In-studio purchase only
Pre-Made Glaze Catchers
A fired pedestal that lifts your pot up off the shelf and gives a runny glaze somewhere to land. Five sizes, sitting in the studio, ready to go under your next piece.
$10.00 to $30.00 by size, plus tax
Every catcher here was made in this building and fired in our kilns.
Members only, and we do not ship
These live in a bin in the studio and they get picked up in the studio. There is no shipping option on this product and there is no way for us to send you one. If you are not a member of The Clay Hole, this is not something you can buy from us.
If you are a member, everything below is for you.
Why bother
Three good reasons to have one on your shelf.
A catcher is not a rule you have to satisfy. It is the difference between a beautiful drippy pot and a beautiful drippy pot that is welded to something.
The glaze runs into the well, not onto your foot
Your piece sits up on the pedestal in the middle. Anything that moves during the firing runs off the foot and drops into the well around it. On a flat kiln cookie that same glaze pools right where your pot meets the cookie, and the two of them come out of the kiln as one object.
Buy it once and keep using it
Nothing about a catcher is used up. It comes back to you with your work, as long as it comes out intact and we do not spot new sharp edges on it, and then it goes under the next piece. A kiln cookie is a one-time thing. This is not.
It is a real piece of pottery
Somebody made every one of these. They are thrown or built, glazed, and fired, which means the thing holding up your pot in the kiln is itself a finished piece of pottery. They are honestly nice to look at, and members end up fond of theirs.
Using one
Five things, and then you are done.
- 1
Wipe the bottom of your piece completely bare. An eighth to a quarter of an inch clear above the foot. A quarter gives a runny glaze somewhere to go before it ever reaches the catcher.
- 2
Center your pot on the pedestal. The footprint wants to sit on the raised middle with the well clear all the way around it.
- 3
The catcher counts as your kiln cookie. You do not need a cookie underneath it as well. One or the other goes under every piece, every time, with no exceptions.
- 4
Include it in your height on the kiln ticket. The catcher takes up kiln space too, so it goes into the measurement along with the piece sitting on it.
- 5
Take it home again after the firing. We try to return every catcher with the work it carried. Then it is yours for the next one.
Flux on the outside means a catcher. No exceptions.
Any piece with Honey Flux, Light Flux, Dark Flux or Running Hot Chowder on its exterior goes into the kiln on a catcher you supply, at any height. Members are financially responsible for damage their work does to a kiln shelf, and a single shelf costs hundreds of dollars.
Being straight with you about the limit: a catcher protects the shelf and the studio, not your pot. Once glaze has run off the foot you have a hard ring of glass down there and a grinder in your future. And if a piece runs hard enough to weld itself into the well, that is both of them finished.
Pick a size
Grab it from the bin, pay for it here.
Sizes are labeled on the bins. Match the catcher to the footprint of your piece with room to spare all the way around, and remember the XXL is measured for pieces made in the XXL slab mold.
Take the catcher you paid for from the bin on your way through. Prices are per catcher and do not include tax.
Questions
The ones we get asked
Do I still need a kiln cookie under the catcher?
No. A glaze catcher counts as the cookie. Every piece needs one or the other underneath it, and the catcher satisfies that on its own.
Do I get it back after the firing?
We try to return every one. The two things that stop us are a catcher that came out broken and a catcher that picked up new sharp edges, because at that point it is not safe to hand back.
Does the catcher count in my firing measurement?
It does. Include it in the height on your kiln ticket, the same as you would a cookie. It is taking up kiln space along with your piece.
Can I just make my own instead?
Absolutely, and plenty of members do. Making your own catcher is a good use of a slow studio night. This product exists for the nights that are not slow.
What happens if my glaze fills the well and sticks?
Then that catcher is finished, and most likely your piece is stuck to it. It happens, usually when a flux went all the way down to the foot. The shelf survived, which is the entire point of the thing.
Can you ship one to me?
No. We do not ship anything on this page, to anybody, for any reason. It is an in-studio purchase for members only.
One more time
Members, in the studio. That is the whole rule.
If you found this page from a search and you are not a member, we are glad you are here, but this is not a product you can buy. What you probably want is a membership, and then a catcher becomes the least of the good stuff.