Is hand building easier than wheel throwing?

Hand building is more accessible for complete beginners. There is no centering to master, and mistakes are easier to fix—just smoosh the clay and start again. You can make recognizable pieces in your first session. However, hand building is slower for making functional sets and requires patience for techniques like coiling. Both have learning curves, just different ones. Try both to see what suits you.

Can you make functional pottery with hand building?

Absolutely. Hand built mugs, bowls, plates, and serving dishes work perfectly. They may not be perfectly symmetrical, which many people prefer. Hand built functional ware has a handmade, artisan quality. Use slab building for plates, coiling for bowls and vases, pinching for small cups. Just ensure even wall thickness and smooth interiors for easy cleaning.

What tools do you need for hand building?

Basic tools are inexpensive: a rolling pin or slab roller, wire cutter, knife or cutting tool, sponge, fork for scoring, and optionally texture stamps or carving tools. Total cost under £30. Many hand builders use found objects for texture—leaves, shells, lace, fabric. Studios provide all tools during classes. You only need your own equipment if practicing at home.

How do you keep hand built pottery from cracking?

Prevent cracks by drying slowly and evenly. Keep walls even thickness. Cover work with plastic between sessions. Avoid thin sections next to thick sections. Reinforce all joins with score, slip, and extra clay. Dry away from heaters and direct sunlight. Patient drying takes 3 to 7 days but prevents cracks. Even experienced potters get occasional cracks—clay is temperamental.

Can you combine hand building with wheel throwing?

Yes, many potters combine techniques. Throw a cylinder on the wheel, then add hand built handles, spouts, or decorative elements. Throw a base, then build coils on top for height. Hand build a box, then throw a lid. Combining techniques gives creative freedom and practical solutions. Learn both, then mix and match for different projects.

How long does hand building take compared to wheel throwing?

Hand building is slower per piece but has no centering learning curve. A wheel thrown mug takes 10 minutes once you know how. A hand built mug might take 45 minutes. But you can make decent hand built pieces from day one, while wheel throwing takes weeks to master. Choose based on whether you want speed and repetition or creative freedom and immediate results.

Hand Building Pottery Techniques | Pinch, Coil & Slab Guide

Hand building is how pottery started. Before wheels, before kilns that reached 1200°C, before Instagram-worthy studios—humans pinched lumps of clay into pots and left them in the sun to harden. Five thousand years later, the techniques remain remarkably similar. Your hands, some simple tools, and patience.

I gravitated to hand building after wheel throwing frustrated me. No centering to master. Clay moved at my pace. Mistakes were easy to fix—just smoosh it and try again. Within one session I made a wonky but functional bowl. It felt intuitive in a way the spinning wheel never did.

Here are the three main hand building techniques, how they work, and what you can realistically make as a beginner.

Pinching: the oldest pottery technique

Pinching is exactly what it sounds like. Roll clay into a ball, press your thumb into the center, then pinch and rotate to thin the walls. Simple. Meditative. Surprisingly versatile.

What you can make: Small bowls, cups, decorative forms, sculptural pieces. Pinching works best for items under 15cm diameter. Beyond that, walls get too thin and floppy.

Beginner tips: Keep walls even thickness (about 5-7mm). Pinch from the base upward in a spiral pattern. Rotate the form constantly so you thin evenly. Support the outside wall with one hand while pinching with the other. Work slowly—rushing creates cracks.

Most hand building classes start with pinching because you can make something complete in one session.

Coiling: building with clay sausages

Coiling builds forms by stacking clay ropes. Roll clay into sausages (coils), stack them in a spiral, then smooth the joins. This technique can create massive vessels—ancient pottery 1 meter tall was coil built.

What you can make: Vases, large pots, organic sculptural forms, planters. Coiling excels at making tall, hollow forms. You can leave coils visible for rustic texture or smooth them completely.

Beginner tips: Roll coils even thickness (about pencil width). Score (scratch) and slip (add water) where coils join—this bonds them properly. Smooth joins on the inside for strength, leave textured on outside if you like. Let lower coils firm up before adding height, or the weight collapses everything.

Build on a bat (a flat board) so you can rotate your piece without handling it. Coiling is slow, methodical, and surprisingly relaxing once you get into the rhythm.

Slab building: clay as flat sheets

Slab building rolls clay flat like pastry, then cuts and assembles shapes. Use a rolling pin or slab roller to create even thickness sheets. Cut with a knife or template. Join slabs to make boxes, tiles, platters, or architectural forms.

What you can make: Boxes, tiles, platters, wall pieces, geometric forms, picture frames. Slab building is perfect for flat or angular pieces that would be difficult to throw on a wheel.

Beginner tips: Roll slabs to even thickness (use guide sticks on both sides of your rolling pin). Let slabs firm to leather hard before assembling—floppy fresh clay does not hold shape. Score and slip all joins thoroughly. Reinforce corners with extra coils of clay. Use texture stamps or press objects into slabs before cutting for interesting surfaces.

Many potters in Bristol, Edinburgh, and Brighton specialize in slab building for its architectural, contemporary aesthetic.

Joining clay: the score and slip method

All hand building relies on joining pieces properly. Dry clay does not stick to dry clay. You need score and slip.

Score: Scratch both surfaces to be joined with a fork, knife, or scratching tool. Creates rough texture for adhesion.
Slip: Paint watery clay (slip) onto both scored surfaces. Acts like glue.
Press: Firmly press pieces together. Smooth the join or leave textured.
Reinforce: Add a thin coil of clay along the inside of joins for extra strength.

Skipping score and slip causes pieces to crack apart during drying or firing. Always use both, even if it feels tedious.

Adding texture: making hand building interesting

Hand building shines when you add texture. Press objects into soft clay for instant patterns. Found materials work brilliantly—leaves, lace, bark, shells, fabric, stamps, rope.

Popular texture techniques:

Stamping: Press purchased or carved stamps into leather hard clay. Repeat patterns or create borders.
Impressing: Press textured materials (lace, leaves) into soft slabs then remove them. The pattern remains.
Carving: Use loop tools to carve designs into leather hard clay. Clean, controlled lines.
Sprigging: Make small clay shapes separately, then attach them to your piece with slip. Creates raised decoration.
Sgraffito: Cover leather hard clay in colored slip, then scratch through it to reveal the clay beneath. Creates two-tone designs.

Many contemporary ceramic artists use texture as their signature. Hand building lets you add surface interest that wheel-thrown pottery cannot achieve.

Avoiding cracks: the number one hand building problem

Cracks happen when clay dries unevenly. Thin areas dry faster than thick areas. Joins dry at different rates. Covered clay dries slower than exposed clay. This creates stress, which creates cracks.

How to prevent cracks:

Keep walls even thickness (5-10mm). Avoid thin bits that dry fast next to thick bits.
Cover work with plastic between sessions. Slow, even drying prevents stress cracks.
Dry slowly. Do not put pieces near heaters or in direct sunlight. Patient drying takes days but prevents heartbreak.
Reinforce joins with extra clay. Joins are crack-prone because two surfaces meet.
Compress clay surfaces by rubbing with a rib or damp sponge. This aligns clay particles and strengthens structure.

Even experienced potters get cracks occasionally. If a piece cracks during drying, sometimes you can fill it with slip before bisque firing. If it cracks during firing, it is scrap.

Which hand building technique should you learn first?

Start with pinching. It is immediate, forgiving, and teaches you how clay behaves. Make a few pinch pots to understand clay's consistency, how it dries, how thin you can go before it collapses.

Once comfortable with pinching, try coiling for taller forms. Coiling teaches patience and how to build methodically. Then explore slab building for flat and geometric work.

Most beginner courses at pottery studios teach all three techniques. You will naturally gravitate toward one based on what you enjoy making.