The Coil Building Technique

Coil building is a method for building large vessels with or without the pottery wheel. Coils can be hand-rolled (highly recommended) or be extruded through die forms. The latter produces coils that have less structural strength than the hand-rolled ones as the compression of the rolling actually wedges the clay, giving it more plasticity.

Creating the Base:
Place lump of wedged clay in the centre of the turntable. I actually took aim and threw my lump of clay at the centre just to make sure that it sticks well. Then I placed two yardsticks on either sides and began to flatten it out with a rolling pin.

The tricky bit comes when I have to cut out the base with the needle. I had to position my elbow well and I moved the needle in over the top of the slab, concentrating at one point. Initially, it was hard as my eyes tended to follow the wheel but I soon overcame that.



Building the Foundation:

The first coil has to be super thick in order to lay a good foundation for the rest of the coils. The ones that comes next will gradually decrease in their diameters. I had to score the surface and apply slit before placing each coil. After which, the inner and outer walls are scored in a downward motion (to compress the coils) and smoothened out. When scoring the walls, provide support with your hands to help retain the form. Align your coils according to the form you wish to create.