A salad bowl is one of my favorite things to make on the pottery wheel. This tutorial will cover every step of making a salad bowl including centering, opening, pulling the walls, trimming, and glazing.

When making this shape, keep in mind that the key to this form is to make the walls more vertical, around a 45 degree angle when pulling up, and then gradually open and lower the walls in the shaping stage.

Here’s a video of the process and a full tutorial with pictures is below.

Step 1: Center and Open

Two hands centering five pounds of brown clay on the pottery wheel with a black splash pan and a red towel draped over a knee — Beginning to center the clay.

In this tutorial, five pounds of brown speckled clay was used, but this style of bowl could be made in any range of weights and clay bodies.

Two hands pushing a cone of clay forward in the centering process on the pottery wheel also known as wedging on the wheel — Pushing forward and down after bringing up a cone of clay.

Recommended weights for this style:
Small bowl — 2 to 4 pounds
“Normal” serving bowl — 4 to 7 pounds
Large bowl — 8 pounds or more.

Thumb pinching open clay on the pottery wheel — The first opening move.

After wedging, join the clay to the wheel head and begin centering.

I usually bring the clay up into a cone and then push it forward and back down at least three times, until the clay feels even, organized, and workable. This process is called “wedging on the wheel” but you should always wedge your clay before joining on the wheel head too!

Two hands overlapping pinching the clay open in the centering process on the pottery wheel — The second opening “pinch” inwards.

Then, open the mass of clay. I first put my right thumb in and squeeze towards my left hand, then I do a second open where I pinch the clay in towards my torso. As this will be a bowl, it’s best to have a curved bottom rather than the flat bottom you would want for a cylinder.

Step 2: Pull Up and Out

Two hands throwing a bowl on the pottery wheel with the right hand knuckle pressed into the clay to start the first pull to thin and raise the walls of the vessel — The first pull using an index finger wrapped around a thumb in a semi-fist position.

After centering and opening the clay, the next step is to pull the clay.

For my first pull, I use the knuckle / side of my index finger with my hand in a fist position. I find this to be stronger and results in less strain on my wrist.

The index finger on the right hand compressing the rim of a bowl being thrown on the pottery wheel. — Remember to ompress the rim after each pull.

Usually, I will make a bowl like this in three to four pulls, but do as many pulls as you need without overly softening the clay. After each pull, it’s important to compress the rim. Also, focus on bring the clay up more than out. In the next step, the bowl will be lowered and widened using a rib.

Step 3: Opening, Shaping, and Lowering the Walls

Beginning to shape and lower the walls with a large rib.

After pulling the walls up and somewhat out, the next step is to shape and lower the walls. You may be happy with a more upright shape, and those can be great bowls! But these photos show how a large rib can be used to gently shape and lower the walls of the bowl into an almost platter-like form.

A large metal rib being used to open and shape the walls of a salad bowl on the pottery wheel — The second pass with the rib, bringing the walls even lower.

You should not be adding any water in this stage and as you are removing slip and starting to dry the bowl a bit, you can be somewhat adventurous in shaping the walls.

A large metal rib being pressed into a clay bowl form on the pottery wheel to turn a bowl into almost a platter like shape — You can make numerous passes to really get the wall the shape that you want. You may need to find or make a rib that is your desired profile for the inside of a bowl.

The best tool for this is a large rib made out of metal, wood, or plastic. In this tutorial, I’m using a homemade metal rib that you can make following this tutorial.

A red plastic rib being used to smooth and shape a bowl on the pottery wheel — The final step is to smooth the inside and remove any throwing marks.

The final step is to really smooth and refine the inside of the bowl (We’ll deal with the outside in the trimming stage.) For this, I use a red Mudtools brand rib, but you can use any flexible rib to compress and smooth the inside of the bowl.

Shop Mudtools rib at Amazon

If you want to watch the centering, opening, pulling, and shaping process in one continuous shot, here’s a video of just that:

Step 4: Trimming

Attaching the leather-hard bowl to a bat for trimming.

Trimming is the time to take care of the bottom of the bottom of the bowl.

First, center the upside down bowl and then anchor it in place with at least 4 lugs of clay.

A hand holding a loop tool beginning to trim the foot ring on a salad bowl being made on the pottery wheel with the other hand holding the bowl steady — Establishing the foot ring.

Next, lightly trim the outside of the foot ring, until you are at the outside diameter that you want. Then, make a shallow cut to establish the inside of the foot ring.

An avocado-shaped loop tool being used to trim the foot of a salad bowl being made on the pottery wheel — Trimming inside the foot ring.

After you have established your foot ring, you can trim clay from the inside of the foot ring. A few taps or gentle “pushes” will help you figure out if the clay is still stiff and therefore a bit too thick. Or, if it has a slight give when you push on it, you have trimmed enough.

The index finger of a left hand tapping the center of a pottery bowl being made on the wheel to test the thickness of the clay while trimming — Testing if the piece has any “give” to see if enough clay has been removed or not.

After trimming the inside of your foot ring, turn your attention to the outside walls. I usually start with a large loop tool and then switch to a detail tool to finish everything.

Beginning to trim the walls of a bowl after trimming the foot ring with a large loop tool — Trimming the walls of the bowl.

To complete the trimming process, lightly smooth the piece with a sponge, and then finish with a flexible rib to remove any trimming marks.

When you are done trimming, cover the bowl with plastic so it will dry slowly. Bowls and wide forms are especially prone to S-cracks that can be caused by uneven drying.

Using a detail loop tool to trim the foot ring of a salad bowl on the pottery wheel — Final detail trimming with a small, detail loop tool.

Light clean up with a sponge of a freshly trimmed clay bowl being made on the pottery wheel — Lightly cleaning / compressing with a damp sponge.

Two hands using a soft red rib to smooth the outside walls of a bowl being made on the pottery wheel — Using a rib to smooth out the bowl and remove any trimming marks.

A recently thrown and trimmed pottery bowl covered in plastic so that it will dry slowly and not crack or warp. — Covering the bowl with plastic wrap for slow drying.

Step 5: Glazing

A hand holding a measuring cup and pouring a white glaze on the inside of a bisque fired salad bowl — Pouring glaze on the inside of the bowl.

After the bisque firing, it’s time for glazing. This bowl was finished in a matte white glaze and because it was made with a speckled clay, the black speckles from the granular manganese add to the glaze.

A hand holding a measuring cup pouring a glaze on the outside of a bisque fired salad bowl — Pouring glaze on the outside of the bowl.

To glaze a pot, first clean it with a wrung-out, damp sponge to remove any dust or debris.

Then, you can paint, dip, or pour glaze. For this bowl, I poured the glaze, first on the inside, then on the outside.

Using a sponge to wipe and clean up the foot ring of a salad bowl after applying the glaze — Cleaning the foot ring with a sponge.

After applying the glaze, use a sponge to clean the footring and you are ready to glaze fire.

All done! After glaze firing, it’s time to enjoy your bowl. There’s nothing better than eating off of hand made bowls and plates!

A wide salad bowl with a white glaze and black speckles being held by two hands after the glaze firing

You might also enjoy:

Best Loop Tools for Trimming Pottery

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View all How To posts

Sgraffito is a technique of carving through a contrasting clay or slip to reveal the clay body below. It’s a fun way to get a very bold decoration on your ceramics.

This tutorial will cover how to apply the slip, carve through, and clean up. Keep scrolling for step-by-step instructions.

Tools Needed
> A banding wheel or turntable is very helpful
> Slip or Underglaze and a brush
> Carving tool, such as a pencil or a sgraffito tool
> Dry brush for clean up

You can also watch a video of this process here:

Sgraffito On A Large Bowl Tutorial

Step 1: Lightly Clean the Working Surface

Cleaning the surface of a leather hard bowl.

In this tutorial, the demonstration piece is a large salad bowl on the dry side of the leather hard stage—almost bone dry. To prep the surface, a wrung-out sponge is used to lightly clean the surface. This extra water will also help the underglaze stick.

Step 2: Apply the Slip or Underglaze

The key to sgraffito is to pick a slip or underglaze that will contrast with your clay body. In this example, slightly watered-down Velvet Underglaze medium blue is being applied to a speckled buff stoneware.

To get an opaque, solid covering of underglaze, 3 to 4 coats is applied. Be sure to allow the coats to dry between each application.

Step 2.5: Let the Underglaze or Slip Dry

This step doesn’t take long, but do let your slip or underglaze dry before you begin carving.

Step 3: Carve Your Design

Using your sgraffito tool, begin to carve through the stop layer, exposing the clay body below. It can be helpful to practice your design as a drawing before you begin carving.

As you are carving, little bits will stick up on the side of the carved lines. If you are working at a dry leather hard stage (as opposed to the more damp side of leather hard), you should be able to easily clean these bits as you work just by using a dry brush.

If the clay bits won’t brush off, wait and complete your carving later. Or, you can make your carving and brush off the bits when the pot is bone dry.

Step 4: Clean Up and Finishing

After carving, you may want to clean up any edges at the top and bottom of your carving.

In this example, the foot area is cleaned with a fettling knife, and the rim area is cleaned with a loop too. Use whatever makes sense for your piece.

All Done

The finished bowl with sgraffito decoration.

After cleaning, you are all done and ready to bisque fire. Generally, sgraffito looks best if left raw or covered in a thin application of clear glaze, but testing will determine what is best in your kiln.

Good luck with this technique and have fun.

Do you have a favorite sgraffito tool or technique? Let us know in the comments.

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Turn a clay slab into a plate tutorial

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