Pottery Base Setter and Opener

Clay opener for the pottery wheel

This is a solidly built, very practical tool for opening clay on the pottery wheel. Once you’ve centered the clay, you place the central leg of the opener in the middle of the clay while the wheel is spinning:

Then, holding the outer legs, you gently pull the tool towards you, and the clay will gradually open up with the help of the wheel’s rotation:

Base thickness setter for your pottery

And before you even start the process described above, the great thing about this tool is that you can set the thickness of the base of your piece. In other words, you can decide the thickness (height) that the base will have once you’ve finished opening the clay. To do that, simply set the height of the opener to the desired thickness:

As you can see, at the end of the process we cut the piece in half with a wire so you can check the resulting base thickness — it matches the height we had previously set on the tool.

In any case, to clearly see how it works we recommend watching the following video:

Specifications

-Material: Stainless steel, for a tool that will last a lifetime.

-Coating: Powder coating cured in an industrial oven for extra protection.

-Width (distance between the corner legs): 20 cm internal span and 24 cm external span.

-Extras: Includes a practical hook so you can hang it in your studio.

All in all, a robust and efficient pottery wheel accessory that will serve you for life.

Note: This tool was born from an idea by the great potter Denis Di Luca, who also took part in every stage of its development, from the first tests to the final refinements. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Denis!