For those of us who are beginning the journey into pottery, you need the right supplies. Did you know that these supplies are easy to find though? You can buy these off Amazon if you want them, and they’re simple, yet effective and get the job done. This post will discuss the pottery tools and supplies that you need, and where to get them, along with further information on how these tools can help you become better at pottery, and some important elements for you to try out.
Pottery Wheel
If you’re going to be throwing pottery, simply put you need a wheel. We already talked about some of the best clay that’s out there, but what good is clay if you don’t have the means to throw it? Well, that’s where the wheel comes in.
You use the wheel to shape many different items, including the following:
- Bowls
- Cups
- Vases
- Round Objects that are decorative
If you’re going to get a pottery wheel for anything around, you should consider splurging if you know you’re serious about it. My personal favorite is the US Art Supply Table Top Pottery Wheel with an LCD wheel speed display. If you’re willing to pay 500 for this, you’ll be getting a really good item for a killer price.
Some of my favorite features of this include the following:
- It comes with a foot pedal, a bat that’s 11 inches
- It has a reversible speed direction
- You can use this at any skill level, whether you’re a beginner or a professional
- It’s really strong for a powerful unit
- Can be used for both righties and lefties
- It has an adjustable LCD that allows you to control it with a knob
- It is a super heavy-duty, but it’s also portable
- Comes with a ¾ horsepower motor
- Can hold up to 25 pounds of clay
This is a great one if you’re going to be doing lots of pottery, but again, the price is a bit steep. However, if you’re serious about pottery, and you want to benefit from this, you’ll be able to use it quite easily.
If you’re going to be using firmer clay, be careful, since it’s really good for softer clay. You can rotate it in different ways, and you need to hold your foot onto the pedal itself for the best results. It’s a good wheel for the type of work you’ll be doing, and you can get it here.
The second wheel that you can check out, is the Speedball Portable Artista Table Top Pottery Wheel. This one also comes with a wheel head of about 11 inches, and it has 25 pounds of clay centering capacity. This is another good portable one, mostly because it can be used for many different types of pottery items on the wheel.
Some of the highlights of this include the following:
- Can be used for both stand-up or sit-down
- It has a splash pan that has two parts to it
- It is made with high-impact plastic and steel construction
- Allows for 25 pounds of clay holding
- The materials used are industrial quality, allowing for dependability that you can count on
- It is good to put in spaces where there is limited placement, or if you need good storage
Click Here to Read Owner Reviews on Amazon.
If storage concerns are something you need to worry about, then this is the one for you. You can even keep this outside with a plastic covering if you need this. It’s got both a dial and some foot pedal speed, and you can change this. It does take a bit of practice to use, but if you try this, you’ll be able to get a good speed on this machine.
This is another great pottery wheel, and you can check it out here.
Pottery Kiln
The next item that you will need is a pottery kiln. This is how you bake your pottery, and if you’ve ever considered making items to fire, you should consider buying one of these.
Now, you can go to a studio and fire your pieces there, but there are a lot of good elements and benefits that come with firing your pottery at home, and they include the following:
- You can fire it once it’s leather-hard
- Allows you to work with different types of items
- Some of these kilns are small, but definitely, are very strong
- Lots of times, you can control the temperature as well
There are lots of benefits to having a kiln, and lots of times, you just need to make sure you know how to use it. One of the best kilns that you can get is the Rapidfire Pro Electric Kiln with Digital controller. This one is good for not just ceramics, but if you’re interested in jewelry, you can use this. It’s a super nice kiln, and for less than 500 dollars, you can have this right at your disposal.
Some of the key and notable features of this are the following:
- It only weighs about 12 pounds, and it comes with a carrying handle
- You can rapidly heat this if you want, but you can also slowly heat it up
- It heats up to 2200 degrees, which means that you can fire most stoneware and earthenware products, not ideal for porcelain
- It has a large firing chamber
- Has a front-loading door to make it easy
- It has a digital temperature controller, which means you can slowly heat this up
- It’s ideal if you’re thinking about getting into using a kiln to fire your products
- Super easy to use, and many enjoy it.
Click Here to Read Owner Reviews on Amazon.
It does work in the exact way that you want it to, and since it’s got a stainless steel finish on it, it protects it more. It’s also good, because it has a thick facing on it, meaning that it can handle a lot. You may notice smoking that happens. It’s the insulation, but it’s not too bad. It’s a portable furnace that works great to help heat and fire the projects.
There is another kiln that, if you’re willing to pay about double the price for more room, and better heat distribution, then this is the one for you. It’s called the Delphi Ez Pro 15-6 kiln and it’s a great one if you do feel like spending more. Some like to spend more on their kilns because it means that they’ll get more out of it, but here are some notable features of this:
- It comes with 16 pre-set programs
- Has 22 different custom programs
- Allows for the top and side-firing parts to give heat distribution that’s even
- Has a fast heat-up, and a longer life than most kilns
- Does have shut-down relays and safety lights in case there is an accident
- Has a 2-position lid prop for venting
- Has a huge firing chamber to get multiple projects done
- Comes with a kiln stand, the posts, the shelf, and the shelf wash, so lots that you can do with this
It’s a good kiln, and everyone has said that it’s a good kiln if you’re looking to have a more professional piece for firing your products.
Tool Kits
If you’re getting into pottery, and you personally feel like you’re not sure about what to get, the best thing to do, is to get a toolkit. Now, these are usually very basic, but if you’re a beginner potter, these are ultimately the way to go, so you’re going to get a whole lot of different things all in one location. Some of the benefits of these include the following:
- You get a lot of different tools, usually the essential ones
- Can be used to craft, cut, decorate, and sculpt
- Despite usually being a cheap price, they’re usually high-quality tools made with stainless steel and hardwood
- Allows you to make many different items with these
You can get a lot of different tools in these, including many helpful ones. Some of the tools that you get include the following:
- Tools to carve
- Ribbon tools to help with creating shapes
- Wire cut-offs to help with lumps
- Wire tools to help you get clay off the wheel
- Knives to cut shapes
And so much more. A really good one is the 8 pcs Pottery Tool Set kit listed here. This comes with eight basic tools, used to cut the pieces, shape them, and smooth them. The best part is that these tools are only 6 bucks in total so if you’re a beginner, you’ll get them for a relatively cheap price, and they work great.
Click Here to Read Owner Reviews on Amazon.
Now, if you want something with a little bit more to it, the US Art Supply 26-Piece Pottery & Clay sculpting toolset is the way to go. The cool thing about this is that you’re able to get so much with this, and it comes with a wide variety of items that can be used with sculpting. You get tools for many different items, and you can use them for air-drying clay, polymer clay, and even regular ceramic clay.
Some of the great items in this include the following:
- A Potter’s Rib
- Modeling tools
- Metal Scraper
- Wirecutter
- Scrapers
- Ribbon and Need Tools
- Loop Tool
- Sponge
- A cleanup and retouching tool
- Modeling tools
- Needle/Lace Tools
The good thing about this is that it all comes in a great little carrying case, so you’re getting everything. Plus, it’s super easy to use, so if you want a basic kit, this is the way to go. Plus, it’s less than 20 bucks, so it’s not like you’re really going wrong with anything related to this.
Clay Sculpting tools
If you just want to have clay sculpting tools right at your disposal, then this is the way to go. If you want to learn how to make details, then clay sculpting tools are really the best thing to have. You can do many different things with this, including the following:
- Create indentations and details
- Allows for blending
- Can help with painting and adding details
- Is good if you’re painting pottery
- Good for making different details to help clean up a piece
The best kind is the Ejubas sculpting tools, which you can get here. This is a great set of tools, and they include a whole bunch of DIY indentation tools and other amazing features. You can find out more of the details on this below:
- Very versatile series of different tools
- Has different and flexible tips to help you with more projects
- Allows you to paint both large and small size of details
- Can shape your clay in an effective manner
- Very versatile for all sorts of different projects
- Super easy to clean
- Has a very fluid means to spread the detail work on the piece
Click Here to Read Owner Reviews on Amazon.
If you’ve been considering getting some sculpting tools, then this is the way to go. If you feel like you need to improve your pottery skills, then definitely consider getting one of these. They’re useful, and they do help with details.
Glazing Ball
A tool that’s often a bit underrated when it comes to managing your pottery supplies is glazing balls. This sounds like it wouldn’t be useful, but if you ever wanted to take your pottery to the next level, this is a great thing to have.
The benefits of a glazing bar are the following:
- Allows a very precise means to glaze something
- Can be used to precisely decorate or add details
- It is very easy to help clean up if you mess up
- It’s great for slip trailing, painting, or other decorative uses
- It is good if you want to write something on a piece
- It has a very easy applicator to dispense it, and it works well if you’re going to glaze the item
Click Here to Read Owner Reviews on Amazon.
This is a very underrated type of pottery piece, and it’s one of the supplies that you should consider, especially if you’re going to be glazing a lot.
You can get a pretty cheap and really good one, only a few bucks, here. It does wonders, and it can change your ability to make items.
Rubber Rollers
If you want to decorate various pottery items, and you feel like you want to make it easier on yourself, then rubber rollers are the way to go. They’re a great way to throw designs down on a piece of pottery, and it’s something that many times, can help you, and it’s a very useful piece for pottery making. It is awesome because they usually come with intricate designs that can be used on bisqueware.
The ones from Amaco are really good, and all the customers have said that they are good if you want to showcase the patterns. Some of the benefits these have included the following:
- They create continuous images in clay
- They’re durable, but also super easy to use
- They can be used on patterns, along with bisqueware
- The design will stay even when you fire it
- It’s super easy to change out the heads
- Comes with some cool designs
- They are super easy to use, and they can be used on different pieces of art, including tiles, vessels, and other pieces of art
If you want to take your art to the next level, then this is the way to go. You’ll be able to utilize these easily, and since they’re decently priced, they’re great if you’re someone who doesn’t like to continuously apply images again and again.
Click Here to Read Owner Reviews on Amazon.
Adhesives
Finally, we have adhesives. Adhesives are super important, especially if you’re the type that tends to mess up on pottery, or maybe you have children around that drop the pieces easily. The best kind is E6000, but the biggest thing to remember is that this is very toxic, so don’t use this in a location that has poor ventilation.
When it comes to choosing a good pottery supply adhesive, the best one I’ve found is amazing here. It comes with different elements including the following:
- The glue itself, which is a decent amount
- Snipping tools and an applicator for it
- Dotting tools to use on this
- Dotting tips to help you make the right dot
With E6000, you’re getting a glue that’s versatile for lots of projects. Ideally, you should use this for pottery making, but it’s got a pretty fast cure time, and you can typically get a lot out of this. This is also good if you want to add some extra little elements to your pottery. Some people like to add different decorations, and these all work with E6000 including the following:
- Wood
- Metal
- Glass
- Beads
- Other decorative items
The glue is made to last, so it’s not like you’re getting something poor in terms of quality out of this. It’s also waterproof, so if you use this on something that needs to be washed, you can get a lot of great benefits from this as well. It also works if you’re drying it since it’s made to last and such.
The dotting tools are perfect for fixing up your pottery. The dotting tools make it so that you can easily dot the area, which is an integral part of actually taking care of your pottery, and putting it back together. With the dotting tools, you can directly place it onto the pottery, and then evenly apply it so that you’re able to get a good result from this. The dotting tips are also good, and it’s nice to have since you can get it into very tight spots and the light.
With E6000, when you put it on, it will last. It’s good for multiple projects, but in my opinion, it’s the best one for fixing pottery that is broken. That’s because, it usually can last, and it works with any sort of working condition that you may have.
You can get a full kit of this for less than 20 bucks from the link above, but if you’re looking to truly master pottery, sometimes you gotta be ready to have the spills and other such elements ready for you to take care of. It’s best to make sure that you’re able to do this, and if you do have a spill, crack, or whatever, it’s imperative to have this around, since it can fix the issues relatively easily, no matter what it may be.
For many people, pottery supplies are vast. I do suggest getting at least the first few items mentioned here. You need clay, and if you’re going to be throwing, you should get a wheel but do consider investing in different items that work for you. For many people, pottery tools are a bit complex, but if you want to get into pottery decorating, I do suggest the toolkits. These are all helpful supplies though, and if you’re wondering what, to begin with, get the wheel and the kiln, and from there build it up. You’ll be able to have a pottery empire relatively easily, and if you spend a little bit of money on each of these, you’ll be able to make this work, and it will allow you to create amazing designs that work wonders for you, no matter what the odds may be.
