Glazing · Making a glaze catcher

Insurance for a glaze you know is going to run.

A shallow unglazed dish the pot stands on in the kiln, so a runny glaze drips into it and not onto the shelf. Thrown catchers, pinch pot catchers, and the glue and clay ball trick on a cookie: three versions of one rule, which is same clay, wider than the foot, and something between them that will not fuse.

Four steps with a tick list at each: deciding and preventing, the thrown stack, the pinched saucer, and the ball trick. Six fixes and five videos, from four different makers.

This is the short version: the decision, the three versions and the rule, each with a tick list. The prevention detail, the alumina note and the questions are in the comprehensive version.

+1″Past the foot on every side. Same clay as the pot
x3Pea-sized balls glued to a cookie, and the foot touches only three points
x5Videos, from four different makers
x4Steps, each with a tick list you can work off
Jump to a section
Why this page has words and video The whole idea in three lines The technique in six moves What you need on the table 1. Deciding, and preventing 2. Thrown catchers 3. Pinched catchers 4. The ball trick Five videos on catching drips The one video to watch When it goes wrong How it works at The Clay Hole Questions people actually ask Related lessons
Illustration of a smiling potter shaping a shallow dish on the wheel in a bright studio, with shelves of pots behind

Every version, the prevention detail, the alumina note and five videos.

Read it, then watch it

Why this is written down and filmed, both.

A glaze catcher is a small object with three versions and one rule, and the rule, same clay, wider than the foot, something between them that does not fuse, is a sentence you carry to the kiln. The three versions are thrown, pinched, and three balls of clay glued to a cookie, and each is a two-minute make. The rule and the tick lists are here. The videos cover throwing them and stopping a drip, not the pinched or ball versions.

Use both, in this order

Read the rule. If you will throw them, watch the throwing videos. Make a stack of them on a slow night, before the pot that needs one exists.

The whole idea

Same clay, wider than the foot, something between them that will not fuse.

A shallow unglazed dish the pot stands on in the kiln, so a runny glaze drips into it and not onto the shelf. Throw them off the hump or on a bat, pinch them, or glue three pea-sized balls of clay to a cookie so the foot stands clear. Same clay as the pot, an inch past the foot on every side, a waxed band above the foot. Every flux glaze runs.

The five-minute version

The whole technique in six moves.

If you already glaze and you just want the shape of it, this is the shape of it. Everything below is these six moves, slowed down and with the places they fail marked.

1Decide if the glaze can runFlux glazes, thick overlaps, three coats on a wall, a glaze marked as a runner, anything new. If yes, a catcher.
2Same clay as the potA catcher in a different body moves differently in the heat and can crack.
3Thrown: off the hump or on a bat, a shallow plateAn inch past the foot on every side, a quarter inch thick, a small rim. Bisqued before use.
4Pinched: a saucer with a raised centerA pinch pot flattened, with a bump in the middle the foot sits on so drips run off it.
5The ball trick: three peas glued to a cookiePea-sized balls of the pot’s clay, white glue, a triangle under the foot. Snap off after firing.
6Wax the foot and a band above itThe glaze stops at the band. The catcher is for the day it does not.

Before a runny glaze

What you need on the table.

Six things, and one of them is a slow night. Catchers are made in stacks before they are needed.

Clay from the same bag as the potThe only clay a catcher can be made from. A few ounces per catcher.
A cookieThe flat disc every pot already sits on here. A catcher is a cookie with a rim, a bump or three balls.
White glueFor the ball trick. It holds the balls in place until the kiln burns it away.
Alumina hydrate, or kiln washBring-your-own, brushed on the catcher’s face so a drip chips off instead of fusing. Optional with the ball trick; wise with the others.
Wax resistFor the foot and for a band half an inch above it, so most drips never happen. Wax stations are open to every Level when dipping; for brush-on at Green and Yellow, bring your own.
A slow nightCatchers are made in stacks, before the pot that needs one exists, off the hump or from a slab.

Clay from the pot’s bag, a cookie, white glue, alumina or kiln wash, wax resist, and a slow night to make a stack.

1

Step one

Decide whether the glaze can run, and prevent what you can.

A catcher is insurance, and prevention comes first. Any glaze that can move wants both: a flux glaze, a thick overlap, three coats on a wall, a glaze marked as a runner, a glaze you have never fired. Our flux glazes run by design; every pot under them gets a catcher.

Prevention is cheap. Glaze thinner in the bottom third of any pot with a runner on it. Wax the foot and a band half an inch above it, so the glaze stops at the band with room to move before it reaches the foot. Keep the coats thin toward the foot on anything that flows. Trim the foot the way Chic Lotz shows in the video below, so glaze is less likely to run onto the shelf. Our resists lesson is the waxing.

Then the catcher, for the day all of that is not enough. Three kinds, all of them the same clay as the pot, all of them an inch past the foot on every side, all bisqued before they go under anything. Make them in a stack on a slow night; the pot that needs one is never the pot you have time to make one for.

How far a drip travels

As a rough guide, a drip that reaches the foot of a mug has traveled an inch or so down the wall and spreads about half an inch across a flat surface before the kiln cools. That is why a catcher reaches an inch past the foot on every side rather than a hair, and why a waxed band half an inch above the foot catches most drips before they become one. Thicker glaze travels further; a flux glaze over a runner travels furthest of all.

Tick list, deciding0 of 4
2

Step two

Thrown catchers: a stack of shallow plates off the hump.

A saucer with a small rim. Off the hump for small ones, on a bat for wide ones, a few ounces each, opened flat with a slight rise at the edge, a quarter inch thick, an inch past the foot on every side of the pots you make most. Wire off, dry between boards, bisque.

A raised center helps: a low bump in the middle the foot sits on, so a drip runs off the foot and down into the moat rather than pooling under it. Throw it as a shallow dome inside the saucer, or press one on afterwards. Old Forge Creations shows throwing catchers in the second video.

The face gets a release before use: alumina hydrate mixed with a little water and brushed on, or a coat of kiln wash. A drip on an alumina-washed catcher chips off far more easily; a drip on bare bisque is a fuse. Alumina is bring-your-own here, and a small tub of it is one of the better things a potter can own. Our off-the-hump lesson is the method for the stack.

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3

Step three

Pinched catchers: a flattened pinch pot with a bump.

No wheel needed. A pinch pot pressed flat on a board into a saucer, a quarter inch thick, a small ball of clay blended onto the center as a bump for the foot. Rim turned up a little. Dried between boards, bisqued, washed with alumina.

Or from a slab: a circle cut an inch past the foot on every side, compressed both faces with a rib, edges turned up over a finger, a bump pressed on. Slab catchers warp more than pinched or thrown ones, so the compression and the slow drying matter more. Either way the rules are the same as for any plate, and our flat tiles lesson is the drying method.

A pinched catcher is the right one for an odd-shaped foot, a sculpture, or a pot that is not round, because it can be pressed to fit. Make it on the pot’s base while both are leather hard, with a sheet of plastic between, and it will match.

Tick list, pinched or slab0 of 4
4

Step four

The ball trick: three peas of clay glued to a cookie.

The foot touches only three small points. Three pea-sized balls of the pot’s clay, glued to a cookie with white glue in a triangle under the foot, and the pot stood on them. A drip runs off the foot onto the cookie below, and the foot has only three small clay points to fuse to. After firing the balls snap off and the marks smooth away with a wet diamond pad.

Pea-sized is the whole trick. Big balls fuse to the foot; tiny ones snap. The foot has to be bare and waxed, because a glazed foot fuses to anything. The glue holds the balls in place on the drop-off table and burns out in the firing. Keep the balls bone dry, and check with the studio team that white glue is fine. Dallas Wooten’s two minute video, the third one below, shows a different way to deal with a drip: tapping it off on a sponge before it runs.

Here, every piece already goes into the kiln on a cookie with a naked bottom, so the ball trick is our normal cookie with three peas on it, and the pot and the cookie go on the drop-off table together. It makes the box a hair taller, which only costs extra for a piece near the flat firing limit. A drip ground off a shelf costs a good deal more, and our staff, who load every kiln, notice who uses catchers.

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Watch it done

Now watch five videos on catching drips.

Watch this one, then go throw a stack.

None of these potters work here. Between them they cover how and why, throwing them, a sponge trick for drips, catchers for shelves, and stopping the drip at the pot. Nothing but the still frame loads until you press play.

Just over ten minutes on why the potter puts a catcher under anything that might run, then how the potter throws one. The other four videos are in the comprehensive version.

Start here: how and why How and Why I make Drip Catchers Old Forge Creations
Just over ten minutes on why the potter puts a catcher under anything that might run, then how the potter throws one, starting at 3:30. Watch on YouTube
Throwing them Throwing Drip Catchers Old Forge Creations
Seven minutes from the same potter on throwing drip catchers, from design to clay choice and upkeep. Watch on YouTube
A sponge trick for drips A Genius Trick for Preventing Drips When Glazing | DALLAS WOOTEN Ceramic Arts Network
Two minutes from Dallas Wooten, cut from a longer glazing webinar, on dipping a cup and then either leaving the drip or tapping it off on a sponge. Watch on YouTube
Catchers for shelves 90. How to Make Drip Catchers for Kiln Shelves | Protect Your Kiln from Glaze Drips! Far Forest Ceramics
Ten and a half minutes on making drip catchers for kiln shelves, with the throwing from 3:50 and the finishing from 8:10. Watch on YouTube
Stop the drip at the pot Trimming Pottery To Stop Glaze Drips with Chic Lotz Chic Lotz Pottery
About six minutes on a trimming trick for the foot that keeps glaze from running onto the kiln shelf. The catcher is insurance; this is prevention. Watch on YouTube

When it goes wrong

Six ways it goes wrong, and what to do about each.

The three failures that happen on the first runny glaze.

Pick the one that looks like your kiln load. The first three are the catcher. The last three are the balls, the warp, and the happy one.

How it works here

At The Clay Hole, a catcher is a cookie that grew up.

This page is written for potters everywhere. A few things are specific to our building.

Three things to know here

Every piece already goes into our kilns on a cookie with a naked bottom; a catcher is that cookie with a rim, a bump or three balls, and the two go to the drop-off table as one thing. Alumina and kiln wash are bring-your-own. Our four flux glazes run by design, and every pot under them wants a catcher.

Cookies and catchers

Every glazed piece goes in on a cookie with a bare bottom, no exceptions. A catcher is a cookie with a rim, a bump or the three balls, made from the pot’s clay, and it goes to the drop-off table under the pot as one thing. Our staff load every kiln, and a catcher tells them the glaze might move.

The flux glazes

Honey Flux, Light Flux, Dark Flux and Running Hot Chowder are runners by design. Thinner in the bottom third, a waxed band above the foot, thin coats toward the foot, and a catcher under every one. Any piece with one of them on the outside must go in on a catcher you supply, no exceptions. You can make one, or buy a fired Pre-Made Glaze Catcher in the studio.

Alumina and kiln wash

Bring-your-own; we do not stock them. A small tub of alumina hydrate lasts years and makes a drip chip off a catcher far more easily. Tell the studio team before anything you have brought in goes into a kiln, which is the rule for every outside material.

Firing

Bisque is cone 05 and free, and catchers are bisqued with your other work. The glaze firing is cone 5½ and is charged by the cubic inches of the box a piece fits in: one flat charge up to 125 cubic inches. A catcher makes the box a little taller, so a piece near that limit can cost more. If a glaze reaches a shelf anyway, tell the studio team; it is far better said than found.

Questions people actually ask

The ones that come up most.

What is a glaze catcher?

A shallow unglazed dish of the same clay as the pot, wider than the foot, that the pot stands on in the kiln so a runny glaze drips into it instead of onto the shelf. A cookie is a flat one; a catcher has a rim, or a raised center, or the clay-ball trick that lifts the foot clear. Insurance for a glaze you know is going to run.

When do I need one?

Any time a glaze might move: a flux glaze, a thick overlap of two glazes, a glaze the wall marks as a runner, three coats on a vertical surface, or a glaze you have never fired before. Our flux glazes, Honey, Light, Dark and Running Hot Chowder, are runners by design and every pot under them wants a catcher.

What clay?

The same clay as the pot. A catcher in a different body moves at a different rate in the heat and can crack, and a groggy catcher under a smooth pot can leave marks. Throw or cut them from the same bag.

Do I glaze the catcher?

No. Bare bisque, or bare bisque with a release on the face: alumina hydrate mixed with a little water and brushed on, or kiln wash. Alumina is bring-your-own here and worth owning; a glaze drip on an alumina-washed catcher chips off far more easily.

What is the clay ball trick?

Three pea-sized balls of the pot’s clay, glued to a cookie with white glue in a triangle under where the foot will sit. The pot stands on the balls, clear of the cookie, so a drip runs off the foot and lands on the cookie with the foot touching only the three balls. After firing the balls snap off and the three tiny marks smooth away with a wet diamond pad. The glue burns out.

Can I stop the drip instead?

Mostly, yes. Glaze thinner in the bottom third. Wax a band half an inch above the foot so the glaze stops there. Trim the foot the way Chic Lotz shows in the video below. Keep the coats thin toward the foot on anything that runs. The catcher is for when all of that is not enough, which with a flux glaze is often.

How does this work at The Clay Hole?

Every piece already goes into our kilns on a cookie with a naked bottom, so a catcher is a cookie with a rim or with the balls glued on, and it goes on the drop-off table under the pot as one thing. It makes the box a little taller, which only costs extra for a piece near the flat firing limit; a drip ground off a shelf costs a good deal more than that. Our staff load the kilns and will thank you.

Related lessons

Six lessons that sit next to this one.

Three to read next.

A catcher sits between a runny glaze and a kiln shelf. These are the pages on either side.

GlazingRunning Hot ChowderThe glaze this page exists for, and its own drip notes. Surface and decorationUsing ResistsWaxing the foot so it stays bare. Firing and fixingFixing Fused and Sharp PotteryFor the day the catcher was not there. Advanced throwingThrowing Off the HumpThrowing small pieces one after another off one mound. GlazingGlaze CombinationsFour Facebook groups where potters share glaze combinations to test. GlazingGlaze Problems, Causes and FixesThe other glaze faults, and which ones refire.

That is the whole technique

Same clay. Wider than the foot. Something between them. Made before you need it.

Your first catcher will be too small for the pot you put on it, and the second stack will reach an inch past the foot on every side. After that they sit on your shelf costing nothing until the night you try Running Hot Chowder over a celadon, and then they are the most useful thing you own.

If you want the prevention detail, the alumina note and the answers to the questions everybody asks, switch to the comprehensive version at the top. Otherwise, go throw a stack of saucers.

Back to Clay Hole University The glaze that runs on purpose

Written for potters everywhere. Where our studio does things differently, the page says so.