Tools for Hand Building Pottery

This is a list of some handbuilding pottery tools.  I use these all the time.  You can often improvise with utensils from around the home.  However, it’s good to gradually build up a pottery tool kit if you can.

19 Pottery Tools for Hand Building

These tools will come in very handy if you are hand building using any of my printable pottery templates. You can find my pottery templates here.

1. A Wide Rolling Pin. You may be lucky enough to have the space and money for a slab roller.  If not, a wide rolling pin will work just as well. 
2. Roller Guides help you to roll even slabs of clay at a specific thickness.
3. Rolling Canvas to stop your slab from sticking to your worktop surface.  It’s helpful to staple canvas to a wooden board.  You can see my guide on how to make a rolling board here.  It also helps to have some loose canvas for turning clay slabs. 
4. A Clay Knife
5. Rubber Pottery Rib
6. Platter Tool – Good for ribbing large slabs.
7. Serrated Rib Tool – for scoring your clay quickly.
8. Clay Scoring Tool for scoring smaller or thinner areas of clay.
9. Wooden Modelling Tools – It’s helpful to have a selection of sizes and shapes of modelling tools for blending or shaping different areas and angles.
10. Chamois Leather – For smoothing clay and wiping away clay slip.
11. Stylus Tools – Good for smoothing joins that are difficult to reach with your fingers, and for adding details to texture and design.
12. Clay Shredding Tool – For removing lumps and bumps and excess clay from leather hard pottery.
13. Lazy Susan – A simple, lightweight turntable, helpful for rotating smaller, lighter pieces of pottery as you work.
14. Banding Wheel – A stronger turntable good for rotating heavier pieces that need good stability.
15. Pottery Sponge – For adding water, smoothing clay and cleaning up.
16. Needle Tool – For scoring, trimming and detail work.
17. Loop & Ribbon Tools – Used for carving, hollowing and trimming clay.
18. Wire Clay Cutter – For slicing clay blocks and removing pieces cleanly.
19. Clay Hole Cutters – These are a bit like apple corers.  You can make neat holes in clay with a clay hole cutter.  

Remember that you don’t need to get everything at once. You can build your pottery tool kit piece by piece over time. Happy hand building!