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The Clay Hole University · Trimming, Handles and Drying

Trimming an Uneven Rim Level AgainPrintable pottery guide

The whole job, in the order you do it: the ten second look that tells you whether the rim is even the problem, the wet cut, the edge you have to close afterward, and what still works once the clay has stiffened.

$5.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Intermediate
  • 25 printable pages
  • 8 video picks
  • 6-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 Trimming an Uneven Rim Level Again printable guide?

It is the uneven rim lesson on paper: the fingernail test that tells a bad rim from an off center pot and a wall that is thicker on one side, the wet cut in nine steps with a finger inside the wall, three ways to stop the needle drifting, how to close the raw edge so it does not crack, what still works from soft leather hard to bisque, why a rim decides the trimming, seven reasons rims go out, and when a wobble is better left alone. Built to be printed and kept beside the wheel.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Trimming an Uneven Rim Level Again” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 25printable pages, US Letter
  • 6quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 8hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 19glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For the pot that looks wrong at the top

Before you cut the rim, make sure it is the rim

A wobbly top edge is easy to see and quick to fix, which is exactly why it gets fixed wrongly. The pot looks off at the rim, so the needle comes out, and half an inch of height goes with the ring. The pot still looks wrong, because the rim was never the problem.

Three different things look identical from the stool: a rim that really is uneven, a pot that has walked off center, and a wall that is thicker on one side. A slow wheel and a fingernail held just outside the rim sort them out in about ten seconds, and only one of the three is a job for a needle.

When it is the rim, the cut is a needle held still while the wheel does the work, one finger inside the wall, one pass, and a new edge closed up before it can crack. It takes about forty seconds. This guide is that whole job in order, plus what to do once the clay has stiffened and when a wobble is better left alone.

Look inside

Real pages, for a wheel with a sponge beside it

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

  • Page 3 of the “Trimming an Uneven Rim Level Again” printable guide: before you begin, shown with the sample watermark
    Before you beginSix boxes on one page: what you will learn, what to have on the bench, what is worth knowing, the common pitfalls, what success looks like and how to practice. Read it before you sit down at the wheel.
  • Page 5 of the “Trimming an Uneven Rim Level Again” printable guide: which problem you have, shown with the sample watermark
    Which problem you haveThree problems that look the same from the stool, and the fingernail test that tells them apart, with a box to tick for each answer. It is the page that decides whether the needle comes out at all.
  • Page 14 of the “Trimming an Uneven Rim Level Again” printable guide: when to cut, and when not to, shown with the sample watermark
    When to cut, and when not toThe two short lists for when a level rim is worth the height and when a wobble is better left, then the first of the things that go wrong at the needle, each with its cause.
  • Page 19 of the “Trimming an Uneven Rim Level Again” printable guide: every rim, and what it did, shown with the sample watermark
    Every rim, and what it didA log to write in: what the fingernail test said, how far under the low spot you cut, how the new edge felt and how the rim looked the next morning. The next pot starts from a note instead of a guess.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

You will be reading it with wet hands

The whole job happens at a turning wheel with clay on your fingers. Paper suits it.

  • It holds still

    There is already clay on everything. A page stays where you leave it, does not go dark, and does not need a muddy thumb to find the one line you wanted.

  • The test goes with you

    The fingernail test takes ten seconds at a slow wheel and decides whether the needle comes out at all. It is the page you want in front of you at the moment you are tempted to cut.

  • A list for the cut

    A finger inside, the needle level, one pass, catch the ring, close the edge. The short list for the wheel and the one page summary put it where your eyes already are.

  • A note for the next morning

    A rim can look level on the wheel and wobbly the next day. The log has a column for exactly that, so you can see which pots the rim was never the problem for.

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.

  • Every video, read

    We read the description and chapter list of all eight videos against the note beside each one, and looked at frames from the five whose notes say how they were filmed. The guide now says what is true of them.

  • A running time, corrected

    One note gave a running time of under a minute for a video that runs nearly three. The note for the longest video did not say it runs almost twenty minutes, or where the needle starts. Both are fixed, in the guide and on the free lesson.

  • Checked against the rest

    The method, the rasp at leather hard and the rule for dry clay were checked against other lessons, and the sentence about silica dust against NIOSH and OSHA. Nothing needed changing there.

  • Set out for the wheel

    The wet cut and the steps for closing the edge are numbered on paper, and the fingernail test prints as three tick boxes, so you can mark which answer you got.

  • A quiz that explains itself

    Six questions, and an answer key that gives the reason behind every answer. Three of the explanations were rewritten so that they say why the answer is right.

  • Codes that keep working

    Every link is a short Clay Hole address. If a video 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 “Trimming an Uneven Rim Level Again” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

Nobody’s first rim is level, and neither is the fiftieth. The wall goes up, and the top edge keeps score of every small thing your hands did on the way.

What I would like you to take from this is a little suspicion and a lot of calm. Calm, because when it really is the rim, the repair is small, it is quick, and it works.

Either way, a wobbly rim is what learning this looks like from the outside, and the only people who never see one are the ones who stopped throwing.

Dan Pearce, founder of The Clay Hole
The series

Build a little pottery library

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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 pick up where this one leaves off

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, the wet cut in numbered steps, the fingernail test with tick boxes, a rim log to write in, a one page summary, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
Do I need a wheel?
The cut is written for the wheel, with the pot turning under a needle you hold still, so it is most useful to someone who throws. The table for what still works once the clay has stiffened, and the section on when to leave a rim alone, are worth having whichever way you work.
Is this too early for me?
It is marked Intermediate. If you can throw a cylinder and yours came out with a wobbly rim, you are who it is for. The first thing it teaches is how to tell whether the rim is even the problem, which saves the height that a needle takes with it.
What if the pot has already gone leather hard?
There is a table for that, from soft leather hard through firm, bone dry and bisque. It says what still works at each stage and what to watch for, and it is honest that every option is worse than cutting while the clay is wet.
Do I always have to cut a wobbly rim level?
No. Cutting costs height every time, so the guide has a section on when a rim is better left alone: a bowl or a vase that nobody will put their mouth on, a rim you altered on purpose, a pot that is already as short as you want.
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. It is designed to stay readable in grayscale, and the pages you will actually use at the wheel, the tick lists and the one page summary, were checked that way on purpose.
Can I print just part of it?
Yes, and most people do. The short list for the wheel and the one page summary are the two worth having beside you, and the rim log is the one you write in. They are numbered pages like any other, so you can print those and leave the rest on a screen.
Can I read it on a screen instead?
Yes. It is an ordinary PDF and it reads fine on a tablet or a phone. The workbook pages are the ones that want paper, because you write on them.
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.

Look first, then cut once

A wobbly rim takes about forty seconds to fix while the clay is still wet, and a good deal longer to live with. The guide is the ten second look before you cut, the cut itself, and the edge you have to close afterward. Do those in that order and the pot keeps its height and loses the wobble. Skip the look and you may lose the height for nothing.

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