FLEXI-BAT DIRECTIONS

Tips, tricks, and suggestions for a successful design and impression!

USING YOUR FLEXI-BAT

1. THROWING ON YOUR NEW BAT

Never use a wet bat. The material needs to be porous to absorb water from your clay and throwing.
You MUST use soft clay. Not too hard or sticky. Soft clay will mold over the bat and form in the designs.
Wedge your clay well and flatten the bottom so its smooth. Wedging clay homogenizes the water leaving the clay with less hard spots or air bubbles to interrupt your throwing.
Apply a very light dusting of cornstarch before you place your clay down. This helps the clay release itself from the bat when ready.
When placing your clay on the center of the bat it must be smushed and patted down in place. Do not move clay once on bat, pushing the clay to center may disrupt the image.
Cone as little as possible. A tall/thin cone can cause distortions in the design. Coning quickly can lift the whole bat off the pins. Focus more on downward pressure, keeping part of your hand on the bat will help it from lifting.
Once centered, drill hold and widen as normal. We added guide lines on the bat to help orient you.
Compress the bottom. A rib tool, a throwing stick or a sponge will work well. you can leave your bottom a little thicker than usual if you typically remove clay when compressing.
Use light pressure on the first and second pull or until the walls have been established, then proceed to your normal throwing pressure.
Push the skirt of the pot in with a sponge. This helps establish the inside edge of the foot.
Trim your work with a wood tool before you take it off the wheel. We added rings on the bat to guide you.

2. TAKING YOUR WORK OFF THE BAT

Take your pot off the bat when the clay is medium leather hard.
Start at one edge and gently peel while rotating around the pot. Do not peel in one direction

Medium leather hard- You should not be able to impress fingerprints in the clay easily but a fingernail should make a mark with mild pressure. Test near the bottom of the pot. The bottom of the pot and the top of the pot may be at different stages. Peel gently around the vessel to loosen the foot from the bat. You can typically feel the suction being released (good) vs a sticky sound if its still too wet. If the vessel is too dry, it will crack and chip off the bat- too wet, and it will mush the design.

3. ADDING HANDLES OR WORKING WITH MULTIPLE BATS

Once the clay is on the bat, it isn't easy to establish the orientation of the design, or what pattern you are using we have orientation stickers with a smaller design to help with that. This is a good tool if you need to add handles or alter the pot before it is medium leather hard and ready to be removed.

4. CLEANING UP YOUR WORK AFTER ITS REMOVED

To perfect the foot or inside texture, use a damp sponge and wipe over areas when the pieces is post-leather hard or bone dry.

5. GLAZE FIRING TIPS

The foot should give enough depth to glaze the bottom of your work; however using a stable glaze will help.
Some potters will add wadding to the bottom of their foot for more height if they are still unsure.

CLEANING AND STORING YOUR BAT

Use a sponge or soft bristle toothbrush to clean out any leftover clay in your bat.
Use a generous amount of water while cleaning to dissolve any clay still in the bat.
Lay your bat on a flat surface to air dry and to store.
Do not use a heat gun to speed up the drying process, this may warp the bat and possibly effect the design.

HOW TO ADD GROMMETS TO YOUR BAT

The grommets have a very snug fit and do require some force to put them in. Don't worry if it takes some time to get them in place.
Place them in the two larger holes on opposite corners. The two smaller holes are for throwing directly onto the bat pins.
Insert the smaller side into the bat and push firmly until it pops out the other side. Give a little twist to make sure they're secure and all the way inserted.