I love just hearing u ramble about pottery as a complete beginner I always learn so much just listening to you talk through something And getting to watch you learn something new???? O buddy might as well have been a Ted talk!! This was such a treat! Thank you for sharing your learning process with us❤
I remember when I took pottery classes in high school, a tool like this was always my favourite. I would let my pots dry out much more than normal, and it could just cleave off material so easily and precisely. I will say that the one you're using looks much more flexible, the one I had was strong and thick with hardly any flex at all.
Sometimes communication without words is better communication. It’s very obvious this man has inspired you. Inspiration in arts and crafts is what keeps it healthy
I’ve been following Moon on instagram for several years, and I his work is incredible. I’ve been learning and practicing the techniques for making porcelain pieces from Arita Japan for the past few years, and this tool is very similar to the ones we use. The biggest difference is that they are double sided, and have both a single edged side and one with three edges for trimming the inside of the foot ring. Love your content, keep it up :)
I'm not a potter, but I am an Asian-American visual artist; I find that I tend to hold my pencil/pen/stylus slightly differently than most of my non-Asian friends, even though I was raised in the United States. With a lot of comparison and questions, the answer for why this is the case appears to be phenotypical. My hands have a different proportionality than my Euro-American friends, and a noticeably different shape, while being quite similar to my Asian friends' hands overall. I wonder if it's not just the culture, but the shape of our hands that has something to do with what tools become "standard" for a given region. Super interesting stuff.
I really appreciate seeing you struggle in this video because if someone as experienced as you can still have a difficult time with something new, then I won't feel as bad when I make a mistake.
Amazing how cultural traditions in the past are being changed by RUclips. It's so cool to have multiple mentors from various cultures influencing my eclectic style of pottery. Great video Florian
I actually quite liked the subtle chattering lines you showed from trimming the outside. I think they'd look quite nice on a bowl with a slightly different style or aesthetic.
You know, sometimes when they're really subtle I like them. It makes the pot look almost as if it's woven. Perhaps when it happens again nicely on the outside of a vessel I'll leave alone, together with leaving the outside of the pot unglazed.
@@floriangadsby Oh yeah if you left the outside unglazed that could be really interesting! Would be neat to see what that would look like. I think it could look especially interesting with some of the darker or very red clays you've worked with in the past. Something like a very dark clay unglazed outside with iron oxide coating inside could give it an almost volcanic kind of look and feel
I can understand the frustration. I've been using Blender for nearly a decade at this point. I know how to model, unwrap, texture, and rig a character from scratch. However, an animation course I'm taking uses only Maya. Learning all the quirks and where all the tools and hotkeys were felt like walking through deep mud. Exhausting, but I at least now feel much more capable with the program.
Saw a video once about a Potter who still makes enormous Ongi by Hand. Very hard work, but still the finished product was aesthetically pleasing. Very impressive.
It is amazing to see how you mastered the trimming tool. Learning something new improves the proficiency in the the work one thinks is done to almost perfection. Thank you for this inspiring video!
I've never done pottery, but it sounds very fun and relaxing to do. Your voice is also very therapeutic, like Bob Ross. I could fall asleep to this. Subscribed.
This was great. I learned with a simple loop tool and then bought a more expensive tool. The same thing happened - chattering, digging in - ugh. Made me feel better to see that it wasn't just me :)
Something about the spring steel and self made tools for eastern crafts, it looks so similar to the shape of wood lathing tools which traditionally were blacksmithed and sharpened for the purpose they are needed for, and a simple effective tool for turning anything potentially custom made on the spot might have been more effective for their workflow. This is based off of observations on other crafting videos for traditional workshops and not on real research, but the quick customizable effect of inexpensive tooling and short sharpening sessions as needed were the balance that makes that a fun and effective way to trim. Love the videos, thoughts, and processes.
One of my favorite tools is the Mudtool Do All Trim Tool. I have lots of loop trim tools, and use them too but I consistently go back to that one tool.
I can't speak to pottery specifically, but looking at woodworking, tool designs are largely determined by cultural contact. There's still a lot of variation, but a clear example is how all Western saws traditionally cut on the push stroke, while japanese saws cut on the pull stroke, which has overall a bit less power but more control and allows for thinner saw blades as western saws need thickness to resist bending when pushed into the wood. Some of this can be put down to western woodworking being mostly hardwoods while japanese woodworking uses more softwoods, but that isn't a 1:1 distinction. Interestingly, hand planes also have the same difference in direction of cut along the same geographical lines, despite being very different from saws. Whether there's a clear explanation to be had beyond "at one point, this style became dominant in this region" I don't know, but given the wealth of complicated factors that affect tool designs and how these practices tie into global trade, guilds protecting their crafts, and a bunch of other factors, I kind of doubt that there's any one answer that can really be found.
I didn't understand the push-saw thing until this summer. I had thought Western saws cut on push AND pull until I watched a short by a woodworker and then it blew my mind that THAT was why I struggled with them! I greatly favor the pull saws. It just makes more sense to me.
Wild long shot that doesnt have anything to do with the vid: Have you ever seen plants of the genus Heliamphora? They're carnivorous "pitcher" plants, which are shaped are like your pottery! Though more on the organic and curvy side. They're like the vases you make, ridged hip at the midpoint, wider funnel mouth. They even have a seam along one side that resembles the line you add to some of your pots! For additional misc pottery resembling plants, Heliamphora are related to Sarracenia, who have almost spouts to pour out liquid if they get too full.
levelling the base with a tool like that makes, at least at first glance to the tools, a lot more sense than a loop one. I like Moondobang's and korean technique of pulling from the inside, it looks again, a lot more intuitive even though the practice might be the opposite I suspect.
One of the more beautiful things about artists are their individualities and how they compare and contrast through their own journey and through collaborations with others. Each experience adds one more layer to one's repertoire. As years progress an an artist hones their experience. It can become a beautiful life full of satisfaction shown through art people get to experience. Thank you for adding yet another layer here on youtube. Until I'm lucky enough to be at the right place and time, at least I get to enjoy your art here. As for the answer to your question, I'd imagine it's about on par with the same reasoning as why we use different eating utensils. However, I think over in Asia, people may be more self reliant so buying a high grade blank is cheaper than someone in the west making something instead of buying it is more of an inconvenience. So we get used to what's readily available as advertized.
You ask what forms we'd like to see and it just hit me, I would love to see you make lidded bowls; with your distinct angles I think they would be absolutely beautiful.
My two penny's worth: Japanese and Korean styles of craftsmanship flavours more precision and tighter tolerances, than free flowing "feel" in practice. Mastery of exacting standards and techniques is learnt before openness in style and approach is considered. Most of my experience, however, comes from knowledge of carpentry and not pottery.
I'd bet that tool has a smaller sweet spot when trimming the base than you're used to. It also looks like it has no rake angle, so positioning the cutting face against a radius, it's hard to keep it tangent. Looks like your alternate grip at the end gets around this by the angles you hold it at.
Conning down by leaning the top sideways actually causes the clay to spiral as it is lowered down. This is very critical because it makes the clay stronger and also the items made from it. That’s why it’s called spiral wedging on the wheel. Typically you do this a few times. However one has to be careful when attaching handles or spouts etc because as one potter said the stiffer the clay the more tightly wound it will be and that will eventually unwind as it dries causing handles etc to become misaligned. It is often said that clay has a memory. So this requires practice and experience! The alternative to to hand wedge on the table and not do much of conning on the wheel. Or to use softer clay.
this type of tool does take a while to get used to. It's the only kind of tool I use and have for about 10 years. For me, holding the trimming tool like a pencil, with my index finger putting pressure on the blade head, it trims much more even and can use the whole length of the blade. :). But trimming the foot, you're right, you can't trim all the way to the edge of where you're wanting the foot ring to be, I trim to about 1mm of where I want it to be, then turn the blade on the edge, I get the last 1mm of clay. :)
I use a homemade tool like this (much smaller, cut from a hacksaw blade, cost nothing) 90% of the time to trim my teapots. I make the bevel on the outside of the blade, which is much less aggressive and easier to control ;)
Have you also tried holding the trimming tool like a baton wand? Like, dunno if it makes sense, but... grip on the rubber.with the fingers, while the index presses against the blunt edge to keep it in place?
I absolutely wish I had the time to research the cultural differences between the two trimming tools! It's very likely that it was just based on the natural development between western and eastern societies, but it could've had an economic difference. This trimming tool is incredibly simple to make, and could either be discarded or resharpened without much fuss. In China specifically, unless you were a potter living at the imperial palace, many potters lived quite far away from where they would sell their wares. This was a dangerous journey that could cause potters to lose their entire stock of product. If I had to create thousands of products that weren't likely to make it, I'd want the most cost-effective tools. Whereas in Europe, they were obsessed with recreating things they saw as beautiful. Porcelain used to be a heavily guarded secret, and Europeans obsesssssed over figuring out how to recreate it. It's possible that in their obsession they created and tested tools that were more effective for their desired shapes. Even though the creation is more complicated, they might have found a rounded shape to be better at creating their desired pots. All of this is speculation (there could also be some holes in my memory from researching) and likely has more nuance than what I am suggesting, but I'm nonetheless fascinated!
Hi Florian, Have been watching your videos for some time now. I am in deepest darkest Australia and there are no places anywhere near me where I can try my hand at pottery without committing to buying all the stuff only to discover I might be useless. What might you recommend for someone like me who is desperate to give this a go but has no where to take classes etc???
I only know from wood carving, but would it be possible when doing the foot, to hold the blade longer and cut into the opposite side of the pot from your grip, using the handle side of the blade across the foot withe the tip coming up vertically, and then tidy the shallow angle after with a shorter mor control grip? I use a similar style tool for carving, and sometimes the counter intuitive longer reach can give control at lower angles..
hey, florian, get spd tools the M size (i got L, but seems like mr. moon mufht have the M size thats why 😂). if u wanna try. it's made by Mr. moon's student. it's pretty sharp but a bit tricky cuz of the angle (based on another student on moon)
There are so many stainless steel right angled tools but is it the way that the Western potters handle them that is so different? Or is it simply that the loop tool is the entry tool in a beginners kit? Or that there is not as much importance on the footring in the west as the east?
Well... skint as I was, but having access to old cutlery to get rid off, I made my own tools with a file and bench grinder....at least the handle of 'em is stylish...
I find that in general craftsmen in east asia (not just pottery but across all crafts) favor simple tools that they can create themselves, and they usually will prefer to make many specialized tools that they can be made to their own specs. I think it's probably because craftsmen in these regions often came from much more humble means and that buying tools made by others were either unaffordable or were logistically harder to procure due to remoteness. I follow quite a few outlets that give insight into specifically traditional japanese crafts and the gap between the craftsman's tools and means and the artistry they produce is often quite jarring.
My guess would be, that in Europe we focus more on the product and less on the process itself. With that viewpoint it makes no sense to create your own unique tools if you can by tools that fit your style well enough. The difference in quality is not big enough to make it worth the effort. So making tools is not viewed as a necessary part of the process. Especially since the tungsten carbide tools you usually use require a lot of special machinery and expertise to be created. I woudl also guess, that if more of the tools used were made out of clay, you would make more of them yourself. Just like a blacksmith makes most of his tools himself.
I think that the reason those types of tools are common in the East are for the reason of cost. The West has been more industrially developed for longer and still is the center of capitalist imperial core. everywhere in the west people do artisanship, they do it with wealth developed comforts and often greater safety, but in the global east and south, artisans make due with what they can get their hands on still. I lived with wood working artisans in Chichen Itza, Mexico for a few months, and I engaged in ethnographic study of their culture and art. They made their chisels and knives out of recycled car axel steel, forged into blanks and sold at local corner supply store. They had to sharpen them on their own from there. They carve with chisels, and razor sharp knives that have thick ends and backs, and they carve using wooden branch batons to hit and maneuver the knives and chisels through the wood, than do fine work with the razor edges and tips, press by press, chip by chip. I tried it for myself while talking and interviewing them, and its is very difficult to do. More importantly, it VERY dangerous, in just an hour of them teaching me, i managed to stab myself in the leg almost an inch deep, in rural Mexico where there are no medical facilities. They laughed and showed me all their scars, they were covered in thousands of cuts and stab wounds, arms, legs, abdomen, thighs, just everywhere. to bring this back to your new tool you got here, my first thought while you were using it was, "that doesn't look like a good idea". it cant be comfortable to hold, its sharp as hell, and your using it on a very temperamental material that is leather hard clay. It has all the hallmarks of an improvised tool wrought out of necessity, not utility, function, or safety. Cuidado with that thing Amigo, don't want no missing digits as a potter.
I sharpen all my knifes at home. I wouldn't consider me an expert maybe not even a real amateur but how the heck would you sharpen this tool without turning mad :D
My first reaction to seeing this tool was that the bevel was on the wrong side, i.e. the bevel should be what is in contact with the pot. It would seem to me that way would allow more control over the depth of cut and would be trivial to sharpen. But that is all based on intuition and not experience.
Is there a reason why your cadence is like that? Just genuinely wondering, it’s not meant to be a negative question. I don’t how to word it without it sounding like criticism 😅
11:23 I don't like this mindset of "I'm great at these things, so its frustrating when 'I'm not'." not saying your not great at pottery, because you absolutely are, but limiting yourself by saying ur not doing good because you made a mistake can be very limiting on yourselft and your artwork. I'm not saying you have to step out of your comfort zone, not saying you can't be upset with your mistakes, but rather try to enjoy these new things with a different perspective by incorporating them into your style, not based on how other people use it. otherwise you're comparing yourself to your norm and anothers norm which is limiting yourself which causes you to be frustrated and takes away from the process. I think this video has to be one of my favorites from you so far because I love seeing you try different things, but I just wanted to throw my two cents in because I used to say these things and once I grew out of it I learned that I was much happier with my artwork. PLEASE keep up the amazing work ❤ and don't take this comment too personally as I'm also just a person online who has a different way of viewing art.
I don't know if this will answer your question or not, but I think the simplicity of the Asian tools may be for the same reason as chopsticks. I was told years ago that chopsticks are used not because Asian cultures didn't invent the fork-- China invented seismic detectors centuries before European/ American cultures so certainly could make forks-- but because the chopsticks are more efficient & elegant when the foods are properly prepared beforehand, rather than forcing the diner to finish preparing the food themselves (cutting it up). Looking at the tool you've received, i can imagine that proper training & practice with it would let you replace what would otherwise take several tools with just that one. The multipurpose simplicity of it is elegant.
![Jack Harlow - Hello Miss Johnson [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q86_nlRoIGw/mqdefault.jpg)
i really appreciate how in this hobby and/or career, people are always receptive to new ideas and learning regardless of how experienced they are
I love just hearing u ramble about pottery as a complete beginner I always learn so much just listening to you talk through something
And getting to watch you learn something new???? O buddy might as well have been a Ted talk!!
This was such a treat! Thank you for sharing your learning process with us❤
I remember when I took pottery classes in high school, a tool like this was always my favourite. I would let my pots dry out much more than normal, and it could just cleave off material so easily and precisely. I will say that the one you're using looks much more flexible, the one I had was strong and thick with hardly any flex at all.
Sometimes communication without words is better communication. It’s very obvious this man has inspired you. Inspiration in arts and crafts is what keeps it healthy
Those spirals when trimming the base are really satisfying to watch.
I’ve been following Moon on instagram for several years, and I his work is incredible. I’ve been learning and practicing the techniques for making porcelain pieces from Arita Japan for the past few years, and this tool is very similar to the ones we use. The biggest difference is that they are double sided, and have both a single edged side and one with three edges for trimming the inside of the foot ring. Love your content, keep it up :)
I'm not a potter, but I am an Asian-American visual artist; I find that I tend to hold my pencil/pen/stylus slightly differently than most of my non-Asian friends, even though I was raised in the United States. With a lot of comparison and questions, the answer for why this is the case appears to be phenotypical. My hands have a different proportionality than my Euro-American friends, and a noticeably different shape, while being quite similar to my Asian friends' hands overall. I wonder if it's not just the culture, but the shape of our hands that has something to do with what tools become "standard" for a given region. Super interesting stuff.
I really appreciate seeing you struggle in this video because if someone as experienced as you can still have a difficult time with something new, then I won't feel as bad when I make a mistake.
Amazing how cultural traditions in the past are being changed by RUclips.
It's so cool to have multiple mentors from various cultures influencing my eclectic style of pottery.
Great video Florian
I actually quite liked the subtle chattering lines you showed from trimming the outside. I think they'd look quite nice on a bowl with a slightly different style or aesthetic.
You know, sometimes when they're really subtle I like them. It makes the pot look almost as if it's woven. Perhaps when it happens again nicely on the outside of a vessel I'll leave alone, together with leaving the outside of the pot unglazed.
@@floriangadsby Oh yeah if you left the outside unglazed that could be really interesting! Would be neat to see what that would look like. I think it could look especially interesting with some of the darker or very red clays you've worked with in the past. Something like a very dark clay unglazed outside with iron oxide coating inside could give it an almost volcanic kind of look and feel
I can understand the frustration. I've been using Blender for nearly a decade at this point. I know how to model, unwrap, texture, and rig a character from scratch. However, an animation course I'm taking uses only Maya. Learning all the quirks and where all the tools and hotkeys were felt like walking through deep mud. Exhausting, but I at least now feel much more capable with the program.
Saw a video once about a Potter who still makes enormous Ongi by Hand. Very hard work, but still the finished product was aesthetically pleasing. Very impressive.
Thank you so much for making these wonderful films that inspire me so much when I make pottery.
Love to watch your learning/experimentation process. Thanks for taking us along .
Florian! You seems so happy in the photo at the demonstration! Thanks for rambling to us!
"You would never learn how to drive in a sports car." I'm going to be stealing that one!
Yeah
I wanted a Porsche
My dad gave me a 4 speed Pinto
I learned in a sports car, it’s fine as long as you know it’s a sports car.
I love your rambling! A fascinating video as always ❤
It is amazing to see how you mastered the trimming tool.
Learning something new improves the proficiency in the the work one thinks is done to almost perfection.
Thank you for this inspiring video!
I've never done pottery, but it sounds very fun and relaxing to do. Your voice is also very therapeutic, like Bob Ross. I could fall asleep to this. Subscribed.
I'd love to see you throw larger shapes ! And I wonder what would a Florian Gadsby's moon jar look like.
The trimmed coils created at 11:03, 11:29, 14:29 onwards, 16:38 are so perfect! Those ribbons when trimming the bases too.
This was great. I learned with a simple
loop tool and then bought a more expensive tool. The same thing happened - chattering, digging in - ugh. Made me feel better to see that it wasn't just me :)
Something about the spring steel and self made tools for eastern crafts, it looks so similar to the shape of wood lathing tools which traditionally were blacksmithed and sharpened for the purpose they are needed for, and a simple effective tool for turning anything potentially custom made on the spot might have been more effective for their workflow. This is based off of observations on other crafting videos for traditional workshops and not on real research, but the quick customizable effect of inexpensive tooling and short sharpening sessions as needed were the balance that makes that a fun and effective way to trim.
Love the videos, thoughts, and processes.
Thank you so much for going over this so detailed! It's amazingly helpful.
Not actually rambling, but certainly not laser focused on a specific process/project. And that's ok!
This was quite interesting!
One of my favorite tools is the Mudtool Do All Trim Tool. I have lots of loop trim tools, and use them too but I consistently go back to that one tool.
I can't speak to pottery specifically, but looking at woodworking, tool designs are largely determined by cultural contact. There's still a lot of variation, but a clear example is how all Western saws traditionally cut on the push stroke, while japanese saws cut on the pull stroke, which has overall a bit less power but more control and allows for thinner saw blades as western saws need thickness to resist bending when pushed into the wood. Some of this can be put down to western woodworking being mostly hardwoods while japanese woodworking uses more softwoods, but that isn't a 1:1 distinction. Interestingly, hand planes also have the same difference in direction of cut along the same geographical lines, despite being very different from saws. Whether there's a clear explanation to be had beyond "at one point, this style became dominant in this region" I don't know, but given the wealth of complicated factors that affect tool designs and how these practices tie into global trade, guilds protecting their crafts, and a bunch of other factors, I kind of doubt that there's any one answer that can really be found.
I didn't understand the push-saw thing until this summer. I had thought Western saws cut on push AND pull until I watched a short by a woodworker and then it blew my mind that THAT was why I struggled with them!
I greatly favor the pull saws. It just makes more sense to me.
Thanks for showing your process of learning a new technique! It's always cool to see how other potters work and being inspired
ah yes i will be enjoying my meal to this
I did the same:)
Such a good little doggo! 😍 Thank you for sharing him, and your learning process!! I might have to try to make one of those trimming tools....
Wild long shot that doesnt have anything to do with the vid: Have you ever seen plants of the genus Heliamphora? They're carnivorous "pitcher" plants, which are shaped are like your pottery! Though more on the organic and curvy side. They're like the vases you make, ridged hip at the midpoint, wider funnel mouth. They even have a seam along one side that resembles the line you add to some of your pots! For additional misc pottery resembling plants, Heliamphora are related to Sarracenia, who have almost spouts to pour out liquid if they get too full.
levelling the base with a tool like that makes, at least at first glance to the tools, a lot more sense than a loop one. I like Moondobang's and korean technique of pulling from the inside, it looks again, a lot more intuitive even though the practice might be the opposite I suspect.
ah yes the best part of every sunday-ty for another lovely video florian!!
so impressive! I watched Mae her video too and wow! Also, I would be swearing my head off. Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely beautiful. I always love seeing you trim and it was really interesting and nice to see the new tool
Another great video Florian thankyou. Think I'll stick to my blunt loop tools... 😂 I think I would cut straight through with that!
Very nice video. Good of you to share your actual experience. I’ve always been curious about their throwing and trimming tools.
One of the more beautiful things about artists are their individualities and how they compare and contrast through their own journey and through collaborations with others. Each experience adds one more layer to one's repertoire. As years progress an an artist hones their experience. It can become a beautiful life full of satisfaction shown through art people get to experience. Thank you for adding yet another layer here on youtube. Until I'm lucky enough to be at the right place and time, at least I get to enjoy your art here.
As for the answer to your question, I'd imagine it's about on par with the same reasoning as why we use different eating utensils.
However, I think over in Asia, people may be more self reliant so buying a high grade blank is cheaper than someone in the west making something instead of buying it is more of an inconvenience. So we get used to what's readily available as advertized.
Very insightful video! Thanks for sharing your experience!
You ask what forms we'd like to see and it just hit me, I would love to see you make lidded bowls; with your distinct angles I think they would be absolutely beautiful.
A fasinating aspect of expertise is the ability to learn and adapt more quickly.
My two penny's worth: Japanese and Korean styles of craftsmanship flavours more precision and tighter tolerances, than free flowing "feel" in practice. Mastery of exacting standards and techniques is learnt before openness in style and approach is considered. Most of my experience, however, comes from knowledge of carpentry and not pottery.
I'd bet that tool has a smaller sweet spot when trimming the base than you're used to. It also looks like it has no rake angle, so positioning the cutting face against a radius, it's hard to keep it tangent. Looks like your alternate grip at the end gets around this by the angles you hold it at.
Very good clay making.
Conning down by leaning the top sideways actually causes the clay to spiral as it is lowered down. This is very critical because it makes the clay stronger and also the items made from it. That’s why it’s called spiral wedging on the wheel. Typically you do this a few times. However one has to be careful when attaching handles or spouts etc because as one potter said the stiffer the clay the more tightly wound it will be and that will eventually unwind as it dries causing handles etc to become misaligned. It is often said that clay has a memory. So this requires practice and experience! The alternative to to hand wedge on the table and not do much of conning on the wheel. Or to use softer clay.
Learning to trim with one of those tools is like learning to drive on a Panda Trueno, making deliveries for your dad's tofu business.
this type of tool does take a while to get used to. It's the only kind of tool I use and have for about 10 years. For me, holding the trimming tool like a pencil, with my index finger putting pressure on the blade head, it trims much more even and can use the whole length of the blade. :). But trimming the foot, you're right, you can't trim all the way to the edge of where you're wanting the foot ring to be, I trim to about 1mm of where I want it to be, then turn the blade on the edge, I get the last 1mm of clay. :)
I use a homemade tool like this (much smaller, cut from a hacksaw blade, cost nothing) 90% of the time to trim my teapots. I make the bevel on the outside of the blade, which is much less aggressive and easier to control ;)
Have you also tried holding the trimming tool like a baton wand? Like, dunno if it makes sense, but... grip on the rubber.with the fingers, while the index presses against the blunt edge to keep it in place?
The dog shows up at 6:05
I absolutely wish I had the time to research the cultural differences between the two trimming tools! It's very likely that it was just based on the natural development between western and eastern societies, but it could've had an economic difference. This trimming tool is incredibly simple to make, and could either be discarded or resharpened without much fuss.
In China specifically, unless you were a potter living at the imperial palace, many potters lived quite far away from where they would sell their wares. This was a dangerous journey that could cause potters to lose their entire stock of product. If I had to create thousands of products that weren't likely to make it, I'd want the most cost-effective tools.
Whereas in Europe, they were obsessed with recreating things they saw as beautiful. Porcelain used to be a heavily guarded secret, and Europeans obsesssssed over figuring out how to recreate it. It's possible that in their obsession they created and tested tools that were more effective for their desired shapes. Even though the creation is more complicated, they might have found a rounded shape to be better at creating their desired pots. All of this is speculation (there could also be some holes in my memory from researching) and likely has more nuance than what I am suggesting, but I'm nonetheless fascinated!
4:00 Can you raise the wheel? Or will it be too high to have decent leverage?
Another Florian vid to make my week!
Hi Florian, Have been watching your videos for some time now. I am in deepest darkest Australia and there are no places anywhere near me where I can try my hand at pottery without committing to buying all the stuff only to discover I might be useless. What might you recommend for someone like me who is desperate to give this a go but has no where to take classes etc???
Do you ever spray glaze? I’d love to see a demo on that.
I only know from wood carving, but would it be possible when doing the foot, to hold the blade longer and cut into the opposite side of the pot from your grip, using the handle side of the blade across the foot withe the tip coming up vertically, and then tidy the shallow angle after with a shorter mor control grip? I use a similar style tool for carving, and sometimes the counter intuitive longer reach can give control at lower angles..
hey, florian, get spd tools the M size (i got L, but seems like mr. moon mufht have the M size thats why 😂). if u wanna try. it's made by Mr. moon's student. it's pretty sharp but a bit tricky cuz of the angle (based on another student on moon)
I thought you "threw off the hump" for a lot of your kettle spouts? I've watched several videos of yours where you talked about it.
Very true! But I feel like those don’t count! 😬
There are so many stainless steel right angled tools but is it the way that the Western potters handle them that is so different?
Or is it simply that the loop tool is the entry tool in a beginners kit?
Or that there is not as much importance on the footring in the west as the east?
I wonder if it could be the direction of the wheel? In Japan the wheel spins clockwise.
Well... skint as I was, but having access to old cutlery to get rid off, I made my own tools with a file and bench grinder....at least the handle of 'em is stylish...
I find that in general craftsmen in east asia (not just pottery but across all crafts) favor simple tools that they can create themselves, and they usually will prefer to make many specialized tools that they can be made to their own specs. I think it's probably because craftsmen in these regions often came from much more humble means and that buying tools made by others were either unaffordable or were logistically harder to procure due to remoteness. I follow quite a few outlets that give insight into specifically traditional japanese crafts and the gap between the craftsman's tools and means and the artistry they produce is often quite jarring.
My guess would be, that in Europe we focus more on the product and less on the process itself.
With that viewpoint it makes no sense to create your own unique tools if you can by tools that fit your style well enough. The difference in quality is not big enough to make it worth the effort. So making tools is not viewed as a necessary part of the process.
Especially since the tungsten carbide tools you usually use require a lot of special machinery and expertise to be created.
I woudl also guess, that if more of the tools used were made out of clay, you would make more of them yourself. Just like a blacksmith makes most of his tools himself.
It must take a lot of courage to record a video of yourself using a tool you are not yet familiar with. Bravo.
Nice to know you’re actually human
I think that the reason those types of tools are common in the East are for the reason of cost. The West has been more industrially developed for longer and still is the center of capitalist imperial core. everywhere in the west people do artisanship, they do it with wealth developed comforts and often greater safety, but in the global east and south, artisans make due with what they can get their hands on still. I lived with wood working artisans in Chichen Itza, Mexico for a few months, and I engaged in ethnographic study of their culture and art. They made their chisels and knives out of recycled car axel steel, forged into blanks and sold at local corner supply store. They had to sharpen them on their own from there. They carve with chisels, and razor sharp knives that have thick ends and backs, and they carve using wooden branch batons to hit and maneuver the knives and chisels through the wood, than do fine work with the razor edges and tips, press by press, chip by chip. I tried it for myself while talking and interviewing them, and its is very difficult to do. More importantly, it VERY dangerous, in just an hour of them teaching me, i managed to stab myself in the leg almost an inch deep, in rural Mexico where there are no medical facilities. They laughed and showed me all their scars, they were covered in thousands of cuts and stab wounds, arms, legs, abdomen, thighs, just everywhere. to bring this back to your new tool you got here, my first thought while you were using it was, "that doesn't look like a good idea". it cant be comfortable to hold, its sharp as hell, and your using it on a very temperamental material that is leather hard clay. It has all the hallmarks of an improvised tool wrought out of necessity, not utility, function, or safety. Cuidado with that thing Amigo, don't want no missing digits as a potter.
Do you ever use a giffen grip to trim? If not why? I have recently just started using one and I don’t like it very much..
Hi Florian
Hello friend!
I sharpen all my knifes at home. I wouldn't consider me an expert maybe not even a real amateur but how the heck would you sharpen this tool without turning mad :D
You bend it back straight, sharpen it, and then bend it back, from what I can gather!
My first reaction to seeing this tool was that the bevel was on the wrong side, i.e. the bevel should be what is in contact with the pot. It would seem to me that way would allow more control over the depth of cut and would be trivial to sharpen. But that is all based on intuition and not experience.
Ooh so early
need an apprentice, here i am
I think..this is not left hand tools?
I found the Asian tools I own was easier to sharpen than the loop tools I own
Is there a reason why your cadence is like that? Just genuinely wondering, it’s not meant to be a negative question. I don’t how to word it without it sounding like criticism 😅
11:23 I don't like this mindset of "I'm great at these things, so its frustrating when 'I'm not'." not saying your not great at pottery, because you absolutely are, but limiting yourself by saying ur not doing good because you made a mistake can be very limiting on yourselft and your artwork. I'm not saying you have to step out of your comfort zone, not saying you can't be upset with your mistakes, but rather try to enjoy these new things with a different perspective by incorporating them into your style, not based on how other people use it. otherwise you're comparing yourself to your norm and anothers norm which is limiting yourself which causes you to be frustrated and takes away from the process. I think this video has to be one of my favorites from you so far because I love seeing you try different things, but I just wanted to throw my two cents in because I used to say these things and once I grew out of it I learned that I was much happier with my artwork.
PLEASE keep up the amazing work ❤ and don't take this comment too personally as I'm also just a person online who has a different way of viewing art.
note: After finishing the video, I'm figuring you know this already, but I'll keep the comment up anyways for anyone who needed to hear this
I don't know if this will answer your question or not, but I think the simplicity of the Asian tools may be for the same reason as chopsticks. I was told years ago that chopsticks are used not because Asian cultures didn't invent the fork-- China invented seismic detectors centuries before European/ American cultures so certainly could make forks-- but because the chopsticks are more efficient & elegant when the foods are properly prepared beforehand, rather than forcing the diner to finish preparing the food themselves (cutting it up).
Looking at the tool you've received, i can imagine that proper training & practice with it would let you replace what would otherwise take several tools with just that one. The multipurpose simplicity of it is elegant.
Where did you purchase your wheel? I want to get one but I struggle finding the equipment.