So the next form or the next step that we're need to work on is trimming our plates. So we have our plates here thrown. Now when trimming plates, there's going to be a couple additional steps that we did not have to address when trimming bowls and cups. Okay, so first thing, make sure your plate is loose on your bat. Okay, mine is loose. Now the first additional step that we're going to want to do, because plates have such a large surface area, it's very difficult to pick them up by hand and flip them without distorting that shape.

And again, those distortions can come back during the firing and are more likely with the pieces like this, they end up being cracks along the rim. And again, it's one of those frustrating cracks that you don't generally even see until after the glaze firing and all sudden have a big crack. On the rim, which can be very frustrating. So instead of picking this piece up and flipping it by hand, what you want to do with plates is flip it back to bat. So simply set another bat on top of your plate, screw the basic with your left hand top with your right and flip. This will limit the amount of stress and the stress on that form and will eliminate any distortions.

Now to rescale it to the we'll hit the my finger on top of the bat pan hole on the bat till I hit my finger, placed it on there. And voila, we are ready to trim. Okay, so as normal first step is to recenter this piece up, focusing on the base of the piece. Okay, that looks pretty good. It's carrying down with four legs. Another additional step that we're going to need to take with our plates is that we're going to need to leave an additional foot within the plate again, assuming you're doing a dinner where plate or a larger plate.

So let me just kind of sketch this out for you right now. Let's say that's going to be our foot right there. We're also going to want to leave a small second foot on the inside of the form somewhere like that, you can leave a small ring like that or up to it, you know, dime Penny size, some artists will actually leave a circle, something like that. And the reason being is to eliminate the warping of the plate, because if we're firing to cone 10, a mature cone 10 with an account, this clay becomes so hot during that sintering process with a silicate within the clay body is actually melting and filling in all those porous holes. The clay itself actually becomes pliable again. So anything that could potentially work when the clay is that soft leather hard state could potentially work at this date to, which basically means anything that has a greater distance from, let's say six to eight inches across, needs to have an additional support within the inside to help counter that warpage issue.

Otherwise you could get this piece out of the kiln and the base of your plate has warped down which can cause cracking can cause it to stick to the show, it can cause a number of issues. So we will clean that up. And I will show you how to create that additional foot within the inside. Right now. First step is always trimming the outside. Now same principles apply.

As we talked about with the bowls in the cups, watch out for sharp edges. You want your foot wide enough that it has a nice functional use assuming that functionality Our goal something the clay there. One thing that I addressed a lot with my place is the idea that they're both functional and decorative. So with that, often I like to give my plates a nice undercut within the foot so that if someone did choose to hang them on the wall, especially with a larger place or platters, that they could easily be wired to be hung on the wall or they also can work or function as a functional object as well. So they have the option to use in both decorative or functional. So that's what I'm gonna do with this.

I'm gonna give it a nice undercut and even notch the foot a little bit so if it was to be hung on the wall, there'll be a little spot for the wire to come through. Deep undercut right there. Okay, so now if a person did choose to hang this plate plate on the wall be very easy to wrap a wire around their twist into a loop and you can hang it on the wall. Once we formed the outside, it's moved to the inside. I'm going to draw a line where the foots gonna go. That'll be our foot right there.

And then I'm going to leave about a nickel sized circle on the inside for that second foot to give us that additional support. Now we'll move into our trimming I'm going to take a little bit of this outside edge first, because I know it's thicker, I have more clay to take out from that area and work my way into the center. The piece we're gonna move on to the center cutting around that second foot for that additional support, trimming down and working our way out to the outside nice clean ribbons of clay being cutaway exactly what we'd like to see. Continue trimming or additional set right there. Something like so. Now once we've trimmed that foot in, ready to come back in here, smooth out all those trimming lines.

Remove that rough Grog, fill all that out. Make sure we don't have any sharp edges on our foot. smooth that out. Now if I knew that I wanted this piece to be hung on the wall might be a good idea to come back in here and put a little notch on the foot right now next to this decorative element right here that we played put in, I would want that on the side. So if I was to notch the foot, I'd want it to be about right there. So nauseous foot and then we come in take out about half the cut back out that wire tool come down from the opposite side and then clean that up a little bit.

See looks like we take a little more off right here just clean this up. And this will also let you know if you're removing enough clay just like our bowls that should be a continual line right here cuz I know the inside of my plate has that nice rounded curve so Inside and outside of the piece should echo each other. So now that we've finished trimming the outside and we have a nice deep undercut, so this could be hung on the wall where our little notch here, and again, this is if you're going for that decorative plated. Otherwise, you know, if you're just going for a straightforward functional play, these are some additional steps you may not need to do. And even without this notch, you would still be able to hang this plate on the wall if somebody chose to do that at a later date.

These are just a couple of additional steps you may want to consider when working on your own vessels. Another thing to think about is decoration. We haven't really got into this and later on in the the sections will actually take a good chunk of time and start talking about decorating and slip work. But since we have this plate here, I think it's a good time to at least mention it. This bottom area is a lot of area Okay, this is a nice little canvas that can be explored that can be decorated at night not be seen by everyday people might only be seen by the person that purchases this plate or you know the individual that's used And at that time, but again, just those small little details can help enhance or create more of a connection between the object and the user of that object or the owner of that object.

And thereby for, you know, a connection with you the artist itself. So I'm just going to take a little bit of decorating slip right here, which we'll talk about later. Basically, this is a liquid clay that's had some oxidizing carbonates added to it. So nice black, decorative slip, and that's going to add a nice decorative band right here. And this is going to add some color variation. When we glaze this, maybe we'll add a little bit of a movement, a little tactile experience right there.

So whoever's holding this plate, then when they feel this little texture, it'll entice them to flip it upside down and actually see what's going on. And this can also give a little nice area then for your name to break over as you sign it. And again, it's details details. These details again, are what's going to help Separate your pieces from everybody else's