My New Toy, ahem, Piece of Equipment

I bought this a couple of weeks ago after going to my pottery guild and having this demo'ed. I had to go and buy an air compressor and a couple of 1/4 inch fittings, but amazingly enough, as easy as Sal made this look, it was easier to utilize than that. This is a wonderful addition to my studio. This first photo shows a simple round tile/coaster/wall hanging/clock ... whatever you want it to be.

When I went to pick this up, Sal said, "Now this tile has two sides, don't forget that."  And I haven't.  The idea is to put a circular plug of clay into the hole, mash it down, smooth it out and voila ... lovely smooth tile.

Then there's my way.  Take pieces of clay, smash it in there, who cares if it is smooth and lovely? After all, there are two sides!  So the top side is smooth, but the bottom side is not.  Why? Because I used pieces of clay.  Next I textured that side with a lava rock.  Then I added clay sprigs, much the same way as I do the beads.

So here is my 5" round whatever.  It's like a big bead, but flat.  Anyway, to watch a real life demo, take this link.  This product is the best piece of pottery equipment I've seen in a long time.

Thank you, Sal, for making ceramics even better!

Take this link to watch a demo on how this is used. Enjoy!
Texas Tiler