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Short and stout
Oct. 29th, 2020 10:12 amAssembling teapots for the end of the production run. Sold one at Market recently, which reminded me that I do usually sell a few at the holidays, and I only had three left (four, if you include the oversized one. My normal teapot holds four cups; got a special order for two six-cup models, and have one left over).
The one good thing about working in fall is that nothing dries too fast; the body stays leather hard, the spout doesn't get crispy. I did have to put the lids out in the breeze and sun for an hour, to get them dry enough to trim, but that was just long enough to assemble the rest of the pot.
Note the use of a couple of my favorite tools, below: a hole-maker that's dip pen with the nib reversed, a cheese cutter with the roller removed, used to trim the base of the spout to size and shape, and a paper template dropped in the gallery, allowing me to line up the handle with the spout. Before I learned that trick from Ellen Currans, my handles were always a little wonky.
Once the lids had finally set up, I could pop them in the Giffin Grip, trim them smooth and round, then attach a lump of clay, center it, and throw a knob on top. I've got a little metal tool, about the size and shape of a putty knife blade pulled out of its handle, that I use to form and finish all my knobs. The last step is to drill a little hole in the lid, to allow air in as the tea pours out (otherwise, it'll glurp). Since I want a smaller hole, I use a bit of broken umbrella spine, ground sharp. (What do you call a broken umbrella? Un-brella?)
The one good thing about working in fall is that nothing dries too fast; the body stays leather hard, the spout doesn't get crispy. I did have to put the lids out in the breeze and sun for an hour, to get them dry enough to trim, but that was just long enough to assemble the rest of the pot.
Note the use of a couple of my favorite tools, below: a hole-maker that's dip pen with the nib reversed, a cheese cutter with the roller removed, used to trim the base of the spout to size and shape, and a paper template dropped in the gallery, allowing me to line up the handle with the spout. Before I learned that trick from Ellen Currans, my handles were always a little wonky.
Once the lids had finally set up, I could pop them in the Giffin Grip, trim them smooth and round, then attach a lump of clay, center it, and throw a knob on top. I've got a little metal tool, about the size and shape of a putty knife blade pulled out of its handle, that I use to form and finish all my knobs. The last step is to drill a little hole in the lid, to allow air in as the tea pours out (otherwise, it'll glurp). Since I want a smaller hole, I use a bit of broken umbrella spine, ground sharp. (What do you call a broken umbrella? Un-brella?)