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The Clay Hole University · Glazing

Glazing on the WheelPrintable pottery guide

Putting glaze on at the wheel, on paper: the bat and the clay ring, centering with a still needle, the slowest turn the pedal will hold, three coats, bands last, and a log for what your own hands and wheel do.

$5.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Beginner
  • 24 printable pages
  • 5 video picks
  • 8-question quiz + answer key

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

What is the Glazing on the Wheel printable guide?

It is the free “Glazing on the Wheel for Even Coats and Clean Bands” lesson rebuilt for paper: the six moves on one page, what to have at the wheel, waxing or sponging the foot, centering a bisque pot on a clay ring, three coats with the second one offset, bands laid last, six things that go wrong and what to do about each, and the wipe-down that keeps a shared wheel clean. Built to be printed, kept beside the wheel and written in.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Glazing on the Wheel for Even Coats and Clean Bands” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 24printable pages, US Letter
  • 8quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 5hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 12glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For anyone who wants an even coat and a band that sits level

Let the wheel do the moving while your hand stays still.

An even coat wants a steady hand, and many of us struggle with that. A pot turning under a still brush gets the same pressure and speed all the way round, so coats come out even and bands come out level.

The guide puts the whole routine in one place: a bat on the wheel head, a ring of soft clay, a needle held still to center, the slowest turn the pedal will hold, and a brush that waits for one full revolution before it moves a width. It also says plainly what to do at a Level with no wax station.

It gives you the thing a wheel cannot: a page to write on. The glaze, the coats, how slow the pedal was, how it looked wet and how it fired. After a few pots you will know what your own hands and your own wheel do.

Look inside

Real pages, for the wheel

These are actual pages from the guide, shown here with the sample watermark.

  • Page 3 of the “Glazing on the Wheel” printable guide: before you begin, shown with the sample watermark
    Before you beginOne page before you sit down: what you will learn, what to have at the wheel, what is worth knowing, the common pitfalls, and what a good result looks like.
  • Page 6 of the “Glazing on the Wheel” printable guide: what you need at the wheel, shown with the sample watermark
    What you need at the wheelThe wheel, the bat, the clay ring, the needle tool, wax or a sponge, and a bisque cup you do not care about, each with the reason for it.
  • Page 11 of the “Glazing on the Wheel” printable guide: videos, and when it goes wrong, shown with the sample watermark
    Videos, and when it goes wrongThe last video notes, each saying only what the video shows, then the start of the fixes: every fault gets three lines, what happened, what to do next time, and what to do about the pot in front of you.
  • Page 17 of the “Glazing on the Wheel” printable guide: every pot, and how the bands came out, shown with the sample watermark
    Every pot, and how the bands came outA log to write in: the glaze and coats, the pedal and the brace, how it looked wet and how it fired.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

A routine and a log are things you keep beside you

Putting glaze on at the wheel happens with a wet brush in your hand and both eyes on the rim. Paper suits that.

  • The routine where you can see it

    The six moves, the coat routine and the fixes sit on one page you can prop up beside the wheel.

  • A reason for every habit

    A bat, a clay ring, a slow pedal, a wipe-down. Each one comes with the reason behind it, so you can tell a habit from a fuss.

  • A log for your own wheel

    Columns for the glaze and coats, the pedal and the brace, how it looked wet and how it fired. A few pots of notes beat a memory of what you did.

  • It does not mind a wet hand

    A page stays where you put it. It does not lock its screen while you are holding a brush.

How this one is built

Rebuilt for paper, not printed from a web page

Every guide in the series is set from scratch for print. Here is what that meant for this one.

  • Read against the studio’s own rules

    We checked the lesson against The Clay Hole’s glaze certification, the fact sheet and our other glazing lessons. Where the lesson was out of step, the guide now says what those pages say.

  • Dry glaze is never scraped

    The fix card now says a dry drip is rubbed level with a finger and a dry foot gets a barely damp sponge, because scraping or sanding dry glaze makes dust that should not be breathed.

  • Underglaze on raw clay only

    The guide says underglaze bands go on raw clay before the bisque firing, never on bisque and never over glaze.

  • Video notes that say only what they show

    Each video note was checked against the video’s description, chapter list and frames, so it claims no more than that evidence shows.

  • Steps you can tick

    The tick lists sit at the end of each step, and the six moves and the six fixes are numbered so you can find your place with a wet hand.

  • Codes that keep working

    Every link is a short Clay Hole address. If a page moves, we repoint the address and your printed copy still goes to the right place.

Why the University is free

The lesson is free. It always will be.

All of the teaching in this guide comes from the free “Glazing on the Wheel for Even Coats and Clean Bands” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

The whole idea fits in one sentence: the wheel moves and your hand does not. Everything else in here is a habit that lets that sentence work.

A wheel is shared. Whoever sits down after you should find a throwing wheel, not a glaze spill, so the bat, the head and the pan get wiped down wet.

Dan Pearce, founder of The Clay Hole
The series

Build a little pottery library

Every printable guide in The Clay Hole University series takes one free lesson and rebuilds it for paper, with workbook pages, a glossary and a quiz with a worked answer key. Each one keeps its number for good, so a guide you buy today is the same guide in the same place next year.

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.

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Sits next to

Three lessons that sit beside this one

Each one is free to read online, and the codes in the guide take you straight there.

Questions

Good to know

How is this different from the free lesson?
The teaching is the same, and the free lesson is not going anywhere. The guide is that teaching rebuilt for paper: a learning dashboard at the front, a log to write in, a one page summary, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
Is this only for people who work at The Clay Hole?
No. The bat, the clay ring, the still brush and the wipe-down suit any studio with a potter’s wheel. Where a rule is only ours, such as which Level has a wax station or which wheels you can use, the guide says so, so you can tell a Clay Hole rule from a fact of the craft.
Can I do this on a banding wheel instead?
Yes, the idea is the same. A banding wheel suits one small pot at chest height. The guide is written for the powered wheel, because a pedal holds one speed for as long as you like and leaves both hands free.
Do I have to be a member to use it?
You do not need to be a member to read it or to try the method at home. If you use The Clay Hole’s glaze wall, the guide points you to the certification that comes first.
Is this too early for me?
It is marked Beginner. You need a bisque fired pot, a wheel you already know how to sit at, and patience for each coat to lose its shine. The glossary fills in the rest.
What do I need besides glaze?
A bat, a ring of soft clay, a needle tool, a brush, a damp sponge and a bisque cup you do not care about. The dashboard lists it all.
Do I need a fancy printer?
No. It is set 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.
Does it print in black and white?
Yes. Nothing in it depends on color to make sense: the text, the tick boxes and the tables are black on white, and color is used for headings and small labels.
Can I print just part of it?
Yes, and most people do. The one page summary and the log are the two worth having beside the wheel. They are numbered pages like any other, so you can print those and leave the rest on a screen.
How does delivery work?
It is a digital download. The link arrives by email and on the order confirmation page right after checkout, so you can have it printed and beside the wheel the same evening.
What happens if the guide is updated?
Every edition carries its version number on the last page. When we correct or improve one, the new edition replaces the old one in the shop, and we can send the updated link to anybody who already bought it.
Can I share it?
It is licensed for your own use. Print as many copies for yourself as you like, on as many of your own devices as you like. Please do not pass the file on, upload it or use it with a class or a group without asking us first.

Hold still and let the wheel turn

Center the pot, slow the pedal, brace your elbow and wait for one full revolution. The guide keeps the whole routine in front of you at the wheel.

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We work hard to make The Clay Hole University accurate, useful, practical, and ridiculously thorough. But pottery is a hands-on craft involving countless variables that no written guide can completely control or anticipate.

Depending on what you are doing, ceramics may involve extreme heat, kilns, electricity, gas, flame, sharp tools, spinning machinery, heavy equipment, pressurized equipment, silica-containing dust, fumes, chemicals, raw materials, stains, oxides, glazes, combustible materials, hot surfaces, breakable objects, and other hazards capable of causing serious injury, illness, property damage, fire, or worse.

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Terms version 2026-09-19b