I love to trim my pots! It’s such a satisfying part of the process. However, it can leave a big mess to clean up!
I’ve seen lots of ideas for catching trimmings, but they all just keep it from flying away. I’ve tried cardboard walls in the drip tray, etc. They may help in the flying clay trimmings department, but they don’t give you a good method of containing the trimmings.
I have a great solution for you!
Christmas wreath storage containers work perfectly!!! This is a good time of the year to find them-even in thrift stores!
You must cut out the middle portions on each side of the wreath storage container. Many (These for example) have a ring indentation, that is easy to follow and cut. Get a couple of friends to help you with this as it can be a bit unwieldy to hold and cut.
To make cutting easier, I use a heat gun to soften the plastic, as it is quite hard, and then you can easily cut it with a serrated bread knife or other knife of your choosing. I tried using my electric cardboard cutter. It worked great, but has trouble with curves! I had to readjust its direction of cutting to make it work.
That’s it and you are good to go!
Place the wreath storage container over the wheel with the splash pans removed.
Place the Giffin Grip back onto the wheel and you can begin trimming. The wreath container actually provides a good support for your arms/wrist as you trim.
As you trim, all the pieces of clay come off and fall into the storage container. No flying pieces of clay all over the floor, wheel and studio!
When you have finished trimming, take the storage container off of the wheel. All the clay trimming bits will be inside the container.
Carefully, move the container and clay bits to your recycling bin and dump them out.
Mess averted!!
Hope this helps you! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’m here to help!
Happy potting!
Marian
