Tool

Question 1

Fettling Knife

Answer 1

Is a special knife-like tool with a fairly flexible blade for cutting into moist and leather-hard clay

Question 2

Loop Tool

Answer 2

A special tool with a wooden handle and wire loop at one or both ends, used for carving and hollowing out clay forms.

Question 3

Kiln

Answer 3

A furnace designed specifically for heating clay to the temperature necessary to make it permanently hard and stone like. Kiln can be electric, natural gas, woos, coal, fuel oil or propane. Materials used to heat the kiln can affect the work: wood ash can build up on the surface of a piece and form a glaze at high temperatures. Some potters introduce chemicals into the kiln to influence the effects of the firing. Famed ceramist Beatrice Wood achieved a luster effect by throwing moth balls into the kiln.

Question 4

Cone

Answer 4

A mixture of ceramic materials that is designed to soften and bend when the proper mixture of time and temperature is reached in the interior of the kiln.

Question 5

Cone Plaque

Answer 5

Is a small clay cone used when cones are placed on the cone will bend to show the kilns temperature on the shelf.

Question 6

Pinch Pots

Answer 6

Starting with a ball of clay the potter opens a hole into the ball and forms a bowl shape through a combination of stroking and pinching the clay. Many coli-built piece are constructed on top of a a pinched bottom.

Question 7

Terra Cotta

Answer 7

A brownish-orange earthenware clay body commonly used for ceramic sculpture.

Question 8

Sponge

Answer 8

Usually refers to a natural sponge used for cleaning and decorating greenware. There are also synthetic sponges available for ceramics.

Question 9

Shelf Cone Temperature

Answer 9

The cone temperature that is fired on the shelf of a kiln. The amount of heating the ware actually receives.