Pottery tool top tips from Jenny

Written By Jenny Williamson

You don’t need to buy loads of tools — the studio has everything you need. If you’re keen to have a few of your own, here are my top tool tips.

Wheel-throwing tools

  • Mudtools sponges — the white one is great for finishing and the orange is highly absorbent. Although they’re expensive, they last incredibly well. I’ve had mine for eight years and they’re still in excellent condition, with just some rust spots. I also like a small natural sponge; just make sure it’s dense.

  • Mudtools all-purpose trimmer — great if your pots are slightly dry, and useful alongside other tools for trimming. The square end gets right into corners, and you can also use the end to burnish. It can be prone to chatter, so beware and hold it very steady.

  • Balsa wood — great for making ribs and small tools. My favourite rib for cylinders and for creating galleries in lidded pots and teapots.

  • Weleda Arnica Balm — an old potter recommended this for sore, achy hands after throwing; it’s great.

Hand-building tools

  • Pebble for burnishing — once you find your perfect burnishing pebble, never let it go.

  • Marble egg (my grandmother’s) and a good spoon — also excellent for burnishing and smoothing.

  • Springs — a pulled-apart spring is great for making textured wavy marks; try cutting through the clay and see if the result pleases you.

  • Pink make-up brush (from a teen magazine) — the perfect combo of smooth and stiff bristles for tidying; it moves the clay just enough without leaving marks.

  • Hog’s-hair brush and shaving brush — great for brushing away clay crumbs and for applying textured slips.

  • Forged steel tools — I have a tiny kidney-shaped one, another with a square end, and a curved knife. I use these and the side of my metal spoon to smooth and finish coiled pieces. You can get lets of other shapes of these too.

My tool box is a very basic tool box I made when I was 11 at school, thankfully it survived the teachers test of standing on it between 2 bricks. The spatulas I made unfortunatley didn’t. Tool boxes get quite dusty, so having minimal crevises can be helpful, or being able to easily clean them.

Jenny Williamson