Ribbing Handles

The classic handled bowl made proudly
since 1991 with a little break around 1998

Cut the feet and handled these bowls this afternoon. I've been making a version of this pot since about 1991/92! And I've used the kidney shaped rib on all of them until tonight.

The thin edge of the tool is the part that is pressed
into the handles to give the destinctive shell look.

To get the particular shape on the handles, I use the thin edge of the rib. But I have noticed after all of those bowls the edge isn't sharp anymore. Instead I tried one of these wooden tools (marked MKM) that Reid Schoonover was so generous to give me last Fall at the Arrowmont Conference. The sharp edge on the side of this triangular block of wood was perfect to get a crisp mark on the bowls. I guess I'm going to have to include this handle in my next video. Like a lot of things we do as potters, the tools we use and the sequence and timing of when we do it, determine how the pots look.

I will try to write about some of my favorite tools very soon. Some of them I made and some I bought.