throwing your first cylinder
l.07 · 8 minute read · updated July 2026 · by the studio
A mug is a cylinder. A bowl is a cylinder persuaded outward. A bottle is a cylinder persuaded inward. This is why teachers drill cylinders past the point of tedium: master one shape and you have quietly mastered them all. You need solid centering first; a cylinder on off-centre clay is a countdown timer.
opening
- With the clay centred and the wheel at medium-fast, steady both thumbs on top of the mound.
- Press straight down through the centre until roughly a thumb's depth of clay remains beneath. Aim for 8 to 10 mm of base; check by pushing a needle tool through and reading the wet mark.
- Widen the floor by drawing your thumb (or fingers, braced by the other hand) toward you, slowly, keeping the bottom flat rather than bowled.
Then compress the base: two or three passes over the floor with a fingertip or rib, pressing gently down. Uncompressed bases are where s-cracks are born, the spiral fracture you will otherwise meet when the piece dries.
pulling walls
The pull is the heart of throwing. Outside knuckle low at the base, inside fingertips opposite it, clay pinched gently between. Wheel slowed to about one-third. Lift both hands together, slowly, letting the squeezed clay rise between them into a taller, thinner wall. That is the entire mechanism; everything else is calibration.
- Three good pulls beat eight timid ones. Each pass tires the clay; aim to reach final height in three to four pulls.
- Keep the pinch constant as you rise. Loosening near the top is why beginner pots flare like trumpets.
- Finish each pull at the rim without yanking your hands away; exits leave scars.
- Rims want compression too: a soft pinch and a flat fingertip across the top after each pull keeps the rim level and strong.
the classic failures, and what each one teaches
| what happened | why | the lesson |
|---|---|---|
| walls twist like rope | clay was never centred, or pulls were too fast for the wheel speed | slow hands, faster wheel, recentre |
| rim tears off in a ribbon | rim never compressed, thinned past its strength | compress the rim after every pull |
| pot flares wide on its own | hands loosened as they rose; speed too high | constant pinch, slower wheel |
| base flops, walls collapse | overwatered and overworked; clay fatigues | fewer pulls, less water, decide earlier |
| a click under your fingers each turn | air pocket | wedge properly next time (link below) |
That last row is wedging telling you it was skipped. Wire the failure off the wheel, cut it in half, and read the wall thickness like tree rings. Cross-sectioning your failures is the fastest feedback loop in pottery.
when it works
Target for a first good cylinder: 10 cm tall, walls an even 6 to 8 mm, base 8 to 10 mm. Wire it off, let it stiffen to leather hard, and it is ready for trimming, where it stops being a clay tube and starts being a pot.
common questions
how thick should pottery walls be?
For a beginner cylinder, an even 6 to 8 mm wall and 8 to 10 mm base. Even matters more than thin: uniform walls dry and fire without stress. Thinness comes with practice.
what is an s-crack and how do i prevent it?
A spiral crack in the base that appears during drying, caused by uncompressed clay. Prevent it by compressing the floor with fingertip or rib passes right after opening.
why do my pots collapse on the wheel?
Fatigue: too many pulls with too much water. Clay holds a limited number of moves per session. Plan three or four decisive pulls and stop while the wall still has strength.