Essentials Throwing & Trimming Pottery Tools

Pottery tool kit for throwing and trimming: essential pottery tools and clay tools for wheel throwing, trimming, refining details and decorating forms.

The first steps are always the hardest. This pottery tool kit contains clay tools we selected to help you get started. Wheel throwing is demanding, but the right tools can make it easier. We put this pottery tool kit together for forming vessels on the potter’s wheel, checking proportions, and later trimming and refining details.

The pottery tools in our kit help you portion clay, measure diameters, smooth surfaces, trim rims, clean up foot rings and remove excess material. They work well for mugs, bowls, planters and other wheel-thrown vessels, especially when consistency of shape and a carefully finished form are important.

Essentials Pottery Tool Kit - Throwing and Trimming

• 1 x Clay cutting wire for portioning clay and cutting it off the wheel head.
• 1 x Stainless steel rib for smoothing, shaping and removing excess clay from the surface of your work. Its straight and rounded edges make it easier to work on flat and curved forms.
• 1 x Wooden knife – a double-ended tool for cutting away excess clay, marking lines, cleaning up edges and foot rings, and smoothing, pressing and modelling the surface of the vessel.
• 1 x Potter’s calipers for measuring the inner and outer diameters of vessels, transferring measurements between forms, fitting lids and checking proportions. Especially useful for keeping sizes consistent when making a series of vessels.
• 1 x Large trimming loop tool made of stainless steel for removing larger amounts of clay and shaping forms with ease. Ideal for general trimming and for the initial preparation of foot rings.
• 1 x Double-ended trimming loop tool made of stainless steel, with two smaller, more precise loops for shaping, cutting and trimming both wheel-thrown and sculpted forms.
• 1 x Needle tool with an aluminium handle for precise incising, marking, piercing and cutting clay, as well as decorating, sgraffito and cleaning up small details.
• 1 x Synthetic sponge 7.5 cm in diameter, for smoothing and gentle finishing adjustments.