• Bat. Or "batt." Less commonly also known as a "batterboard", thin slab of wood, plaster, or plastic used to support
pottery forms during throwing, attached to the head of the potter's wheel by clay body or "bat pins"
• Bisque. Pottery that has been fired but not yet glazed. (W)
• Bisque fire. Preliminary firing prior to glazing and subsequent firing again.
• Body. The structural portion of a ceramic article, or the material or mixture from which it is made.
• Bone china. Vitreous, translucent pottery made from a body of the following approximate composition: 45-50%
calcined bone, 20-25% kaolin. 25-30% china stone. (W)
• Bone-dry The final stage of greenware dried to a completely dry state and ready to be fired. In this stage, the clay is
very fragile, non-plastic and porous.
• China Clay synonym for kaolin, which is the primary clay used for producing porcelain.
• Clay body The material used to form the body of a piece of pottery. Thus a potter might order such an amount of
earthenware body, stoneware body or porcelain body from a supplier of ceramic materials.
• Coiling A hand method of forming pottery by building up the walls with coils of rope-like rolls of clay.
• Deairing. The removal of entrapped air from a mass or slurry, often by the application of a vacuum. (W)
• Dipping. Glazing pottery by immersion in a glaze suspension.
• Earthenware. A pottery created by low temperature firing. (W)
• Fire clay A highly heat resistant form of clay which can be combined with other clays to increase the firing temperature.
• firing. The process of heating clay pottery in a kiln to bring the glaze or clay to maturity'
• Potter's gauge. A tool used to ensure that thrown pots are of uniform size or shape.
• Glaze. A coating that has been matured to the glassy state on a formed ceramic article, or the material or mixture from
which the coating is made. (W)
• Glaze firing A firing cycle in a kiln to the temperature at which the glaze materials will melt to form a glasslike surface
coating.
• Greenware. Unfired clay articles.
• Grog. See chamotte, above. (W)
• Kaolin. Otherwise known as china clay, white or off-white firing kaolinitic. Used to make porcelain(W)
• Kiln A furnace for the firing of ceramics.
• Kiln furniture Refractory shelves and posts upon which ceramic ware is placed while being fired in the kiln.
• Kneading is a step in preparing clay for shaping. It involves manipulating the clay in a fashion somewhat like Kneading
dough for bread. It ensures the even distribution of moisture in the body.
Leather-hard The condition of a clay or clay body when it has been partially dried to the point where all shrinkage has
been completed.
• Once-fired, green-fired (W)
• Paper Clay Adding reconstituted paper pulp to ordinary plastic clay in proportions up to 50% of the total mass. The
added paper gives an unfired material great strength, giving an advantage to hand builders and sculptors.
• Plasticity is the quality of clay that allows it to be manipulated and still maintain its shape without cracking.
• Pinch Pottery made with a small ball of clay that is formed with the fingers into a bowl or pot shape by pinching the
finger together to form the pottery.
• Porcelain. A vitreous ceramic material. Traditionally considered to be white and if, of thin section, translucent. (W)
• Potter. A person who makes pots or other ceramic art and wares. (W)
• Potter's clay. The clay used by the potter (W)
• (Potter's) Wheel.
• Pug. Also pug mill. A machine for consolidating plastic clay or body into a firm column. It consists of a barrel which
tapers at one end to a die, through which the clay or body is forced by knives mounted on a shaft which rotates
centrally to the barrel. A vacuum system may be installed to de-ier the clay or clay body. (W)
• Raw, is unfired clay
• Raw glazing. refers to applying a glaze to an unfired ware and firing both in a "Once-firing".
• Slab A flat piece of clay used to create pottery pieces.
• Score and Slip: Processed used to attach two pieces of clay together, scratching the surface of both and applying slip
before pushing together.
• Slip A suspension of clay, clay body or glaze in water.(W)
• Stoneware. A vitreous or semivitreous ceramic material. Traditionally made primarily from nonrefractory fire clay.(W)
Slurry is a semiliquid mixture of clay and water
• Terracotta (W)
• Throwing The term used when referring to forming or shaping on a potter's wheel. (W)
• Underglaze Decoration applied to bisque pottery and covered with a glaze.
• Water Absorption. The mass of water absorbed by a porous ceramic material, under specified conditions, expressed
as a percentage of the mass of the dry material. It is used as a common quality control test used for both ceramic
raw materials and ceramic bodies. (W)
Wedging. A procedure for preparing clay or a clay body by hand: the lump of clay is repeatedly thrown down on a work
bench; between each operation the lump is turned and sometimes cut through and rejoined in a different orientation. The
object is to disperse the water more uniformly, to remove lamination and to remove air.
Clay types:
Kaolin – Porcelian – high fire clay, very durable, used for aplications that require very strong materials like toilets,
electrical supports.
Earthenware – low fire clay, usually used as for garden containers or low fired art pieces.
Stoneware – mid high fire clay, used for daily dishes and decorative pottery.
Fire clay – fire resistant clay that is used to make fire bricks used in kilns and chimineys for houses.
Earth clay – Clay found on the earths surface that is used for building house and other constructions, usually not fired but
dried in the sun.
Tools:
Pintool
Rib Tools
Footing tools
Bat
Wheel
Kiln
Slab Roller
Wax Melter
Tongs
Wooden Knife
Paddle
Clay Evolution
Ball Clay : Clay is full of water and very plastic
Leather Hard: Clay is hard but not dry and still has water from the moisture but is no longer plastic or moldable
Bone dry: Clay is hard and dry to the touch but still has water from the air but is no longer plastic or moldable
Bisque: Clay has been fired one time making it stronger because the fibers have been fused together but is still thirsty and
absorbs clay from the air.
Glazed: Clay has been fired twice and is stronger because the fibers in the clay have fused twice making it twice strong. It has
been covered with a glaze and is now water resistant.