Making a Ceramic Cylinder - Ceramic cylinder water removal
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While the water is necessary to lubricate the clay and to make the clay more plastic,
it should not be left in the bottom of the form for any length of time. If it's left
there, what happens is the clay platelets begin to separate and, at a later stage when
the water evaporates and dries off, then the platelets are left hanging in midair and that's
where the crack can form. So, periodically, during the throwing operation, we'll use a
sponge on a stick. And this is just a stick with a sponge tied on to it. And what we'll
do is reach down into the bottom of the form, and you can see the water at the bottom there.
And we'll just apply the sponge to take out the excess water. And you might have to do
this two or three times to remove that puddle of water at the bottom. You want to use a
slight pressure, pushing down and running it up to that right angle that we formed on
the wall of the pot and the floor of the pot. And one or two times should be able to take
out any excess water.
