You can move this picture: drag it, press and hold then drag on a touch screen, or use the arrow keys.Printable guide 06.14

The Clay Hole University · Advanced Throwing

Folding Rims OverPrintable pottery guide

The weakest ring on the pot, made the strongest, with clay that was already sitting there doing nothing.

$5.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Intermediate
  • 29 printable pages
  • 6 video picks
  • 6-question quiz + answer key

Flip through the free sample
  • Instant download
  • Prints on any home printer
  • The full lesson stays free online
The printable, at a glance

What is the Folding Rims Over printable guide?

It is a printable workbook edition of The Clay Hole University’s free “Folding Rims Over” lesson. It covers why a fold beats a thick rim, the four things a fold actually buys you, five ways to get a fat rim, the move itself in ten steps, and the quiet mistake that takes a chip off the rim in the glaze firing three weeks later. On paper it adds a row for every fold, a diagnosis section, a one page card, a quiz with a full answer key, and a glossary.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Folding Rims Over” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 29printable pages, US Letter
  • 6quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 6hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 16glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
Why a printable, for this one

It takes ninety seconds and about six pots to learn

The top of a pot is a ring, and a ring does not fail by snapping. It fails by going oval, somewhere between the wheel and the shelf, and you never catch it happening.

Folding the rim doubles the weakest ring on the pot at exactly the place where it matters, using clay that was already up there doing nothing. There is nothing difficult in it. The move takes about ninety seconds once you know it, and about six pots to know it.

The one thing worth being fussy about is the seam. Press that edge into the wall until the two faces join, rather than parking it against the wall and calling it done. A fold left round is a fold with a gap in the middle of it, and that gap is the chip that appears in the glaze firing.

Look inside

Real pages, for a move you make in ninety seconds

These are actual pages from the guide, shown here with the sample watermark. The full guide has none.

  • Page 7 of the “Folding Rims Over” printable guide: fold it, or leave it alone, shown with the sample watermark
    Fold it, or leave it aloneA table that really encodes one question. Ask that question and you will almost never need the table.
  • Page 21 of the “Folding Rims Over” printable guide: the wheel-side list, shown with the sample watermark
    The wheel-side listThe short version to keep propped against a splash pan while your hands are covered.
  • Page 19 of the “Folding Rims Over” printable guide: nine ways it goes wrong, shown with the sample watermark
    Nine ways it goes wrongEach one with what really caused it, and a box to tick for the ones that keep happening to you.
  • Page 20 of the “Folding Rims Over” printable guide: the fold log, shown with the sample watermark
    The fold logOne row per pot: the form, whether you folded, how the seam looked, and what came out of the kiln.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Paper beats the screen here

Why this move, of all of them, belongs on paper

A fold is decided in one question and made in ninety seconds, and the mistake that matters does not show up for three weeks. Paper covers both ends.

  • It answers the question before you throw

    Will this rim ever take a load? Ask it at the wedging table and the decision is made before your hands are wet.

  • It stays open for a ninety second move

    Ten steps, propped against the splash pan, for the six pots it takes before your hands stop needing them.

  • It connects the seam to the chip

    The fault happens at the wheel and appears in the glaze firing three weeks later. The log is the only thing that still remembers what the seam looked like.

  • One card lives by the wheel for good

    The decision, the five ways to a fat rim and the ten steps on a single page you can pull out of the binder.

How the guide is built

Built for a habit that takes about six pots

Every guide in the series is designed as a workbook first and a document second. For this one, that means:

  • A learning dashboard before page one

    What you will learn, what you need, the mistakes that get made first, and what a properly welded seam feels like under a finger.

  • The complete lesson, redesigned for paper

    Why a fold beats a thick rim, the four things it buys you, five ways to get a fat rim, and the move itself in ten steps.

  • The decision, as a table you will stop needing

    Six rows, from mugs to planters, each with fold or do not fold and the reason. The reason is the part worth learning.

  • Big bowls and big planters

    Everything above still applies, and five things change, all of them about a big pot being softer and heavier than it looks.

  • Videos you can reach from a printed page

    Six videos chosen for what they show rather than who made them, each with a note on why it is worth your time and a code that goes straight to it.

  • Plain words for the jargon

    A sixteen term glossary, from the step and the seam to the shadow line, written the way we would explain it at the wheel.

Why the University is free

The lesson is free. It always will be.

All of the teaching in this guide comes from the free “Folding Rims Over” lesson at The Clay Hole University. No paywall, no sign-up, no catch.

A folded rim is the cheapest upgrade in throwing. Ninety seconds, no extra clay, and the pot feels twice as considered in the hand. Nobody should have to pay to learn a ninety second move, so the lesson stays free.

The University is free and stays free. The guides are the version rebuilt for paper with an unreasonable amount of care, and buying one keeps the free side going.

Thank you. Genuinely.

Dan Pearce, founder of The Clay Hole
Collect them

Build a little pottery library

Every guide carries a permanent number. This one is 06.14, the fourteenth guide in Advanced Throwing. The series is designed to live together in a binder, section by section, so the craft ends up on your shelf in the order you learn it.

Put any five printable guides in your cart and the cheapest one is on us. Put in nine and the two cheapest are on us. It happens automatically at checkout, no code to remember.

See every printable guide

  • 5guides in your cart1 on us
  • 9guides in your cart2 on us
Where this leads

What to learn once the seam disappears

These lessons pick up where this one leaves off. Each one is free to read now.

Good questions

Before you buy

Is this different from the free lesson?
The teaching is the same, and the free lesson is complete. The printable adds a row for every fold, a diagnosis section with boxes to tick, a one page card for beside the wheel, a printed quiz with an answer key, and a glossary.
Should I fold every rim?
No, and the guide has a table that says which forms want it and which do not. A mug does not. A serving bowl almost always does. The question underneath is whether the rim will ever take a load.
Why did my folded rim chip in the glaze firing?
Almost always a seam that was parked against the wall rather than welded to it, leaving a sealed gap inside the band. The guide gives the fix, which is step eight, and a hole you can put in if you are ever unsure.
Does it use more clay?
No. That is rather the point. The fold uses clay that was already in the top of the wall doing nothing structural.
How much taller should I throw?
About an inch and a half of extra height, because the fold takes it back. The guide gives the number and the five ways to get a fat enough rim to fold in the first place.
Is this too advanced for me?
No. If you can pull an even wall and compress a rim, you can fold one. It is one of the few genuinely quick upgrades in throwing.
I am not at The Clay Hole. Is it still useful?
Yes. It is a move and a decision, wherever you throw. Anything specific to our studio is marked as ours, and the studio numbers carry the date they were true.
Do I need a fancy printer?
No. It is designed for an ordinary home or office printer on regular US Letter paper, with nothing important near the edges, so normal printer margins cut nothing off.
Can I print it in black and white?
Yes. Nothing depends on color, and we looked at the workbook pages in grayscale to be sure.
Can I use it on an iPad or laptop instead?
Yes. Every QR code in the guide is also a tappable link, so on a screen you just tap instead of scanning.
How do I get it after I buy?
Right after checkout you get a download link by email and on your order confirmation page. Each link works up to seven times.
What if the guide gets updated?
Every edition carries a version number. When we correct or improve a guide, everyone who bought it gets an email with the new edition at no charge.
Can I share it with my class or studio?
Please don’t. It is licensed for your own personal use. Anyone can read the full lesson free online, and the printable is here if they want their own copy.

Throw a wide cylinder you have no plans for

Print it tonight. Cut the rim level, fold it, and press the seam until the two faces actually join. The clay goes back in the reclaim either way.

Get the printable · $5.00

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