You can move this picture: drag it, press and hold then drag on a touch screen, or use the arrow keys.Printable guide 04.02

The Clay Hole University · Preparing Your Clay

Spiral Wedging, Step by StepPrintable pottery guide

Harder to learn and better for bigger lumps. One hand presses, one hand steers, the press works the whole lump instead of the front half, and the ridge tells you whether it is working.

$5.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Intermediate
  • 20 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 Spiral Wedging, Step by Step?

It is the free lesson of the same name, rebuilt as a workbook. It starts with why spiral is worth about a month of looking foolish, then sets the table up, because spiral is fussier about conditions than the other methods. Then what each hand is doing, the six steps, a count to press along to, the six ways it goes sideways, and how to read the lump from the outside before you cut it open. On paper it adds four practice sessions, a spiral log, a one-page card, a quiz with a full answer key, and a glossary.

Prefer to read it online first? “Spiral Wedging, Step by Step” is free to read, and always will be.

  • 20printable pages, US Letter
  • 6step 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

Small turns, one hand pressing, no folding

This is the one that looks like magic on the internet and like a car accident on your table for the first month. Give it a few weeks and a decent pile of ruined lumps before you decide whether it is for you.

A spiral press works the whole lump instead of the front half, so ten pounds is genuinely manageable rather than a twenty minute wrestling match.

The thing standing between you and it is almost never strength or talent. It is four weeks.

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 4 of the “Spiral Wedging, Step by Step” printable guide: four reasons to spend a month looking foolish, shown with the sample watermark
    Four reasons to spend a month looking foolishMore clay per push, fewer pockets, better blending, and a cone at the end.
  • Page 5 of the “Spiral Wedging, Step by Step” printable guide: set the table up in your favor, shown with the sample watermark
    Set the table up in your favorWhy spiral is fussier about the surface, the room and the size of the lump.
  • Page 8 of the “Spiral Wedging, Step by Step” printable guide: six ways it goes sideways, shown with the sample watermark
    Six ways it goes sidewaysThe mushroom, both hands doing the same thing, turns too big, folding, and quitting at week two.
  • Page 12 of the “Spiral Wedging, Step by Step” printable guide: the spiral log, shown with the sample watermark
    The spiral logOne row a lump: the presses, what the outside showed, and what the cut face said.
Flip through the free sampleNine pages, free, no email required.
Paper beats the screen here

A card by the table, not a phone

Both hands are busy and covered in clay. A card propped against the table wins.

  • The spiral card

    The setup, the six steps, the count, the six ways it goes sideways and how to read the lump.

  • Four practice sessions

    Two hands that disagree on purpose, then the turn, then one unbroken run.

  • A spiral log

    Your own press count, and whether the ridge showed up.

  • A note for left-handers

    The whole guide, mirrored, in one paragraph.

How the guide is built

Built for four weeks of practice

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.

  • The setup first

    Clear space on all sides, a surface that grips, and the right amount of clay.

  • Two hands, two jobs

    The pressing hand and the steering hand, named and separated.

  • Six steps and a count

    The motion, then a tempo to press along to, with the lesson’s own counts.

  • Reading the lump

    The ridge on the outside, then the cut face, so you know before you throw.

  • 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 “Spiral Wedging, Step by Step” lesson at The Clay Hole University. No paywall, no sign-up, no catch.

Spiral looks like magic on the internet and like a car accident on your table for the first month. The thing standing between you and it is four weeks, not talent, and that is worth saying for 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 04.02, the second 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 bigger pots

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 four practice sessions, a spiral log, a one-page card, a printed quiz with an answer key, and a glossary.
Should I learn ram’s head first?
Yes, and keep it going while you learn this one. Ram’s head is one idea for both hands; spiral asks each hand to do something different, which is what takes a month.
I am left-handed. Does it still work?
Yes. Mirror it: left hand presses, right hand turns the lump the other way. Nothing else changes, and the guide says so where it matters.
Is spiral better than slam wedging for reclaim?
No. Slam wedging blends uneven clay far faster. Spiral is what you finish with, because it aligns the particles and ends with a cone that goes straight onto a wheel head.
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.

Small turns, one hand pressing, no folding.

Print it, keep the card by the table, and give it four weeks.

Get the printable · $5.00

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