Amazon
Beginner Pottery Tools
The exact 31-piece set we hand out in class, about ten bucks cheaper than buying it from us. Yes, we’re telling you that on purpose.
Not Included. Still Worth It.
The Stuff That Has to Be Yours
Membership already covers just about everything. Thousands of tools, the wheels, the slab rollers, walls of glaze. Sharing the good stuff is the whole point of this place. But a few things can’t be shared. The apron that goes home covered in slip. The clippers that are yours for obvious sanitation reasons. The wire that fires right into your ornament. Here’s that short list. Every item tested, approved, and worth owning.
Bookmark it. Future-you says thanks.
Seven of these you can buy right on this page. The other thirteen open in a new tab.
In-Studio Items
Add them to your cart right on this page. Pay online, then pick your stuff up at the studio. Members only, and nothing ships. Ever. We’re a pottery studio, not a warehouse.
Amazon & Etsy Finds
The exact items we use, sold by other people. Links open in a new tab. Their prices, their shipping, their problem if the box shows up crushed.
Kiln Gear Is Different
Anything that goes inside a kiln comes from the approved list at the bottom of this page. Not sure about something? Ask us first. We promise we’re nice about it.
The Everyday Kit
Six things that make studio life smoother
None of them are required. All of them get asked about weekly at the front desk.
In-StudioMembers only · front-desk pickup
Beginner’s Tool Set (In Class)
Forgot to order tools before your first class? We keep a few of the same kits at the front desk. Or put this exact $25 toward bumping Green Level to Yellow Level and use our tools instead. No wrong answers.
$25.00
Amazon
Our Favorite Apron
The apron we point everyone to when they ask. And they ask a lot. Clay finds everything you wear. This is the thing that fights back.
In-StudioMembers only · front-desk pickup
Fingernail Clippers
Because clay doesn’t like claws. One snip saves a hundred gouged mugs. Yours to keep forever, for obvious sanitation reasons.
$2.25
Amazon
Shelf for Your Shelf
A little organizer shelf that adds a second story to your studio shelf. We wrote a whole page about shelf Tetris. This is the cheat code.
Etsy
Clay Recycle Bag
A heavy cotton bag made for reclaiming clay. Scraps go in, workable clay comes back out. Less clay in the trash, more in your hands.
Finishing Touches
For when the pot exists and the fussing begins
Precise glaze lines, protected table tops, and your name where it belongs.
In-StudioMembers only · front-desk pickup
6-Pack Applicator Bottles
We tested more than 12 brands to land on these. Four tip gauges, from Stroke & Coat thick down to Running Hot Chowder thin. Yours to keep, rinse, and reuse.
$13.00
In-StudioMembers only · front-desk pickup
Felt or Silicone Bumper Pads
Felt slides, silicone grips. Either way your table stops getting scratched. Each purchase is four pads peeled off the big sheet. Four. We count.
$2.00
Etsy
Maker’s Mark #1 (Metal)
A custom metal stamp made with your initials or logo. Press it into every pot before it dries. You made it. Claim it.
Etsy
Maker’s Mark #2 (Metal)
A different maker, same idea. Custom metal, built to outlast every pot it ever signs.
Etsy
Maker’s Mark #3 (Plastic)
The plastic version. Costs less, still signs your work like you mean it.
Repair & Rescue
Clay breaks. Handles pop off.
Usually the week you were proudest. Here’s what we reach for before anyone starts mourning.
In-StudioMembers only · front-desk pickup
Mayco Clay Mender
Enhanced slip for reattaching handles and rescuing small cracks on greenware and bisque. Not magic. But close enough to try before you mourn. Ask staff before firing any repair.
$7.75
In-StudioMembers only · front-desk pickup
Epoxy for Kintsugi
Gorilla 5-minute epoxy. Mix in mica powder, mend the break, and make the scar the best part of the pot. Cheaper on Amazon. We stock it for the impatient.
$9.50
The Strict Section
Kiln gear. Where we stop being flexible.
Our kilns fire to cone 6. That’s around 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit. At that temperature the wrong metal sags, drips, and welds itself to a kiln shelf. And kiln shelves never travel alone. They carry your neighbors’ pots. Weeks of somebody’s work, sitting inches from whatever came in with yours.
So the list below is not a list of suggestions. It is the whole list. If it fires inside our kilns and it isn’t clay or glaze, it comes from these seven items. Anything else gets a conversation with staff first. No exceptions, no hurt feelings.
The Ceramic Shop
The Only Approved Kiln Stilts
For pieces glazed on the bottom. These lift your pot off the shelf so the glaze can’t weld it there. The only stilts approved for our kilns. Hence the name.
Amazon
Cone 6 Wire
High-temp wire that keeps its shape through a cone 6 firing. For ornaments and anything that hangs. Regular wire melts. This is not regular wire.
Amazon
Cone 6 Jewelry Loops
Pre-bent high-temp loops for earrings and pendants. Made to ride the bead rack through a cone 6 firing and come out still shaped like loops.
In-StudioMembers only · front-desk pickup
Amaco Large Bead Rack
Seven 10-inch nichrome wires over stoneware supports, about 8 inches tall. Fires beads, pendants and buttons without kiln-shelf casualties. Cone 10 max, never for raku.
$48.00
Amazon
Bead Rack (Amazon)
The same Amaco rack, shipped to your door instead of carried out of ours. Either way, your beads stop sticking to kiln shelves.
Clay-King
Metal Kiln Rods
A six-pack of metal support rods sized for the bead rack. More rods, more earrings per firing. Your earring empire grows.
The Ceramic Shop
Earring / Ornament Rack
A purpose-built rack that fires a whole batch of ornaments or earrings at once. December-you will thank October-you.
The Fine Print
Four things worth knowing
About in-studio purchases
In-studio items are for members of The Clay Hole. Nothing ships. You buy it here, then pick it up at the studio. If you’re not a member, please don’t order them. We’d only end up refunding you and feeling awkward about it.
About the Amazon, Etsy and supplier links
Those links go to separate companies. Their prices, their shipping, their return policies. We just found the stuff, tested it, and liked it enough to recommend it. Every outside link opens in a new tab.
About the prices on this page
The prices printed here are today’s. If something changes in the store before we update this page, your cart always charges the live price, not the printed one. The cart never lies.
About the approved kiln list
The approved list can change as we test new gear. When in doubt, ask staff before anything new goes into a kiln. And mind each item’s limits. The bead rack, for example, is rated to cone 10 and is never used for raku.
That’s the whole list.
No filler, no mystery gadgets. Twenty things that earn their spot on a shelf. Buy what helps, skip what doesn’t, and if you’re ever not sure, just ask. We love talking about this stuff. Obviously.