Centering to Trim

You might find it relatively easy to center a round, symmetrical form on the potter's wheel for trimming just by placing coils of clay around the rim of the pot. But once you start to throw and alter forms many of them don't end up symmetrical. When it comes time to trim a foot on plates that have been squared off, pitchers with spouts and three sided cups, centering for trimming can get a bit more complicated.

Thus we are launching this 'Centering to trim with the Bailey Quick Trim II' post.

My goal when centering pots and sculptural pieces on the wheel for trimming is to secure them to the wheel head in order to turn a foot, remove weight and define shape. I, like most people want to be sure that the piece I am trimming stays in place and don't want to spend hours laboring over getting it centered.

Let's start with the design of the Quick-Trim II. The Quick- Trim II is in essence a plastic disk with holes for bat pins and sliding holders that track in the disk.

The holes on the Quick-Trim II are drilled to a standard 10” center diameter, which fits the bat pin placement on most pottery wheels so the whole tool goes on and off the wheel head just like a bat would.

The four holders slide independently and are locked into place when you tighten the thumb screws just behind the holders. The holders consist of vinyl covered foam, which put soft pressure on the pottery form without leaving much of a visible imprint.

It's all about keeping your piece snugly in place! The fact that the holders move independently is the key to centering a piece that is not symmetrical. It also means that you can center your piece wherever you want, while knowing it's not going to shift around.

The Quick Trim II comes with a pencil for drawing guide rings on the disc surface. If you do this step, you can position your piece right over the guide rings and then tighten the holders down to hold your piece into place. It really is as easy as that!

The Quick-Trim II is available in two sizes, 15” and 23”. To center and hold taller pieces, angled high holders are available ranging from 2” to 6” that also track into position and lock down using the thumb screws.

What I really like about using this Quick-Trim II is that you don't have to catch your piece at the “perfect” dryness in order to trim it unlike when using coils of clay. The window of time in which you can trim a piece widens so even if you come back to your piece a little late and it is nearing the bone dry state, centering and trimming is still doable.