You can move this picture: drag it, press and hold then drag on a touch screen, or use the arrow keys.Printable guide 05.06

The Clay Hole University Ā· The Pottery Wheel

Opening the Clay and Setting the FloorPrintable pottery guide

Four ways in, the measurement that decides the pot, and eight seconds now instead of a crack in three weeks. Nine steps, the floor to aim for, and nine ways opening goes wrong.

$5.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Beginner
  • 30 printable pages
  • 8 video picks
  • 8-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 printable edition of Opening the Clay and Setting the Floor?

It is the free lesson of the same name, rebuilt as a workbook. It starts with where the clay actually goes when you open, and the rule in one sentence: a floor about as thick as the bottom of your wall, plus another quarter inch if you will trim a foot ring into it. Then the nine steps of the move, four ways to open, how to measure a floor in four seconds, why compression heads off an S crack, how wide to open for a mug, a bowl, a plate or a vase, and nine ways it goes wrong. On paper it adds an opening log, a one-page card for beside the wheel, a quiz with a full answer key, and a glossary.

Prefer to read it online first? ā€œOpening the Clay and Setting the Floorā€ is free to read, and always will be.

  • 30printable pages, US Letter
  • 8quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 8hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 16glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
Why a printable, for this one

Four seconds decide the pot

Centering gets all the attention. Opening is where the pot actually gets decided: how deep it is, how wide it is, how much clay is left underneath, and whether it cracks in the drying rack three weeks from now.

It happens in seconds and mostly out of sight, and nobody can see a floor. You can feel one and you can measure one. Looking into a wet pot tells you nothing, because the water sitting in the bottom makes every depth look the same.

So this guide gives you the number to aim for, a needle tool trick to check it, and a log for the drill that teaches your hand the distance: open five lumps, throw none.

Look inside

Real pages, for beside the wheel

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

  • Page 6 of the ā€œOpening the Clay and Setting the Floorā€ printable guide: the move, step by step, shown with the sample watermark
    The move, step by stepThe first four of nine steps: slow the wheel, wet and brace your hands, find the still dot, and press straight down without chasing it.
  • Page 10 of the ā€œOpening the Clay and Setting the Floorā€ printable guide: the floor to aim for, shown with the sample watermark
    The floor to aim forThe measurement that decides the pot: the floor for a flat bottom, a trimmed foot ring, a mug, a plate and a small dish, and why.
  • Page 21 of the ā€œOpening the Clay and Setting the Floorā€ printable guide: the opening log, shown with the sample watermark
    The opening logOpen five, throw none. One row a lump: the shape, the floor you aimed for, what the needle read, and what went wrong.
  • Page 26 of the ā€œOpening the Clay and Setting the Floorā€ printable guide: the quiz, shown with the sample watermark
    The quizThe first five of eight questions, from how thick the floor should be to why you stop earlier than feels right. The full guide explains every answer.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Paper beats the screen here

A number to aim for, and a place to write it

The lessonā€™s short version was written to be photographed or copied onto a card. The printable does that part for you.

  • The opening card

    The nine steps, the four-second check, the floor to aim for, compression, and the fixes you will need first, on one page.

  • An opening log

    The lessonā€™s first drill, open five and throw none, with a row for the floor you aimed for and the floor the needle read.

  • The eleven-line list

    Everything in the guide, short enough to prop against the splash pan. If you remember three: stop early, measure, and compress.

  • Nine ways it goes wrong

    What happened, what to do right now, and what to do next time, from an off center hole to a crack weeks later.

How the guide is built

Built around a measurement you can actually take

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 traps, and what success looks like.

  • Where the clay goes

    Opening moves a fixed amount of clay out of the middle into a ring, and the rule for the floor fits in one sentence.

  • Nine steps, four ways in

    The sequence underneath every method, then both thumbs, one thumb braced, two fingers braced, and the heel or the fist.

  • Depth, compression and width

    Measuring a floor with a needle tool, eight seconds of compression against an S crack as the pot dries, and how wide to open for the shape you want.

  • Eight videos worth your time

    From potters including Florian Gadsby, plus one working potter who argues with the careful version, each with a code that goes straight to it.

  • Codes that keep working

    Every QR code points at a short Clay Hole address, so a printed copy keeps working when a video moves.

Why the University is free

The lesson is free. It always will be.

All of the teaching in this guide comes from the free ā€œOpening the Clay and Setting the Floorā€ lesson at The Clay Hole University. No paywall, no sign-up, no catch.

Nobody can fix a floor from above. The number that saves it fits in one sentence, and nobody should have to pay for that sentence, 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 05.06, the sixth guide in The Pottery Wheel. 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

The rest of the same pot

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 an opening log, a one-page opening card, a printed quiz with an answer key, and a glossary, all laid out to print cleanly.
How thick should the floor be?
About as thick as the bottom of your wall, plus another quarter inch if you will trim a foot ring into it. For most mugs that lands near seven sixteenths of an inch, and plates want about a half to five eighths. The guide has the full table, all wet numbers measured on the wheel.
What is an S crack, and can I fix one?
A lazy S shaped crack across the middle of a floor. It forms while the pot dries, and often is not spotted until the pot comes out of the bisque firing. A fired one cannot be repaired into anything you would want to drink out of, so the guide is about prevention: compress after you open and again after you widen, and slow the drying down.
Which of the four ways to open is right?
All four. Both thumbs, one thumb braced, two fingers braced, and the heel or the fist each suit a different lump and a different pair of hands. Try all four across one evening and keep the one that feels built for you.
I keep going through the bottom. Will this help?
It is the problem this guide is built around. Stop earlier than feels right, sponge the water out, and measure with a needle tool. A scrap of tape a quarter inch up the needle means the tool tells you the answer instead of your judgment.
I throw clockwise. Does it still work?
Yes. Everything in the guide applies with left and right swapped. Your bracing hand generally sits on the side the clay is arriving from.
I am not at The Clay Hole. Is it still useful?
Yes. It is about clay, a wheel and a needle tool. The one line about our own studio is dated, and nothing in the method depends on it.
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 every QR code is checked to still scan from a soft grayscale home print.
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 donā€™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.

Stop early. Measure. Compress.

Print it, keep the card by the wheel, and open five lumps before you throw a single pot.

Get the printable · $5.00

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