Question:
What is a Rib?
Ribs
Ribs: These can be of many materials, wood, plastic, rubber and aluminium(I suggest you purchase the rubber and metal from your local pottery supply store), being the most common.
Wooden ribs: are made by roughly cutting the shape with a jigsaw, and using a bench grinder to shape the curves and slant them into a workable v-shape. The off cuts of your bats make perfect ribs.
Marine ply being the best timber, as it resists the water, these ribs should last a potters lifetime.
Plastic ribs: Easiest ribs to make, but too rigid for my liking. Roughly cut credit or like, plastic card into shape, and sand smooth
Plastic ribs
How can I make a rib?
Old credit cards can be used for ribs. You can cut patterns in them to make countoured edges. You can also cut patterns in them to use for making stripes on slabs.
Aluminum rib
Another tool in your beginner set is an aluminum rib. Ribs
come in many shapes and sizes and can also be made of
wood, plastic, other metals or rubber. They are wonderful
tools for shaping pots or for smoothing out the inside or
outside of a pot. Once you are acquainted, you should try a
small and large rubber rib, they really do feel nice.
Recently, someone wrote us who began using a large
wooden rib (a 6" diameter semi-circle) for creating a low flat
bowl out of a cylinder. They said it was a breakthrough!
The rib enabled them to achieve the shape they had been
looking for and it was easy to use! I hope you have as
much fun discovering the right tools for the job
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| Guru Spotlight |
| Jolyn Wells-Moran |
