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The Clay Hole University Ā· Preparing Your Clay

Slam Wedging: The Fastest Way to Fix a Bag of ClayPrintable pottery guide

The free lesson, rebuilt for the wedging table: the eight steps, when slam wedging is the right tool and when it is a waste of effort, why the slam has to land flat, and how to read the cut face.

$5.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Beginner
  • 18 printable pages
  • 2 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 Slam Wedging: The Fastest Way to Fix a Bag of Clay?

It is the free lesson of the same name, rebuilt as a workbook. It covers what slam wedging actually does and does not do, when to reach for it, the eight steps, the honest answer on whether it removes air or adds it, and how to spare your back and your wrists. On paper it adds a slam log for your own lumps, a one-page slam card for the wedging table, a quiz with a full answer key, and a glossary.

Prefer to read it online first? ā€œSlam Wedging: The Fastest Way to Fix a Bag of Clayā€ is free to read, and always will be.

  • 18printable pages, US Letter
  • 8step method, start to finish
  • 8quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 2hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 16glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
Why a printable, for this one

Cut it, stack it, slam it flat

Most of the clay that fights people on the wheel was never properly prepared. It had a wet end and a stiff end, or it was reclaim that somebody kneaded a few times and called done.

Slam wedging is the two minutes that prevents that. It is loud, it is not elegant, and it is the single most effective thing you can do to a difficult lump of clay.

Every cut doubles the layers, so twenty cuts is over a million. Judge it by the cut face rather than by counting, and stop when the streaks have gone.

Look inside

Real pages, for the wedging table

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

  • Page 5 of the ā€œSlam Wedging: The Fastest Way to Fix a Bag of Clayā€ printable guide: when to reach for it, shown with the sample watermark
    When to reach for itReclaim always, blending two clays, a bag stiff on one side, and when your wrists hurt.
  • Page 6 of the ā€œSlam Wedging: The Fastest Way to Fix a Bag of Clayā€ printable guide: the eight steps, shown with the sample watermark
    The eight stepsOne clean pull with the wire, square stacks, a flat slam, and a short spiral or ramā€™s head to finish.
  • Page 8 of the ā€œSlam Wedging: The Fastest Way to Fix a Bag of Clayā€ printable guide: what goes wrong, shown with the sample watermark
    What goes wrongStreaks after twenty rounds, more air than you started with, a block that will not stay square.
  • Page 9 of the ā€œSlam Wedging: The Fastest Way to Fix a Bag of Clayā€ printable guide: the slam log, shown with the sample watermark
    The slam logOne row a lump: what it was, how many cuts it took, and what the cut face showed you.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Paper beats the screen here

A card for the wedging table

Slam wedging happens standing up, with clay on your hands. The card should be where the clay is.

  • The slam card

    The routine, when to reach for it, the air rules and how to protect your body, on one page.

  • A slam log

    Eight rows: what you wedged, how many cuts it took, and what the cut face showed.

  • The cut face, explained

    What streaks, holes and grit are telling you, and when to stop counting.

  • Your back and your wrists

    Table height, dropping rather than throwing, and hinging at the hips.

How the guide is built

Built for two loud minutes at the table

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.

  • Eight steps, in order

    From the first clean cut to the finishing wedge, with the reason behind each one.

  • The air question, answered honestly

    Slam wedging both removes air and adds it, and which one you get depends entirely on the slam.

  • A log you actually fill in

    Your own number of cuts, learned from your own clay.

  • The slam card

    The whole method on a single page.

  • 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€œSlam Wedging: The Fastest Way to Fix a Bag of Clayā€ lesson at The Clay Hole University. No paywall, no sign-up, no catch.

Most of the clay that fights people on the wheel was never properly prepared. Two loud minutes fixes it, and nobody should have to pay to learn that, 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 04.06, the sixth guide in Preparing Your Clay. 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

From the table to the wheel

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 slam log, a one-page slam card, a printed quiz with an answer key, and a glossary.
Is slam wedging better than spiral wedging?
Different, not better. Slam blends clay of uneven consistency far faster. Spiral aligns the clay particles, which is what makes clay throw well, so most people slam wedge to blend a lump and then spiral or ramā€™s head to finish.
Does it get the air out?
Both, depending on how you slam. A flat landing squeezes air out to the edges. An angled landing seals it in along the seam. That is why the guide keeps coming back to the slam being flat.
Will it hurt my wrists?
It is easier on your hands than spiral wedging, which is why the arthritis lesson points here. The risk is your back instead, so the guide covers table height, dropping rather than throwing, and hinging at the hips.
I am not at The Clay Hole. Is it still useful?
Yes. It is about the technique and a table at the right height. Where a fact is about our studio, the guide says so.
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 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.

Cut it, look at the face, and keep going until the streaks are gone.

Print it, keep the card by the wedging table, and log the first few lumps.

Get the printable · $5.00

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