Making My Own Dinner Plates

This is a #shorts story about trying to save a thousand dollars on dinner plates and failing

[the_usual_icyasacocoair-ty]

"Plates need to be the exact same size"

*i give up*

[SirWetBiscuit]

Bury the broken ones in your back yard in hopes some archeologist discovers them thousands of years from now

[justathought]

As a former art student who worked in the ceramics lab, I freaked out when you said you wanted to make your own plates! They were always the final project of the semester and could not be accomplished without an instructor's close supervision. The first one, at least. Tough assignment. Good for you for trying.

[Alex-rtpo]

“How to stop eating off of half of your paycheck”

[Kuraerisu]

"Shit's too expensive, I'll do it myself."
Ah yes, the MMORPG Method.

[elloba]

the no ghosting sign, what a great environment really, just laughed so hard

[eviethekiwi]

Honey there are guests coming over, bring out “the good plates”

[maddylee]

As a ceramic artist, I really appreciate you making the point that handmade products are worth the higher price because it takes a lot of skill and discipline to make them.

[peetabrown]

I like the triumphant “one perfect dinner plate!” being held up

[gingerking]

"It costs this much cos it takes me fucking hours 🎶 "

[solvorine]

Going to an antique shop or a thrift shop is actually underrated. I’ve found a lot of amazing items there that are extremely cheap.

[QuestioningYourSanity]

This is a new level of hipster. "Oh you grow your own rosemary? Well, I grow my own plates."

[Weisz]

I’m sorry, who says eating out is cheaper??

[JacobE-]

"No ghosting, Anytime" 😂😂 most people won't get that nowadays

[faruz]

It’s that “why spent $ buying a cardigan, when you can buy $$ amount of craft supply” meme… and I totally supports it

[TheNeonWerewolf]

If you're worried about a piece cracking while it's drying, try covering it instead of letting it open air dry. A lot of times when something cracks, its because one portion dried out way sooner than the other. It takes a lot longer to dry when you cover it, but it will save you in the long run.

[stalebread]

Took one semester of ceramics in college to make me appreciate the art of ceramics. Honestly the $40 hand made plate I’d consider on the cheaper side

[jabbrwok]

this how you know this dude is healthy. you see how accepting and gentle he can speak of his own 'failures'? that's a dude who build skills. mental on lock.

[smrj]

“it’s too expensive i’ll do it myself” pays more to realise why it’s so expensive

edit: obviously he gets more out of being able to do pottery himself. this whole comment was just to say that sometimes people look at art work and wonder why its so expensive, because it takes a lot of time, effort and skill.

[CharlieApples]

As a ceramics nerd, I’m amazed and confused as to why you went straight into wheel throwing without learning slab building first. Here’s how I would make plates the easy way:

• The flat circular plate with raised edges is really perfect for this. Easiest plate type to make.

• Use a rolling pin to flatten out a sheet of clay to the desired thickness for the bottom. Be sure to make it nice and even.

• Tie a piece of string loosely to a sharp tool or pencil, and tie the other end tightly to another sharp tool or pencil. Hold the first pencil so that the tip is just barely touching the center of the clay and keep it there. Gently use the other pencil to lightly trace a circle by rotating it around the center pencil. Cut out the circle of clay.

• Re-knead your remaining clay and roll it into a long, straight, thinner sheet. Measure the diameter of your clay circle and calculate its circumference. As an example, let’s say the circumference is 36 inches. So we would then use a yardstick or ruler to trace a 36 inch long, ~1 inch wide rectangle in the sheet of clay. Cut out the strip, score the edges of the clay circle you cut out previously and wrap the long strip of clay around the edge of the clay circle. Use slip to ensure that the clay bonds without a seam. Finally, round off the edges of the plate’s rim, and boom.

Perfect circular flat plate with a raise edge. With zero wheel throwing.