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How to Throw a Cylinder with The Clay Lady

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Beginning potters who doubt their ability to throw, or believe that throwing ability is an innate talent rather than a learned skill, should be pleased to know that history shows without question that nearly anyone can become proficient at throwing on the potter's wheel.

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I'd like to share with you a step-by-step introduction on how to throw a cylinder in clay using the potter's wheel.

Step 1: Gather Your Tools and Materials

Throwing clay on the potter's wheel is a rewarding activity that uses both mind and body. Making a cylinder is the the most basic form and serves as a beginning point for most aspiring ceramicists.

To begin, you must gather your tools and materials. For this demonstration I'm only using a few of the most basic ceramics tools. First you must source a container for water and a sponge. You must also locate a needle tool and a wire-cutting tool. These tools can be found at your local craft store or online at many of the various ceramics supply stores. I also recommend keeping a small hand towel handy for ease of clean-up.

Next are the two objects that may be less accessible. We'll be using a potter's wheel to shape the ball of clay into a cylinder. The wheel I'm using today was made by the company Brent. Brent manufactures many various ceramics equipment. Unless you choose to buy your own potter's wheel, you can often find potter's wheels at local art centers, colleges, and high schools. Maybe there is some sort of ceramics class being offered to the community, so check to see if there's open enrollment at one of the institutions listed earlier.

The final thing you need is clay. You can make your own clay from material found locally or from dry materials purchased from ceramic distribution centers. More often than not, you can buy premixed clay from a ceramics distribution center.

For this demonstration, I'm using about 4 pounds of clay. This should produce a cylinder roughly 10 - 14 inches tall.

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Step 16: Slow the Wheel As the Cylinder Gets Taller

As you make more and more pulls, your cylinder will become taller, the walls thinner, and you must slow the wheel down. The thinner the walls are on your cylinder, the harder it will become to handle the clay. Slower speeds help being able to control the clay.

This image is an example of a productive pull. You can see the bump of clay above my finger tips getting pulled upwards.

Step 18: Trim the Bottom

Next we trim some of the extra clay off the bottom of the cylinder away from the wheel. We do this to aid the removal of the cylinder from the wheel and also to make the cylinder look smoother, with straighter walls, and nicer.

We do this by taking our needle tool and placing it flat on the wheel with the wheel spinning slowly. You'll hear a scrapping sound as the needle tool rubs against the wheel. Now, slowly move the tip of the needle tool into the wall of clay where it meets the wheel. Move the needle tool into the clay a decent amount, maybe and inch or two. Make sure this cut goes all the way around the cylinder. Slowly remove the needle tool.

Next we perform a similar action but rather we plunging the needle tool perpendicularly to the wheel on the outer edge near the bottom of our cylinder. The objective is to cut away the little flange of material that sits right at the bottom of the cylinder at the wheel. Plunge the tip of the needle tool down until you hear it scrapping against the wheel. Slowly remove the needle tool from the clay.

Step 21: Move the Cylinder Off the Wheel

Finally, we can take the cylinder off the wheel. By removing one of the splash pans (the two part pan that surround the wheel) we can push our freshly cut cylinder out of place and slide it into your hand. Then carry your cylinder to whatever surface you plan on storing your cylinder on and carefully put it down. Try not to touch to walls of the cylinder too much, the clay will be soft and you'll leave finger prints!

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Throwing a Clay Cylinder on the Potters Wheel

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I'd like to share with you a step-by-step introduction on how to throw a cylinder in clay using the potter's wheel. Throwing clay on the potter's wheel is a rewarding activity that uses both mind and body. Making a cylinder is the the most basic form and serves as a beginning point for most aspiring ceramicists.

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Once you have mastered throwing cylinders, where can we go from here? This is a great place to start. Included is a PDF to sketch out your ideas on!

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There are many ways you can go beyond a cylinder to really express yourself. In this article, we will be walking you through how to make a cylinder, five shapes you can try yourself, and then giving you a pdf to draw on ( Download as PDF) so you can evolve your shapes through a series of pictures before trying them on the wheel.

So first you will need to focus on throwing a cylinder:

To start, place the clay on your pottery wheel, compress and center it onto the wheel using your hands and water,

then cone up and down with the clay to ensure it is centered and properly compressed on the wheel.

Once it is centered on the wheel, open down at an angle to make it easier to pull up clay later on.

After it is opened up fully, and the bottom is compressed, start to pull up, while establishing a thickness with your fingers.

It is important to compress your lip after every pull to ensure that your rim is even and the same height.

Collaring in with your hands allows you to make the cylinder even taller, but you should pull the excess clay from the bottom before going on to evolving your shapes.

Once you have an even thickness, you can move onto altering your cylinder before finishing it on the pottery wheel.

Here is a video by Tim See that takes you through all the steps to throw a taller cylinder.

Now that you have your cylinder there are many things you can do with it. Here are just five ways to alter your cylinder:

1. Gourd Vase

You can achieve this look by using your hands and a rib to curve two sections of the cylinder outwards. These two sections will be emphasized by collaring in the middle between them and then collaring in the neck to make it long and thin. Pulling the neck upwards will bring excess clay up and allow you to achieve an even longer neck.

2. Long Necked Vase

This look is achieved by shaping the cylinder to curve inwards slightly at the bottom and then curving outwards as you move up. Once you curve outwards you will then curve back inwards and then start collaring in the neck of the pot. After you collar in the neck of the pot, you can then pull upwards and then collar again to both keep the slope of the neck correct and ensure you aren't pulling too much. Once you are satisfied with the height of the neck going over it with a rib can clean up your pulling lines and finalize the curve of your pot.

3. Short Wide Rimmed Vase

You can attain this shape by curving outwards with your hand and rib to create a very rounded vase. After creating the rounded section collaring in at the rim and then pulling up and to the side will case the rim to lay down and outwards. Be careful not to fuss with the rim too much after this or it will flop down and have to be cut off.

4. Wide Shoulder Vase

This look is achieved through shaping the rim of the pot with your hands and rib to create a defined shoulder. Once that is done then pulling the rim up slightly past the shoulders to create a neck and then cutting away excess clay at the bottom with a wooden knife will emphasize the shoulders of the pot.

5. Wide Vase

You can create this look by using your hand and rib to reopen the cylinder outwards while supporting your hand on the outside to help support the clay. Ribbing the inside and outside will help create a more symmetrical shape. Don't forget to compress and clean up your lip to ensure it is level and smoothed out.

6. Altered Vase

You can take any of these shapes, and alter them even further. Now it's time to design your own alternative looks for your cylinder with our PDF! Check out and download the PDF here, and start creating your own unique shapes both on the pictures and on the wheel. Spend some time creating different shapes, and then try to alter the shapes, see if you can cut bits out, or if you can add some handles. If you decide to add handles, draw on the worksheet to see which shapes fit best to your cylinder. Once you do this a couple of times, you will start to understand more about your own specific style.

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How to Evolve from a Cylinder with Our PDF guide - The Ceramic School

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There are many ways you can go beyond a cylinder to really express yourself. In this article, we will be walking you through how to make a cylinder, five shapes you can try yourself, and then giving you a pdf to draw on (Download as PDF) so you can evolve your shapes through a series of...