Study guides · Stuff Every Pottery Scout Should Know
Practice facts for the Pottery merit badge. Not an official Scouting America credential. Grab a snack: this guide is the friendly version, with the answers explained and a groan-worthy joke waiting at the end of most cards.
Knowing Pottery Scout saves you money, time and the occasional embarrassment.
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Short answer: To remove air and even out moisture
Wedging kneads the clay to push out trapped air and spread moisture evenly, which helps prevent cracking.
Groan of the day: Wedging is a kneady job.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Throwing
Throwing means shaping clay on a rotating wheel head. The word comes from an old word meaning to twist or turn.
Groan of the day: Throwing on the wheel is a smashing good time.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Trimming and attaching handles
Leather-hard clay is firm but slightly pliable, so potters trim feet and attach handles at this stage.
Groan of the day: Leather-hard clay is tough stuff.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: It is nearly 0% moisture and ready to fire
Bone-dry clay has almost no moisture left. It is ready for firing but very brittle, so handle it gently.
Groan of the day: Bone-dry pots are all dried up.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Unfired clay objects
Greenware means unfired clay objects at any stage of drying, often those ready to be fired.
Groan of the day: Greenware is not green, just unfired.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Clay that has been fired once
Bisque, or biscuit, is pottery fired for the first time. This firing changes the clay permanently.
Groan of the day: Bisque is fired once, not twice.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: A reddish unglazed earthenware
Terra-cotta is reddish earthenware, especially when unglazed or used for sculpture. Iron in the clay gives the color.
Groan of the day: Terra-cotta is a red-hot favorite.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Fired clay that is crushed and added
Grog is fired clay that has been crushed. Adding it helps reduce drying shrinkage and cracking.
Groan of the day: Grog helps clay keep its shape.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Joining clay parts together
Slip is clay mixed with water. It works like glue to join coils or slabs of clay.
Groan of the day: Slip is clay glue, so don't let it slip away.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Earthenware
Earthenware is fired at lower temperatures than stoneware or porcelain. It can be fired as low as 600 degrees Celsius.
Groan of the day: Earthenware is the low-fire lowdown.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Stoneware
Stoneware is fired at high temperature and is stronger and non-porous to liquids.
Groan of the day: Stoneware is tough as stone.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Kaolin
Porcelain is made by heating materials that generally include kaolin, also called china clay.
Groan of the day: Kaolin is the china of china clay.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: A glassy coating that seals the surface
Glaze is a glassy coating. It decorates pottery and makes it impermeable to liquids.
Groan of the day: Glaze puts a shine on your pot.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Slab building
Slab building uses flat sheets of clay. Slabs can be joined with slip to make boxes, cups, and more.
Groan of the day: Slab building is flat-out fun.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Coil building
Coil building stacks ropes of clay. The coils are joined with slip to build up a vessel.
Groan of the day: Coil building is a rope trick.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: By pressing a hole into a ball of clay
A pinch pot begins with a solid ball of clay. You press a hole in it and pinch the walls to shape it.
Groan of the day: Pinch pots are made by hand, literally.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: The turntable that holds the clay
The wheel head is the turntable where the clay is placed. It rotates by stick, foot power, or electric motor.
Groan of the day: The wheel head really turns heads.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Shapes that other methods cannot form
Slip casting pours liquid clay into a plaster mould. It is suited to complex shapes other methods cannot form.
Groan of the day: Slip casting lets clay take shape.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Limits oxygen during firing
A reducing atmosphere is oxygen-poor. It is made by restricting air or adding excess fuel, which affects iron colors.
Groan of the day: Reducing atmosphere means less air, not less pot.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: To protect them from smoke and ash
Saggars are ceramic boxes. They shield pots from smoke, soot, and ash when wood or coal is used as fuel.
Groan of the day: A saggar is a pot's bodyguard.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: The clay hardens permanently
The first firing causes chemical and physical changes that harden the clay permanently.
Groan of the day: Bisque firing is a permanent change.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: It melts the glaze onto the pot
In the glaze firing, the glaze melts and adheres to the pot, giving a glassy surface.
Groan of the day: Glaze firing makes the shine stick.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: To stop it sticking to kiln furniture
Glazed pots can stick to kiln shelves. Leaving the foot unglazed, or using spurs, prevents sticking.
Groan of the day: Leave the foot bare so the pot does not stick.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Rubbing the surface to a polish before firing
Burnishing means rubbing the clay with wood, steel, or stone to make a polished finish that survives firing.
Groan of the day: Burnishing gives clay a polished look.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Scratching through a slip layer to show clay below
In sgraffito, a layer of engobe or slip is scratched through to reveal the clay underneath.
Groan of the day: Sgraffito is scratch art on clay.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Its resemblance to the mineral agate
Agateware is made by partly blending clays of different colors. It looks like the banded mineral agate.
Groan of the day: Agateware is a marbled mix.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Adding salt to the kiln so it forms a glaze on the ware
Salt is introduced during firing. It vaporizes and reacts with the clay to form a sodium aluminosilicate glaze.
Groan of the day: Salt-glazing is worth its salt.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Ash from burned plant matter
Ash glazing uses ash from burning plant matter as the flux in the glaze.
Groan of the day: Ash glazing turns plant ash into shine.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Silicosis from silica dust
Inhaling crystalline silica dust over years can cause silicosis. Dust controls and wet methods reduce exposure.
Groan of the day: Keep dust down and lungs happy.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Work with clay as a damp solid or use dust control
Using clay as an aqueous suspension or damp solid, plus dust controls like local exhaust, reduces silica dust exposure.
Groan of the day: Damp clay keeps dust down.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: It caused lead poisoning in workers
Lead poisoning was a serious health concern for those glazing pottery, recognized as early as the nineteenth century.
Groan of the day: Lead glazes were a heavy problem.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Trapped moisture can cause steam explosions
Residual deep moisture can cause steam explosions during firing. Bone-dry clay is ready to fire.
Groan of the day: Dry clay avoids a steamy surprise.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: A special oven for firing pottery
A kiln is the oven used to fire pottery to high temperatures. Kilns can be heated by wood, gas, or electricity.
Groan of the day: A kiln is a pot's hot spot.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Firing pots in a hole in the ground
Pit firing uses a hole in the ground covered with fuel. It is one of the earliest firing methods.
Groan of the day: Pit firing is a hole-in-one for early potters.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Removing hot pots and smothering them in combustible material
In raku, wares are taken from the kiln while hot and smothered in ashes, paper, or woodchips for a carbonized look.
Groan of the day: Raku gives pots a smoky style.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: It survives for millennia as durable fragments
Pottery is durable and survives as fragments long after organic materials decay, making it a key archaeological source.
Groan of the day: Pottery is a shard act to follow.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: How a pot was made and used
Fabric analysis studies the clay matrix, inclusions, and firing to learn how pottery was made, decorated, and used.
Groan of the day: Fabric analysis reads a pot's fabric.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Electrical insulators and laboratory ware
Ceramics are used in technology and industry, including electrical insulators and laboratory ware, as well as tableware and sanitary ware.
Groan of the day: Ceramics are shocking good insulators.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Professional potter
Pottery offers career opportunities such as becoming a potter. Each career has its own education and training needs.
Groan of the day: A career in pottery can shape up well.
Sources: Scouting America: Pottery
Short answer: Ceramic objects date back tens of thousands of years
Pottery is one of the oldest human inventions. Ceramic figurines date back tens of thousands of years.
Groan of the day: Pottery is old, but it still holds up.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Cord-marked
Jomon means cord-marked. Jomon pottery got its name from rope impressions pressed into the clay.
Groan of the day: Jomon pots wore their rope marks proudly.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Throwing pots with radial symmetry
The potter's wheel spins clay so it can be thrown into round forms with radial symmetry on a vertical axis.
Groan of the day: The wheel keeps pottery on a roll.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: It is a flat disc placed on the wheel head
A bat is a flat disc that sits on the wheel head. Pots can be thrown on it and lifted off without disturbing the shape.
Groan of the day: That bat never flies, it just spins on the wheel.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Roughing the surfaces so they grip
Scoring means scratching the surfaces that will touch. The rough texture helps slip and clay bond firmly together.
Groan of the day: Score points by scratching before you stick.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Heatwork during firing
Pyrometric cones are devices that help monitor firing. They respond to the combination of heat and time, called heatwork.
Groan of the day: That cone really knows how to keep its cool under heat.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Pouring liquid clay into a plaster mold
Slip casting pours liquid clay, called slip, into an absorbent plaster mold. It suits complex shapes other methods cannot form.
Groan of the day: Slip casting lets the clay take a mold shape.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Pressing clay into a porous mold by hand
Press molding means manually pressing a lump of clay into a porous mold. The mold gives the clay its shape.
Groan of the day: Press molding is a hands-on way to make a mold impression.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Flatware such as plates
Jiggering brings a shaped tool against clay on a rotating mold. It is used only for flatware such as plates.
Groan of the day: Jiggering plates is a real turn-on for the wheel.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Hollowware such as cups
Jolleying is like jiggering but for hollowware. It shapes cups and similar hollow forms on the wheel.
Groan of the day: Jolleying cups is a hollow victory.
Sources: Pottery
Short answer: Shapes wares on a rotating mold with a rotary tool
A roller-head machine shapes wares on a rotating mold using a rotary shaping tool. It is fast and widely used.
Groan of the day: The roller-head keeps production rolling along.
Sources: Pottery
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To remove air and even out moisture. Wedging kneads the clay to push out trapped air and spread moisture evenly, which helps prevent cracking.
Stoneware. Stoneware is fired at high temperature and is stronger and non-porous to liquids.
The clay hardens permanently. The first firing causes chemical and physical changes that harden the clay permanently.
It caused lead poisoning in workers. Lead poisoning was a serious health concern for those glazing pottery, recognized as early as the nineteenth century.
Cord-marked. Jomon means cord-marked. Jomon pottery got its name from rope impressions pressed into the clay.
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