Why I Finally Switched to a Trimming Bat
I started using a trimming bat a few months ago, and honestly, it changed the way I look at the whole finishing process. If you've spent any amount of time at the potter's wheel, you know the routine. You throw a beautiful bowl, let it dry to leather-hard, and then comes the part that everyone either loves or hates: the trimming. For years, I did it the old-school way, using little wads of wet clay—lugs, we call them—to stick my piece upside down onto the wheel head. It works, sure, but it's messy, and if you aren't careful, those lugs can leave marks on your leather-hard piece or even fly off if you get a bit too ambitious with the wheel speed. ...