Wedging Clay

Wedging your clay is an important step to do before starting to throw on the wheel. It is done to get rid of any potential air bubbles that get stuck in the clay and it makes your clay more flexible. After wedging, shaping the clay into a round ball makes it easier to put onto the wheel. The type of wedging we will be going over is the spiral method. 

You start by cutting a chunk off from your clay block with your wire tool.

Then you want to weigh your clay, especially if you plan on making more of the same piece — like a set of bowls for example. 

To start wedging you want to form a cone shape, with one hand at the top and one at the side of the clay. 

Once your hands are in position, you want to push forward - away from your body - with the palm of our hand that’s resting on the side. 

Then you bring it forward and as doing so you slightly rotate the clay so that it will continue to revolve in a cone shape when you push forward again. You want to repeat the push and pull while rotating step until you get rid of all of the air pockets (or bubbles). 

You can always check for the air pockets by cutting your piece in half. If there are any holes in it, then that means it needs to be wedged some more. 

Keep repeating the wedging motion until there are no more air pockets in your clay. 

Once you’ve successfully wedged your clay, you want to pat it with your hands to round it into a ball. Good luck!