Wheel throwing is the process of shaping and forming clay into usable shapes on the pottery wheel. As the wheel spins, you use your hands to apply pressure to the clay and move it, first up into a cone to even it out and then down into a puck to centre it on the wheel. Once the clay is centered then the real fun begins with pulling the walls up.

You’ll not make a teapot or a prize winning vase the first time, but you’ll have fun, learn something and probably end up with something that’ll bring you joy.

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Beginner’s wheel throwing Try-It class for two adults

Bring a friend and come make something special on the pottery wheel. You’ll make two things each, and the best one(s) will be baked. You can come back to paint your creations after baking or enjoy them the way they are. 

This class is for adults only because children needs a different kind of instruction. You can take the class with another adult, and later you can use the wheels without reservation and bring the child.

Individuals can take the class too, individual price is typically 75% of the price for two. See the page for details.

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Experienced pottery wheel rental

If you have existing recent experience with wheel throwing, come and make use of our wheels without any instruction. Includes three balls of clay and baking of up to two items. The items can be painted after baking for $15 per item.

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I have long finger nails, can I do wheel throwing?

Kinda, but it will be quite a bit more difficult as you have to use the knuckles more than the fingertips. It’s kinda possible, but we do not recommend it. We can’t do refunds or compensation if it doesn’t work out for you, sorry. 

Will you fire clay items that I’ve thrown with my own clay on my own wheel?

In some cases, yes. It depends on the circumstances at the time, like what kilns are available, how busy we are etc. There is no refund or compensation if the items break during the firing. If they broke in our kiln, they’d have broken if you’d fired them in your own.

We only do cone 04 clay firings so the clay must be “low fire cone 04” clay. If it is “high fire” clay see below for full kiln pricing. You will need to bring a clear picture of the box the clay came in so we can check the type

For the firing you pay for the space you need. Minimum space is the room taken up by four standard mugs next to each other, which will cost $35. Each additional “mug space” is $10. Tall items may come with extra charges.

A full cone 04 kiln load is $100 so if you have many items, it’ll be most efficient to get a full load. You will load the kiln yourself under supervision. Full kiln firings to higher temperatures is possible with a $50 extra charge. Painting of the fired items is not included the price.

Can I store unfinished clay projects in the studio?

Sorry, it’s not possible for us to store work-in-progress in the studio. If your project is not finished, we’ll wrap it up safely in a box and you take it home where you can finish it before bringing it back for firing.

A clay project dries over the course of a day or so under cover, and if left too long it becomes too dry to work on, so it’s best to take it home to do detail carving etc.

How long do I have to pick up the items?

We have limited storage space so once they’re baked the items must be picked up or painted within two months. We do not guarantee they’ll be kept for more than two months.

We call  you as soon as the items are ready for pickup or painting, and we will call at least twice more before the items are disposed. Make sure you check your phone messages. Unfortunately we do not compensate if the items were disposed.