Still Love the Griffin Grip!

I have been busy making lids for honey jars of late, and found that trimming the flat style lid that fit into a gallery difficult with the size of the lid 23" and the handle that is a hollow globe or cone shape. After a little bit of experimenting with using cushions around the handle and the Griffin Grip holding it, or using a cup or mug held in the Griffin Grip, I finally ended up with a solution. Several folks out there would say just to throw a chuck, and then trim using the chuck to hold each lid in place. However, I have always found that the amount of clean up after using a wet chuck was too time consuming.

My solution again comes from the plumbing section of the hardware store.  The 3" reduction collar shown has a narrow 2" and a 3" diameter. Two for one so to speak. At any rate, the plastic will hold a nice damp rim from the sponge, the lid may be set in center or tapped if needed. Once center press down lightly to seal. The Griffin Grip holds the collar in place well, and I was able to use my favorite band saw flat blade to flatten the bottom of the lid, and to join on the stem thrown for the spoon for the honey jar. After removing the lid by lightly prying one edge, I use a piece of thin pipe to cut the spoon and add a drizzle hole to the back side.

New Quick Tip in Ceramics Monthly

I had posted a tip on the Ceramic Arts Daily, Community Forum where I am a moderator. The folks at Ceramics Monthly believed it to be of value and asked me to write it up. Above is the article that appeared in the September issue.
It has been a busy Summer, and I am finishing up another order for Savannah Bee, and have orders for berry bowls, and have finished up an order for mugs at Oak Mountain Hideaway, an airbnb.
I have been doing teapots, mugs and honey jars for Savannah Bee, and will be glazing for a few weeks to deliver in October just before a long vacation trip.

Green ware waiting for firing. 

Teapot with bee on handle

Close up of handle lid area with bee

It's Official!

Honey jars on the left are base glazed with a white

It has a busy Spring, even though Winter seemed to hang on for way too long. I received and order for honey jars and mugs from Savannah Bee based in Savannah, GA after Christmas. This company a large honey company that makes many products using honey as a base and also sells a wide variety of honeys.
I started into production of 50 of each type of form in late March as soon as some warmer weather started up. At the same time this is the time of year for Communion sets purchased by the Order of St. Luke for graduation awards. Most of these had already been completed in the Fall, but there were several that had need of glaze firing and some that needed to be thrown.

The days of glazing after bisquefires started on the 23rd of April, and went until May 3rd to complete the order for Savannah. We packed up and were on the road that Friday, to return on Sunday. Great day on Saturday spent with my nephew. We had breakfast, and then went to one the offices of Savannah Bee to drop off the pottery, and do a little shopping in their store full of honey based products. The rest of the weekend was uneventful, but great weather, great company and food. Savannah is a foodie haven, and a walking city with lots to see.

Bisqued mugs, patens pitcher and bowl

Mugs stored in kiln until bottoms are ground

The mugs on the right are ready for glazing after bisque firing. I use a base liner white, with 3 over sprayed glazes; spraying from different directions with the first two then spraying over all with a Rutile Green.
The mugs here in the kiln are waiting the grinding of the bottoms, and final quality checks.


This year I have had to make a change in some of my work habits and ethics. I used to believe my pulled handles were really nice, and that I would never do another type of handle. However, age, and the visitation or arthritis in my right thumb has made me start using extruded handles for my mugs. These handles are made with a commercial die that I modified greatly with my Dremel tool and a grinding tip.

Mugs with extruded handles

I believe if you compare the mugs on the left to my earlier posts that you will see very little difference in the handle shape. These are of the extruded type, and the older posts are of the pulled handle type.
I also believe the extruded handles to be somewhat stronger than the pulled ones.








Honey jars were part of the reason for the order from Savannah Bee as I had sent a few down to Savannah with some relatives to be delivered as proof of concept to the company.
The jar lids do not have the usual notch in the lid, as I wanted something that was more bug safe than the jars with the traditional honey stick in the jar with a notch in the lid. My lids are thrown with a hollow handle to be lighter, but with a thrown spoon with a hole in the side opposite the spoon notch to drizzle the honey onto biscuits or other food. I have been playing around with lots of different forms for this, and find this closed form to work quite well as the spoon.

You will notice in the pictures that the stem has a hole opposite of the spoon opening that allows one to tip the spoon and drizzle the honey onto the food.




















The Communion Sets are given as presentation sets to new inductees into the ministry at various seminary schools across the country. This years sets have been stunning, and I am pleased to be finally sending out the last of the orders as the last load is cooling.

Patens are made larger and a little deeper to handle a
bread loaf.

Chalice and Paten

Close-up of chalice with combination of New white base,
Cream rust, and Variegated blue, with Rutile Green over spray. 

Bowl and Pitcher

Occasionally there is a need for a different type of award, and this year there was a request for a pitcher and bowl for a Deacon.


So it is official, as Pic Works pottery mugs and honey jars should become available on the shelves of Savannah Bee stores in May.