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My old way of shaping a foot on a goblet versus the method I picked up at a workshop in Seattle | Glassblowers - Vivisector

patricia_carter•6mo ago

My old way of shaping a foot on a goblet versus the method I picked up at a workshop in Seattle

For years, I shaped the foot on my goblets by just gathering a small bit of glass and pulling it out with tweezers. It worked, but the feet were often a bit uneven and I'd have to spend extra time grinding them flat. Then, about six months ago, I took a weekend workshop with a glassblower in Seattle. She showed us a method where you use a graphite paddle to press and flatten the gather against the marver first, before you even start to pull. It creates a much wider, more stable base to work from. The first few tries were messy, but after practicing for a week, my feet became consistently level and the whole piece felt more balanced. It changed my workflow, adding one step but saving time on the back end. I'm curious, does anyone else have a specific shaping step they completely changed after learning a new technique?

4 comments

4 Comments

miasanchez6mo ago

That graphite paddle trick sounds like a game changer. My old pottery teacher would have loved it, because my first attempts at pulling clay feet were always so wobbly they looked like the mug had a hangover. I switched to using a rib tool to shape them from the bottom up, which was less dramatic but way less likely to tip over.

alice9284mo ago

Tried the rib method too after my first few foot pullings ended up lopsided and sad. @miasanchez, that wobbly hangover look is exactly what I was dealing with. What finally clicked for me was letting the clay firm up a bit more before even attempting the foot. Green hard leather hard, not soft. Makes a huge difference. Also started trimming the foot from the bottom while the mug was upside down on a bat. That gave me way more control than trying to shape it from the side.

harperp246mo ago

Honestly, it's just a mug foot. The rib tool method works fine and doesn't need some fancy new trick. People get way too into minor pottery gear.

oliviatorres6mo ago

My ceramics teacher in Austin made us use a rib to shape the foot from day one, and it saved me so much frustration.