Facebook: Salvaterrapottery
And buy our work at
salvaterrapott...
#crackingpottery #pottery #ashevillepottery

[@ReapWhatYouSeauxLeJeune]

Awesome tips!! Thanks for sharing…

[@williamblack4611]

Thanks Sue. Great lesson and will definitely help save some of my pots. Really enjoy all of your subject matter.

[@salvaterrapottery]

Thanks I hope it helps a lot of folks. Always appreciate hearing from you!

[@DS-tt9vz]

I throw around 20 bacon cookers a month. 2-3 tend to S crack on me. I've tried all the ways to prevent - wedging, cone up, compress the bottom, sponge out the extra water. Going to give the bag wrap to get the bottoms to dry sooner than the rims. Usually I bag loosely until firm enough to attach handle then flip over to air dry.

[@salvaterrapottery]

Nice to hear from you. Bacon Cookers can be tricky with their double rims. Couple of tips. Have to get the thickness on the bottom just right. Too thick, more likely to crack. Too thin and they are weak. I test everyone with a needle tool to be slightly less than 1/4”. It is critical that the bottom of the cylinder and the bottom of the rim are not thicker than the rest of the walls. (The transition from horizontal to vertical). How they dry is the reason for the cracks. That is why making sure those areas I mentioned above are not too thick. If they are too thick, they are the last to dry and if rims dry first, something has to allow for the shrinkage that still needs to occur and the result is a crack in the bottom. I have modified my drying a bit since the video, after watching Washington Streets video on cracking. He suggests to cover the pots and uncover the pots and repeat until the bottom is too hard to put a finger nail mark into them. Uncover, let them dry a bit (couple hours depending on conditions in your studio. Then cover them good again letting the piece even out with dryness/wetness. And repeat until you get to the hardness as mentioned above. And of course, get them upside down when the piece will allow you to for drying. I almost never have cracking with my bacon cookers anymore with these methods. Double rimmed pieces need a little more care and attention. It is too easy for the rims to dry first and it has two areas at the bottom that are easy to leave too thick. Hope this helps. And if you get a chance, watch some of the Washington Street videos. They are exceptional. Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions. Sue

[@DS-tt9vz]

@@salvaterrapottery thanks for the advice. Wife and I have been (attempting) pottery for 6 years since we are both retired. Eight years ago I had purchased a bacon cooker and loved the thing. I decided to teach myself how to make one. I made them but they weren't for sale. One day I had 50 of them out for pictures, wife saw them and said quit making them or start selling. It was around Christmas time and I sold 30 at a craft show. In my area no-one had seen such a thing.

[@salvaterrapottery]

That is awesome! I’m honestly a bit burnt out on making them. I’m working on an order for 120 of them right now and as of this year we quit shipping them for wholesale to slow down the orders. Once someone uses one, they are hooked and buy more for others. If you are looking for a wholesale account, Domestic, Domestic wants them and are one of the folks we quit shipping to. They were ordering 75-100 at a time but would be happy with less if they could get them.

[@DS-tt9vz]

@@salvaterrapottery order of 120 would definitely be cause for burnout. 20 a month is about my limit. I throw them and the wife does the glazing. I try to throw them around 6 inches tall and 4.25 wide to allow for shrinkage. Hope for finished cooker to be at least 5 inches tall, if less I put a succulent in it and sell as a flower pot. I also start with 3 to 3.15 lbs of clay not counting the handle.

[@DS-tt9vz]

Back again. Tried your tip on bagging bacon cookers to avoid bottom cracks. Have 20 bagged and drying and so far no cracks. Usually I would expect 3 or 4 with a bottom crack. Thanks again.

[@freddiemoretti8456]

Thumbs up.

[@salvaterrapottery]

Thank you!

[@watsonstefan7430]

Im looking ofr the soft tubing that go inside the plaster molds. Where do I get that?

[@jimmcdiarmid7308]

When do you trim your pieces?

[@salvaterrapottery]

Most of the time I do no trimming.