Sponges
Sponges are a disposable resource. Over time they start to wear down and desintegrate, especially when you work with really groggy clay. There are some really great companies out there selling high quality, and expensive, sponges. I started off with these, where I was able to get a 12 pack for less than $10.
2. Flexible Ribs
Ribs come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and rigidity. When I first started, all I had was the rigid ribs which came in my starter pack. Don’t get me wrong, those ribs are fine, but I soon found that I preferred to have something flexible to help me shape my work. These are soft silicone and come in a variety of shapes. This set comes with 21 pieces in total for less than $20.
3. Brushes
There are a variety of brushes in different shapes and sizes, and I fell into the trap of thinking that I needed to get expensive ones. There are two kinds of brushes I generally use, and this first set is what I use when I need to apply kiln wash to my kiln shelves, I’m brushing slip onto a piece, or I am brushing glaze through a sieve or something. I also tried using them for glaze, but in my experience, there were better options.
4. Fan Brushes
I went through a number of different kinds of brushes to apply glaze. Folks recommended the ones above, but I fell in love when someone recommended I use a fan brush. You could say I became a … fan? They tend to hold glaze well and brush easily over bisqueware. I use a very soft bristle nylon set for applying glazes, and a stiffer boar bristle set for applying slip when I am trying to attach pieces together.
5. Banding Wheel
At some point you’re going to be trying to glaze your work. You’ll be trying to move the piece around as you glaze around the base or the rim and you’ll find that your fingers are going to mess up your glaze application. This is where a banding wheel comes in handy, but they can be expensive when you buy the brand name ones from the clay companies. This one is an aluminum cake decorating wheel. Don’t make the mistake I made buying a plastic one, they won’t spin freely. This one cost me about $30.
6. Storage
These are marketed as kitchen or bathroom storage, but I hang them off the outside of my catch basin on my pottery wheel or on the shelf above my workspace. I use them to store my carving tools, brushes, and cut off wire while I’m working. They keep my tools off the workspace and out of the way until I need them. They aren’t necessarily a pottery tool, but they have been handy none the less.
7. Sharpie Metallic Marker - Gold or Bronze Only
Believe it or not, you can use sharpie metallic markers as a glaze resist. The best ones are the Bronze or Gold, do NOT get the silver ones, they don’t work well. I don’t know why it works, but it does. For whatever reason, the glaze will flow off the marked area so you can use these to write directly on bisqueware.
8. Fettling Knife
You really can use just about any sort of knife to cut clay, but fettling knives are very thin blades. Think of it kind of like a fillet knife for pottery. These ones worked well for me and cost me less than $13.
9. Pyrometric Cones
I cannot stress this enough, you should be firing your work with witness cones. The only way to know for certain that your work is properly fired is by using pyrometric cones. Maybe you don’t fire your work at home, but some studios do not use them when they fire, which blows my mind. A number of glaze issues can be diagnosed by proper cone use. You’ll be able to tell if your work is Underfired, Overfired, or right on target. Elements can wear out, pyrometers can fluctuate as they get older, and a whole host of other things can happen during a firing, not just Glaze Firing, but also Bisque Firing. You’ll need a guide cone, target cone, and a guard cone. This equates to 1 cone lower, one exact cone, and one cone hirer than you are firing. I’m including cone 04 and cone 6 because these are the two I use most often. Each set is going to run you about $20, but they are worth their weight in gold.
10. Tool Set
My original set is no longer available online, but a set like this will have all the tools you will need and then some. Probably the most common used tools out of this set are going to be your cut off wire, your scratching tool, your pin tool, the pair tool, and the metal rib. The rest are going be situational, but this set is less than $10. As soon as you can afford it, go out and get yourself a higher quality pear tool you can use for trimming that won’t dull so quickly.