Stacking Jars, Part 2

Finally my stacking jars are leatherhard & ready to finish! I close off my studio when I am not in there, to save on heat, but as a result it's really, really cold in there - like see-your-breath cold - and things dry ridiculously slowly. Anyway! Here's the step-by-step to finish the stacking jars:

When the jar is leatherhard, cut the lid free at the bottom of the uppermost notch. Place it upside down in the rim of the cylinder; trim the outer edge to remove any ragged or uneven clay.

Now remove the lid and set it aside. Trim the inner edge of the top section. If your wheel can turn clockwise, and you are a rightie, try it this way! It's much easier to trim inner edges clockwise.

Replace the lid, which should now fit snugly into the upper rim. Using the fettling knife, cut off the top section, again at the bottom of the notch. Trim the edges so the top section fits into the bottom section. Repeat with the next section.

Add a slab to the bottom of the top two sections, to make it into small jars with a lids, that function as lids for the jars below them.

This set is quite small - useful for earrings, or maybe as a spice jar; but if I made a much bigger one it would make a nice coffee/tea canister.

Bonus idea: 

I threw a slightly larger one, with only two sections. Put a spout on the lower part, and you've got a stacking sugar/cream set!

Stacking Jars, Part 1

I've always loved to make those lidded jars that are thrown in one piece, notched, and then cut apart to form lid and jar. (You can see one here.) I don't know why, but it never occurred to me before today that you don't have to stop with one notch! If you make two, or more, and then add bottoms between sections, you've got a set of stacking jars. Like so:

First, pull up a cylinder and collar it in until it is closed.

 Then, use a rib to scrape off the wet slurry on the outside, and to shape it into a flat-topped cylinder.

Then, with the fat end of the needle tool held at a 45º, press into the side of the wall 1/3 of the way up.

Then do the same thing 1/3 of the way down, and about 1/4 inch down.

Poke a pinhole at the bottom of one of those notches.

Tomorrow, when this gets to leatherhard, I'll show how I cut the sections apart and add bottoms to make stacking jars.