About Clay Tools

Hand Tools are the basic tools you will need to make something in clay.

Generally there is a 'basic tool kit' sold in most clay supply stores. This is the backbone of your hand tool collection. In this tool kit you will find a usually round sponge(holds a lot of water), a wire tool(for slicing and cutting clay), a metal rib(good for scraping or smoothing), a wooden rib(good for shaping), a wooden modeling tool(good for many tasks from shaping, scraping, carving etc.), a needle tool(good for etching, poking, incising, etc), a double ended ribbon tool(for fine trimming), and a large loop tool(for rough trimming and clay removal).

To this basic set of tools you can add an endless amount of specialized tools. I would suggest a blue rubber rib, a fettling knife to round out my basic tool collection. Put off buying alot of tools til you find how you like to work in clay.

You can make your own tools or even order tools custom made to your specifications. Potters seem to collect tools and end up with a bucketful.

This is your basic kit that you will need to start working with clay.

Kemper Pottery Tool Kit
Quality tools of finest stainless steel and select, smooth hardwood. Includes a potter's rib, steel scraper, wood modeling tool, needle tool, ribbon tool, loop tool, sponge, and wire clay cutter.



Kemper Fettling Knives
Use these knives to trim, carve, remove mold marks and sculpt ceramics, greenware, styrofoam, and more. The softer steel blade is flexible enough to bend while the harder is a tempered steel blade with the same feel as other conventional blades. Blades are 4" (102 mm) long, total length 8" (203 mm).

Equipment is where the money in the studio is sucked into. Kilns, wheels, slab rollers, extruders, puggers, mixers, not to mention glazing equipment all carry a hefty price tag. A small studio will not likely need all these things luckily. Most clay artists start small and buy equipment as their business grows. A kiln or wheel is likely the first purchase tho you can rent space in a someone elses kiln if you do not have your own. Extruders and slab rollers and time saving devices that allow a clay artist to spend more time creating than preparing to create. Puggers and mixers might not be neccessary at all if a clay artist buys all their clay premixed.

There are lots of manufacturers but some have rose to the top and have a strong reputation in the ceramic industry: Soldner, Scutt, Paragon, Peter Pugger, Brent, etc.