is there anyway i can make a clay cylinder, cup, and/bowl w/o the use of a potter's wheel?

Answer 1

The technique is called hand building, and is the technique since before the potters wheel was invented, and still practiced by many who have access to potters wheels.

Many pieces such as Native American pottery are so round that you might think they were done on a wheel, but are not. Many prefer the results, and think of using a wheel as sort of "cheating".

I have watched a woman demonstrating traditional techniques that led to pottery wheels where she started with a lump of clay and spun it around in her lap grabbing and pinching quickly enough that it looked like it was just spinning suspended in air, similar to a pizza guy, but making a nice bowel rather than a pizza, Very amazing to watch.

And another that sort of reversed the process where the pot stood still and the potter spun around it pinching the clay up , as one might on a wheel. A similar but less energetic way would use a lazy susan, almost but not quite a potters wheel.

The more standard techniques of pinch, slab, and coil, are not so energetic, but can produce terrific pottery. The link below is one I found that has some basic stuff on these techniques.

Answer 2

In hand building there are multiple techniques. If you are trying to make a set of something you use a mold. The molds are made buy cutting a circle in a hunk of wood. The circle you cut needs to be the size you want the opening to be. Stretch a piece of swimsuit lining over it and staple it down. The deeper you want it to be the more pieces of wood you add. This makes them all the same size. The easiest way however is a pinch pot. it works kinda like the wheel. You start with a ball of clay and place it in your non-dominate hand. Insert the thumb of your dominate hand into the ball and pinch around the sides. It will push out the clay. The more cupped you keep your non-dominate handthe taller and thinner the object will be. The more flat it is the shorter and fatter it will be. there is also coil building but most people find it difficult to keep all the clay the same dryness.

Answer 3

The best way would be to use coils, but you could hand-build them if you wanted to. You're much more likely to get a better result with coils.

Answer 4

hmm if you want to do it elementary school style (this is how i learned).. make the base out of a circle and then make little cylinders that are the circumference of the circle, then stack them up. put water on it and you can smooth out the surfaces. voila!

Answer 5

yes. you can use a plaster mold, or you can just find a cylinder or other shape and either wrap it around or coil around it