Making Bowls Out Of Clay

[egontheviking]

So I have some skill with making pottery and other various pieces of art out of clay. I have access to a kiln and ceramics studio to make whatever I want, I am an art student. So I am going to attempt to make my own bowls for my hookah. I will gather the necessary measurements and such to make a snug seal. My first attempt will be to make a simple egyptian style bowl and then I will try to make a phunnel bowl as well. I figure I would ask if anyone has tried this before and if anyone has any suggestions or words of advice before attempting this.

This doesn't appear to be complex at all since I can merely craft these pieces with simple manipulation or perhaps even using a potters wheel. I can also glaze these bowls in various different colors all of which will be glazes that are safe to eat off of. If this proves to be a success I may attempt at making by own ceramic bases as well.

[Akkbar]

keep us posted. i am interested in your progress

[blacklabelqlewis]

i was actually discussing this with my g/f today. i can throw down pretty well on a potters wheel as well, but i want to make the base, stem and bowl all myself so that they fit together with grommets. the only advice i can offer is when taking your measurements remember that clay generally shrinks about 25% or something like that from the time it is pliable to the time it is fired.

[rbyers]

I made a funnel bowl in my ceramics class last year, it worked very well until i broke it yesterday. I have one coming in the mail now, should be here tomorrow. Then next quarter of school I'm going to take another ceramics class and try to produce dozens of funnel bowls for myself or I might try selling them to the hookah shop in town. It would be tight to go into production making hookah bowls, sell them at maybe $7 to the shop to sell at maybe $15 a piece.

Just make sure it's nice and smooth all over and that it fits on your hookah. If it's smooth you'll probably enjoy it more, less imperfections and chances for it to break if it ever takes any falls. Mine broke when I hit it against the bench we were on, to clean out any shisha niblets that were left. I'm really mad at myself for breaking it; I had it for maybe 5 months before it broke. Worked really well. Also, you should make it look cool with like a little embossed letter on the side of the bowl or something. I had a circle with an R on it for my name Reed.

EDIT: Using the wheel you want to make sure that you have a hole in the middle of it. That was kind of a bitch for me to do so i didn't use the wheel for my funnel. Edited October 12, 2007 by rbyers

[everydayshisha]

Rbyers did you use any kind of glaze for your funnel?

[rbyers]

I glazed it, it turned out grey/blackish with lighter speckles all over it. I don't know if it was a "food quality" glaze or not, but it worked. I dipped the whole thing in the glaze other than the bottom or the bowl so that I could put it in the kiln without the glaze melting it to the kiln.

I made it really small but it worked while it was alive. I'm going to take another ceramics course next quarter of college to mass produce funnel bowls for personal use and sale at the local hookah shop potentially.