Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Use A Straw

If you don't have a hole punch for clay but want to make a nice smooth hole, use a straw. You know the plastic straws you get with sweet tea. Sweet tea is every where in the South. If you don't like your tea too sweet, ask for it half and half. Seriously though, a straw works great for making a smooth hole in clay. After pushing the straw through the clay, pull it out and cut the end filled with clay off, then make the next hole.

In other news I have a pulled or torn muscle or ligament in my upper left arm. I can't lift my arm to the side more than a foot or so. I hope it's just pulled and not torn. I 've been putting an ice pack on it and it's a little bit better today. Gary also had the same injury a few weeks back in his left arm. Unfortunately he's left handed. I'm right handed. But even typing this hurts my left arm. Whoa is me, it's heck to get old. In other news Pottery Making Info shared my post about making slip and easy hump molds on Google Plus and Twitter. Thank you Pottery Making Info. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

14 comments:

  1. Hi Dennis, thanks so much, I just hope I didn't do permanent damage.

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  2. It's such a drag when you injure yourself. Be careful, sometimes injuries show up years later!
    I am always misplacing my hole punches so I use all different size straws for making holes.
    Give yourself a little rest and get better.

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  3. Congratulations and feel better.

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  4. Talk about jigs and fixtures. We once had a potter cast buttons for us. He used the cap of a 35mm film can as a cutter, and the clay that was forced into the top became the shank of the button. He pierced the shank with a toothpick for the button hole.

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  5. Hi Suzi, thanks, well that arm has been slightly stiff for a while, it probably doesn't help that we got a dresser at the flea market that was mahogany which is quite heavy.

    Hi Lori, thanks, I hope I get well soon, I really need the use of that arm for everything.

    Hi Joanne, thanks, necessity is definitely the mother of invention.

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  6. Oh Linda....having had issues with both my rotator cuffs..I feel your pain. Take good care, sometimes alternating ice with heat helps.

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  7. Oh Linda, I feel your pain. You probably remember my shoulder injury last fall. It was a slow recovery. If you can handle taking Aleve do so. It was the only thing that would take the edge off of the pain. I took it more often than the bottle recommended. I also alternated ice and heat. Another thing I did was kept moving it very gently... I had a fear of frozen shoulder.
    Wishing you a speedy recovery.

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  8. Ouch. I really, really hope it is strained rather than torn.
    Take it easy. And ice is good.

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  9. Oh dear, I hope you feel better soon. Not good for a potter (or anyone for that matter) to not have use of your arm!

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  10. Take it easy on that arm.

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  11. Hi Linda...so sorry to hear you are hurting...may your arm be better soon. Thanks for mentioning Pottery Making, which also listed my blog a few times. I'm going to have to thank them as well...something else to blog about!

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  12. severe pain has struck - i hope i get better soon and can achieve most range of motion

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