One reoccurring problem I have had was making large pet dishes (7+ inches or larger in diameter). In almost every single instance, I would ruin the pet dish when taking it off the bat.
I hate it when this happens.
I had some extra time over the winter to research alternative ways of taking large pots off of the bat. I came across a discussion thread on potters.org: “How to get it off the bat?” . In short, the brilliant solution was to use a piece of canvas or heavy denim on the bat. Throw the pot on top of the canvas then . . .
. . . let it air dry to the appropriate hardness . . .. . . place a bat on top of the pot and flip it over.Take the ‘top’ bat off (which used to be the original bat plus canvas) then . . .. . . peel the canvas off the bottom of the pot!This works WONDERFULLY! No more wiring through my bottoms!Success! I can now make larger pet dishes due to this new technique 🙂
Such a feeling of accomplishment when you solve a problem. WTG!