Thank you for being so giving! Lots of us have no teachers, living far way off any school. You make learning possible! If everyone were so generous, the world would be a better place!!L
When we bought our house in pa, the previous owners left a Kiln in our basement. A year after living in our new home I was asked to go to Africa to teach Sign Language. I needed to raise money to go on this trip. I figured since I had a kiln I would by a wheel and learn how to throw so I could sell and raise money for this mission trip. I had a few lessons from a local potter to get me started. Shortly after, that potter and I lost contact so I had to teach myself at this point. We do not have any schools or pottery shops close by so your videos have helped me immensely. I am still learning and loving every minute of it. I would love to one day be able to afford to go to one of your work shops. That is on my "bucket" list... lol... Thanks so much for your time making these videos. Kim Carvin
You may wish to contact Simon Leach, a world-famous potter (his grandad was Bernard Leach), who lives in Millheim, PA: www.simonleachpottery.com/index.html
Wow. I've tried spiral wedging on and off but after a critique of my technique, the teacher showed me that I was actually adding bubbles to the clay by creating pockets from shear stress, not taking them out! I will give it another shot making sure that all parts of the clay are going into a rotating spiral. Thanks!
Pipsqwak well, when wedging you aren't actually using your muscles unless you are sitting down. You actually are using your body weight to push and turn the clay to wedge. :)
Thank you for the tutorial on wedging, very helpful and informative. I have never seen it demonstrated so clearly, this is great. Most of the clay I have purchased has been quite firm and takes a lot of effort wedge. I guess I just need to take the time to wet and soften it. Thanks for posting, Sharon
@zhpottery It's called aging clay. It helps water particle to redistribute evenly around clay particle. The longer you keep the more plastic your clay will be.
Thank you, Amazing technic, there is so much wisdom of doing it this way, it remembers me physics and structures in nature, the spiral of a snail, ...fractal structures are everywhere.
Thank you so much!!!! After watching your spiral wedging (video #8), I really wanted to learn this skill, but I only hurt my wrist pressing too hard without proper skill. So informative and helpful!! Thank you Thank you Thank you!! :)
When i took pottery in school I never was good at wedging because I had weak arms and the clay was always cold I would always be in back banging my clay on the table 😩 I liked that class I took it for 3 years it was very fun
Thank you for sharing your experience. Have done some throwing but the teacher uses a cutting-half technique for wedging. This looks more like a dance with clay...
Very instructive - thank you! I would recommend that viewers watch parts of this where you are engaged in actual wedging at 25% speed - say from 6:28 to 6:40. An observation: I see the value in this is that you are not trying to manipulate the entire clay mass all at once, only so much as will fit in your hands. The rest of the clay rotates around as though waiting it's turn.
@@hsinchuen - Sadly, I have not yet been able to assign the needed time to watch the billions of videos on youtube ... Thank you for the recommendation of #388, I will go there and do that now! 🙂
Hello Hsin-Chuen, I have been watching this video a lot lately and have been making some improvements and wanted to asked if you have ever seen a difference in quality if you wedged and wrapped the cone a day prior to throwing? I read online that wedging a cone twice or doing it a day before will allow the particles to tighten and have more green-strength. I also have tried wedging with my eyes closed to help the body "feel" the motions more and see less. It did seem to help. Happy Potting
Thank you so much for posting the additional instruction! I watched your first video a while ago and have been practicing, but my right hand has been adding bubbles I think, by folding the clay over into the middle. This one seems more clear about what the right hand is supposed to do ... going to practice some more!
Master Lin can you tell me what type and brand of clay do you use or sudgets? Im new to throwing I mean like just born last week lol.. everything i know is from watching youtube and that box of knowledge is very small I know how to center or lets say i know how its done but im still having issues with one side being thicker then the other. But i also wondered if it has to do with the type of clay im using. Thank for your shared knowledge and if you offer zoom private lessons Id love to take some one on one classes with you
Lin I am grateful for your teachings in this video. I have a question for you, My question for you is: Do you have any advice on maintaining healthy strong wrists throughout the lifetime of a potter? My friend taught themselves to Knead but have now developed carpal tunnel in their wrists. I am now learning pottery and have been avoiding kneading out of fear. Now I am moving closer to being able to throw larger sizes and kneading is becoming unavoidable. I am grateful for any advice from you. Thank you for Teaching.
I love your work! If I may, I'd like to ask a question. I keep getting this hole in the center of my wedged clay and I can't figure out how to stop getting that hole.
thanks for the video! how are you keeping your clay from sticking to the board? when i tried with fresh clay out of the box, it sticks to the board. do you suggest letting the clay dry a bit before kneading?
Could you make a video showing possible beginners practice routines? Like different beginner steps repeated over and over for practice. For example, a tutorial for how to center, and then Uncenter, center uncenter. Or open up, close, open up, close. Or pull small wall, bring back down, pull wall, repeat. This would be super helpful for beginners like me who have a wheel at home.
Great demo, thank you. I am a beginner. Just got my 50 lbs. of grey clay. I wedged it. Then I tried to make a coil and it was cracking. Does this mean that the clay they sent me is too old and dry? It seems odd that it is cracking as soon as I unwrapped it and tried to shape it. Should I send it back? Also, would you know for how long I can leave the clay on the shelf, after let's say I made a plate, or a cup? It may be months before I can get to a kiln. Can I fire it after months of it drying on a shelf? Thank you in advance for any assistance you may be able to provide
+GreekVegetarianRecip If the clay is too dry, just add water to it. But there is technique behind even something as simple as this...I would highly recommenced taking a class at a community studio for these types of questions.
What is your wedging board material? Does the clamp in the corner hold the board in place? I’ve read about diy wedging tables made from wood with canvas stretched over it, potter’s plaster #1, cement boards, etc… Not only do I need to wedge clay, I need to also reclaim as much as possible. Any assistance is welcome. I am working in a small barn space, which I share with an older lawn tractor & a backup generator. I have a couple shelves, a work table (wood table that is painted blue), an older metal Shimpo pottery wheel that is approx 15-18yrs old. As much as I’d love one, I don’t have a kiln. A couple years after I bought the pottery wheel, my husband suffered an extensive heart attack req’g a quad bypass. A few years after that, he was out on a motorcycle ride when he was hit by a drunk driver. One thing after another pushed pottery making further out of my life until the last few months. Kilns are super expensive. So much so that they’re out of my price range. That being said, there is also the fact that I don’t think I’d have enough electricity access to fire a kiln without tripping a breaker. I have multiple autoimmune diseases as well as a retinal disease & optic nerve defect that prevents me from driving. Everything that goes toward pottery has to be necessary & as low cost as possible.
@@sylasviper715 It seems doesn't always work with the dominant side if you are ambidextrous to a certain degree... Which is a case I have been struggling with, still trying to figure it out...😥🤔
@nmbilly1962 There is no specific requirement for a wedging table as long as it absorb water. My wedging table is a sturdy table and I just place a piece of plywood on top of it for clearly showing the texture. Normally, I don't have the plywood. As to the height of the table, I prefer lower table so that when I am wedging I can use my body weight to save energy.
that is correct. in high school, students would get lazy from time to time and not wedge the clay right. the explosion of the clay caused a lot of damage and wear powerful enough to blow the lid of the kiln open and knock out chunks of the firebricks.
Visit my Squarespace Shop: sawfish-endive-kgks.squarespace.com/shop for finished work & tools
or visit my Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/HsinCeramics
Thank you for being so giving! Lots of us have no teachers, living far way off any school. You make learning possible! If everyone were so generous, the world would be a better place!!L
Thank you.
This is 100 times more helpful than the very brief and incomplete demonstration that my teacher gave our class.
Master Lin, your contributions are without comparison the best tutorials available on the web. Thanks for the inspiration.
I’m a returning potter who is replacing old beginner methods with the ones in your instructional videos. Thank you so much!
This is the best demonstration of spiral wedging I've ever seen and I'm studying ceramics in college! Thank you so much!
Thank you for your excellent close-up video of spiral wedging. I finally see how to do it!
When we bought our house in pa, the previous owners left a Kiln in our basement. A year after living in our new home I was asked to go to Africa to teach Sign Language. I needed to raise money to go on this trip. I figured since I had a kiln I would by a wheel and learn how to throw so I could sell and raise money for this mission trip. I had a few lessons from a local potter to get me started. Shortly after, that potter and I lost contact so I had to teach myself at this point. We do not have any schools or pottery shops close by so your videos have helped me immensely. I am still learning and loving every minute of it. I would love to one day be able to afford to go to one of your work shops. That is on my "bucket" list... lol...
Thanks so much for your time making these videos.
Kim Carvin
+Kim Carvin What a cool way to get into throwing! Your creativity was just burning (hehe) to get out. Were you able to go on your trip?
You may wish to contact Simon Leach, a world-famous potter (his grandad was Bernard Leach), who lives in Millheim, PA: www.simonleachpottery.com/index.html
It is an honor to learn from you, Master Lin!
Feel free to watch all, 712 videos and more coming.
Wonderful explanation and demonstration. Thank you! I wonder why anyone would give this a thumbs-down? I guess some people are just negative.
I've watched dozens of wedging videos online; this is by far the best explanation .
Wow. I've tried spiral wedging on and off but after a critique of my technique, the teacher showed me that I was actually adding bubbles to the clay by creating pockets from shear stress, not taking them out! I will give it another shot making sure that all parts of the clay are going into a rotating spiral. Thanks!
THE best video I've seen on the subject. I've been doing it wrong for years. Thank you for this.
Impressive! Those chunks of wedged clay look like pieces of art themselves! It also looks like an insane upper body/arm workout.
+Pipsqwak Make no mistake, this man could probably crush faces with his hands. Haha!
He's not even huffing and puffing!
Pipsqwak well, when wedging you aren't actually using your muscles unless you are sitting down. You actually are using your body weight to push and turn the clay to wedge. :)
Any wedding is an upper body workout. 😳
Sorry, forgot to check auto-fill. wedding should have been the word WEDGING
after weeks of practice I am finally seeing results. this was very helpful and this form of wedging is particularly fun.
Thank you for the tutorial on wedging, very helpful and informative. I have never seen it demonstrated so clearly, this is great. Most of the clay I have purchased has been quite firm and takes a lot of effort wedge. I guess I just need to take the time to wet and soften it.
Thanks for posting, Sharon
I loved this style of wedging . Wedging itself creates a beautiful piece . Thanks sooooooo much
@zhpottery It's called aging clay. It helps water particle to redistribute evenly around clay particle. The longer you keep the more plastic your clay will be.
You are a wonderful man to give us your knowledge, thank you from New Zealand
I love pottery. Even the prep forms are beautiful!
This really has been the most clearly demonstrated video for spiral wedging I have seen. Thank you:)
Brilliant explanation. Thanks so much.
I'd read about this method but never actually seen it done, so my attempts at it were a disaster. Thank you.
oh that's so wonderful! thank you for your generous teaching (and the second camera angle really helped!)
Perfect ! I love this wedging video. I had so much trouble getting all the air bubbles. This helps so much. Thankyou
I recommend you watch my video #388. The video covers more in depth on other methods as well.
Yes thank you. I watched it and will try your rams head method at the end of the video :)@@hsinchuen
Thank you for sharing your knowledge of this craft here for all, I appreciate your generosity, Master. 🙏🏻
You are welcome
Thank you for breaking down the movements. I've always had difficulty wedging. :)
Thank you for your videos, you are an excellent teacher. I have improved so much since i found these postings!
Thank you, Amazing technic, there is so much wisdom of doing it this way, it remembers me physics and structures in nature, the spiral of a snail, ...fractal structures are everywhere.
Thank you so much for showing this method of wedging. I always wanted to learn it. Thank you ❤️
Watch this one is even better than my original: ua-cam.com/video/36HO7svrTVA/v-deo.html
Excellent demo, Lin. I can now spiral wedge. Thanks
Love the look of rivets that are left after the clay is wedged.
Great demonstration of spiral wedging...thanks!
Thank you so much!!!! After watching your spiral wedging (video #8), I really wanted to learn this skill, but I only hurt my wrist pressing too hard without proper skill. So informative and helpful!! Thank you Thank you Thank you!! :)
When i took pottery in school I never was good at wedging because I had weak arms and the clay was always cold I would always be in back banging my clay on the table 😩 I liked that class I took it for 3 years it was very fun
Thank you for sharing your experience. Have done some throwing but the teacher uses a cutting-half technique for wedging. This looks more like a dance with clay...
I could watch this all day!!
Best video I've seen on spiral wedging... thanks very much.
Very instructive - thank you! I would recommend that viewers watch parts of this where you are engaged in actual wedging at 25% speed - say from 6:28 to 6:40.
An observation: I see the value in this is that you are not trying to manipulate the entire clay mass all at once, only so much as will fit in your hands. The rest of the clay rotates around as though waiting it's turn.
Good observation! I made another video #388 and explained more details in it. Feel free to watch it too.
@@hsinchuen - Sadly, I have not yet been able to assign the needed time to watch the billions of videos on youtube ... Thank you for the recommendation of #388, I will go there and do that now!
🙂
Ohhh that's how you do it....WONDERFUL DEMONSTRATION!
He has some serious skills. and serious strength.
that is the best demo. Of spiral wedging I've seen !
Your clay also looks top quality, it gave me a claygasm
Going to try this when I get in the studio today! Been using the 'bulls head' technique and just getting to grips with that but this looks fun :D
I enjoyed your vidoe, you have an easy understandable way of teaching. Thankyoy.
Thank you very very much Hsin-Chuen, absolutely amazing to watch, you make it look so easy.. I hope that with some practice I can get this down..
Great demonstration. I can't wait to work on it.
Love your videos. So informative and inspiring
thank you for all the information you are giving us, really helpful
its so pretty! 😆It should be called the Fibonacci Fold! When I spiral wedge it looks like a formless blob. Ain't got no rhythm.
thank you for your great tutorials!! they really help a lot! you are a great tutor.
I love the spiral shapes,beautiful.. thank you
Wonderful explanation! This was very helpful.
Your videos are the BEST!!
Thank you!!
Very helpful and concise. Thanks so much for posting this.
I'm am curious if this technique would work for bread dough kneading. At least the first part. What an amazing technique.
Excellent! he makes it look easy lol
thank you for all your helpful videos!
This is art in itself
Hello Hsin-Chuen,
I have been watching this video a lot lately and have been making some improvements and wanted to asked if you have ever seen a difference in quality if you wedged and wrapped the cone a day prior to throwing? I read online that wedging a cone twice or doing it a day before will allow the particles to tighten and have more green-strength.
I also have tried wedging with my eyes closed to help the body "feel" the motions more and see less. It did seem to help.
Happy Potting
Wonderful demonstration of wedging, thank you so much!
Thanks, Hsin-Chuen. Very informative.
Thank you, you’re videos are very usefull
It is very greatful teaching. Thanks you very much.^^
Thank you so much for posting the additional instruction! I watched your first video a while ago and have been practicing, but my right hand has been adding bubbles I think, by folding the clay over into the middle. This one seems more clear about what the right hand is supposed to do ... going to practice some more!
Thank you very much for sharing your experience
You are welcome!
Master Lin can you tell me what type and brand of clay do you use or sudgets? Im new to throwing I mean like just born last week lol.. everything i know is from watching youtube and that box of knowledge is very small I know how to center or lets say i know how its done but im still having issues with one side being thicker then the other. But i also wondered if it has to do with the type of clay im using. Thank for your shared knowledge and if you offer zoom private lessons Id love to take some one on one classes with you
Lin I am grateful for your teachings in this video. I have a question for you,
My question for you is: Do you have any advice on maintaining healthy strong wrists throughout the lifetime of a potter?
My friend taught themselves to Knead but have now developed carpal tunnel in their wrists. I am now learning pottery and have been avoiding kneading out of fear. Now I am moving closer to being able to throw larger sizes and kneading is becoming unavoidable.
I am grateful for any advice from you. Thank you for Teaching.
You can use massage tools made by Ashley Black.
beautiful. thank you! can't wait to try this method out.
Thank you so much! Great demo. Wish my hands were as strong as yours!))
Excellence nice video very important !!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Mr Hshinchuen Lin
Great video! What type of clay are you using? Thanks
I love your work! If I may, I'd like to ask a question. I keep getting this hole in the center of my wedged clay and I can't figure out how to stop getting that hole.
thanks for the video! how are you keeping your clay from sticking to the board? when i tried with fresh clay out of the box, it sticks to the board. do you suggest letting the clay dry a bit before kneading?
That's very satisfying thanks!
Could you make a video showing possible beginners practice routines? Like different beginner steps repeated over and over for practice. For example, a tutorial for how to center, and then Uncenter, center uncenter. Or open up, close, open up, close. Or pull small wall, bring back down, pull wall, repeat.
This would be super helpful for beginners like me who have a wheel at home.
Check this link: hsinchuen.wixsite.com/mypots/etsy I group several videos that are catering for beginners.
Great tutorial!
Where do you get your clay from? I absolutely love your work by the way. Just awesome.
excellent to work alongside!
Excellent demo, thank you so much! What kind of clay you use?
Porcelain
very smooth and great explanations :)
thank you! That was very helpful!
37 haters need to get a life! Excellent my friend! Thank you very much!!!
Thank you so much for the video.
You are welcome!
Cheers now I know I've been doing it all wrong . I will try again.
Thanks for the great demo.
wow how clever you are thank you:)
what kind of clay did you use? and how much humidity that it have.?, thanks.
Great demo, thank you. I am a beginner. Just got my 50 lbs. of grey clay. I wedged it.
Then I tried to make a coil and it was cracking. Does this mean that
the clay they sent me is too old and dry? It seems odd that it is
cracking as soon as I unwrapped it and tried to shape it. Should I send
it back?
Also, would you know for how long I can leave the clay on the shelf,
after let's say I made a plate, or a cup? It may be months before I can
get to a kiln. Can I fire it after months of it drying on a shelf?
Thank you in advance for any assistance you may be able to provide
+GreekVegetarianRecip If the clay is too dry, just add water to it. But there is technique behind even something as simple as this...I would highly recommenced taking a class at a community studio for these types of questions.
What is your wedging board material? Does the clamp in the corner hold the board in place? I’ve read about diy wedging tables made from wood with canvas stretched over it, potter’s plaster #1, cement boards, etc… Not only do I need to wedge clay, I need to also reclaim as much as possible. Any assistance is welcome.
I am working in a small barn space, which I share with an older lawn tractor & a backup generator. I have a couple shelves, a work table (wood table that is painted blue), an older metal Shimpo pottery wheel that is approx 15-18yrs old. As much as I’d love one, I don’t have a kiln. A couple years after I bought the pottery wheel, my husband suffered an extensive heart attack req’g a quad bypass. A few years after that, he was out on a motorcycle ride when he was hit by a drunk driver. One thing after another pushed pottery making further out of my life until the last few months. Kilns are super expensive. So much so that they’re out of my price range. That being said, there is also the fact that I don’t think I’d have enough electricity access to fire a kiln without tripping a breaker. I have multiple autoimmune diseases as well as a retinal disease & optic nerve defect that prevents me from driving. Everything that goes toward pottery has to be necessary & as low cost as possible.
Watch this video: ua-cam.com/video/bGduAGyX20w/v-deo.html
I throw clockwise, would you recommend spiral wedging the same direction as I throw? Great demo.
+LB Ceramics
Depends on your dominant side
+LB Ceramics I don't think it matters.
@@sylasviper715 It seems doesn't always work with the dominant side if you are ambidextrous to a certain degree... Which is a case I have been struggling with, still trying to figure it out...😥🤔
@@EleaSuJa weird flex, but ok.
@@sylasviper715 😅
Eline sağlık ustam be, harika anlatmışsın.
Excellent instruction. Thank you!
@nmbilly1962 There is no specific requirement for a wedging table as long as it absorb water. My wedging table is a sturdy table and I just place a piece of plywood on top of it for clearly showing the texture. Normally, I don't have the plywood. As to the height of the table, I prefer lower table so that when I am wedging I can use my body weight to save energy.
That is quite normal. As we may not be top everyday we sometimes just can`t do it. Mostly working much causes this.
Beautiful!!
Thank you very much.
is that process just for making the clay ready for making shape?
i know nothing about that job just like to watch
It's to remove air pockets (if a clay has them in kiln, the bowl or whatever u makewill explode
Allison B thanks
that is correct. in high school, students would get lazy from time to time and not wedge the clay right. the explosion of the clay caused a lot of damage and wear powerful enough to blow the lid of the kiln open and knock out chunks of the firebricks.
I tend to catch small air bits in the clay when I try to wedge
Please watch my video #388
Thank you. I will try
Okay I just had to see this!
10 years later, I made a better video: ua-cam.com/video/36HO7svrTVA/v-deo.html