There are a few standard different ways to wedge clay: Spiral, Ram’s Head, Foot wedging, Stack/Slam are the main ones. The method you choose can be influenced both by the characteristics of the clay itself and/or the making technique you intend to use and/ your preference and capabilities.
At Slow Clay Centre we teach Spiral Wedging as a foundational technique because it goes perfectly with *throwing off the hump (a method we teach from the first beginner’s class). We use a robust but soft, plastic Midfire wheel throwing clay (thank you Bennetts, South Australia!) and we teach our students to prepare a mound (“hump”) of clay first before they “graduate” to smaller lumps! Spiral Wedging takes practice, practice, practice to get confident but, when one does it correctly, one only holds onto a small amount of the clay and the rest goes around by itself like magic! The main benefit is it doesn’t require much strength – if you learn it correctly – and it can also be done utilising body weight and motion rather than muscle power. It’s a lovely gentle way to mix large amounts of clay fairly effortlessly!
Why wedge your clay? It’s essentially a method to knead the clay with the goal to remove any air bubbles out and create consistency at the same time ie: it prepares your clay for making. If you don’t have a pugmill to mix your clay for you, it allows you to recycle waste clay into a form that can be reused. If you are lucky enough to own a pugmill you won’t need to wedge but most people don’t have the space or money for one. This video shows Slow Clay Centre owner, Jane Sawyer, explaining the method she has created to teach our students.
Tip: You can practice at home on bread dough or pizza dough but watch out ‘cos it might result in the texture of cardboard!
Note: it does not matter which hand goes on top: either is fine. But if the right hand is on top you’ll be twisting the clay to the right, left hand: twist to the left. And I’ve heard some people say “you have to wedge it one direction and spin the wheel in the same or opposite direction” (or something similarly complex and over-thought) and I say phooey to all that! In Japan half the country spins their wheel one way and half the other way and many wedge with right hand on top other’s with left – it don’t matter one lil bit! Keep it simple and do what feels more right to you!
* making multiple pieces from one mound of clay.
Hi Jane, I want to thank you for your instructional video on spiral wedging. My instructor mentioned it during a webinar last weekend. Over the years I’ve watched many, many videos and in person demonstrations but was never able to master the task. Your descriptions and explanations have made me a convert from bullnose to spiral in just one practice.
With much appreciation,
Deborah (2/10/23)