Why I don't wire pieces off the batt immediately after throwing them

The short answer is that if you can control the rate of drying, it's much more convenient to leave your pieces on the batt until they've firmed up enough to trim and burnish them before wiring off.
I discuss the various processes I do to them and how I control the drying, as well as a few other drying/timing factors, but that's the tl;dr of it.
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Batts: hartleyandnobl...
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[@shaash5236]

What an amazing amount of wonderfully useful information. You are very generous. ThankYou.

[@OldForgeCreations]

Glad it was helpful!

[@xxbondsxx]

Really interesting that you can get a thin, properly shaped, smooth rim without sacrificing stability during throwing by just trimming it the day after! I've always trimmed foots of course but never considered trimming mugs face-up (and never really seen it in any studios). I once had a bad experience trying to wire-off a plate after a day of drying and it was pretty much impossible -- but clearly that's not an issue for a smaller-base piece like a mug

[@Ro-ex2wn]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and explaining your processes - a great help

[@lynneyoung800]

Thank you so much for these videos they are so useful 👍👍👍

[@lydia397]

Great video, very enlightening!

[@freddiemoretti8456]

Ta! My Giffin Grip is going to get a bit of a break......I like doing chattering when soft leather hard as it gives a deeper more pronounced patterns. Very helpful.

[@OldForgeCreations]

That should work perfectly with the pieces still on the batt, and the nice thing is that you can easily work on the full height of the outside like this.

[@thegreaterconundrum]

back again with another sick t-shirt

[@gtrapper3745]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge!!

[@Ch0c0laid]

Another very helpful video, thanks.

[@jenniferwade727]

So you said you threw these 2 days before this? As a novice just trying to teach myself, I'm struggling with the various drying stages & knowing when it's time to trim & whatnot.

[@OldForgeCreations]

The ones I'm working on in the video were thrown the day before. The ones to the side that were going to have handles attached were thrown 2 days before. This rate is very weather dependant though, when it's hot and dry everything needs to happen much faster than when it's cold and wet

[@fekphotography]

Thank you for the all the informative videos you share! I just received my H&N bat system and was wondering what your thoughts are on waiting for the pieces to pop off on their own vs wiring off? Thank you and Happy New Year 🎉

[@OldForgeCreations]

I prefer wiring off as I find the pieces are on the dry side of where I want them before they pop off on their own. I let small flat pieces pop off as they don't get trimmed much at all, but everything else gets wired off

[@patspotpage]

Thanks for all the informative videos. What batt system are you using? I like the two sizes of inserts on that one.

[@dustinthebrain]

When you wire off t 4:16, that is the first time you wire the piece? Can you expand a little on the speed at which you drew the cable across? It looked very fast!! I would be nervous to pull so fast :P

[@OldForgeCreations]

Yep! I do it at that speed because the slower I go, the more of a clay lump will be left at the last point to be wired off. This happens because the clay is dryer and puts up more resistance to the wire, and is less well attached to the batt. So when the wire is most of the way through it's likely to pop the piece off the batt and leave the last bit of clay as a larger lump, which the wire can then snag on and yank the piece with it. Going faster reduces/prevents that from happening

[@suzysanxter8903]

Wow! Thanks so much! I’ve been having plenty problems with this! Suzy

[@laurenceblack1300]

Hi, What is the green thing you are using on the lip?

[@OldForgeCreations]

It's a strip cut from the bag my clay comes in, I use it to burnish the rim

[@dorrisjane22]

When did you switch t standing while throwing? What would be the reason?

[@OldForgeCreations]

A few months ago. The leg extenders come with the Steven Hill version of the wheel, which was one of the reasons I wanted it. I'd not tried throwing standing up before but wanted to see if I preferred it. My thoughts after this time is that it's different rather than better. I really like the ability to move around the wheel while working and it's less of a hunched over position. The downside is that I have less stability with larger pieces and that I find I essentially end up standing on one leg as I don't put much weight on my pedal foot, which gets uncomfortable after a while.

[@kirtisheoran]

Thank you for such an informative video. Do use the same technique on plates as well and wire cut them the next day?

[@OldForgeCreations]

I don't often throw plates, but I definitely wouldn't try it exactly the same way. I'd either wire off sooner or leave them until they pop off the batt on their own. When pieces are a little firmer, the wire will make them more likely to warp, which isn't such a problem for mugs but would definitely cause issues with plates

[@EstherSuave]

I'm trying to do this with plates on normal wood bats. Let's see if it works.

[@spharaoh1]

What are the sharpie markings for?

[@OldForgeCreations]

To mark where I apply slip or stamp a pattern, depending on the final design of the piece