The Steve Tool is a texture application tool. It is a re-invention of the wheel designed specifically for clay. It doesn’t clog easy so you get lots of raw texture! Use the tool to apply texture to thrown or hand built work.
View/download a 7 page how-to guide with step-by-step photos
It works for hand building or sculpting as well as thrown pieces. One tool can be configured many ways for many different texture results.
You receive in the same tool kit BOTH the gear style and spoke style texture disks.
- To use The Steve Tool, throw a cylinder.
- Scrape the side clean with a rib.
- Roll the texture wheels around the spinning cylinder & move slowly up the cylinder (or fast, your choice).
- For slab work (or breads) flatten out the material and roll on texture.
- After texture is applied, form the shape from only the inside of the cylinder.
You’ll see how the texture becomes “part of the pottery” & not simply “applied texture” which is how texture looks when applied to a finished pot. You’ll see patterns mimic nature. The patterns add to the tactile feel of your pottery. Stretch the pottery until the walls get very thin & you’ll feel the texture come through to the inside of the pottery. You’ll be inspired to try other effects from texture work. Try filling in the texture with contrasting clay, then trim smooth at the leather hard stage. Try texture on thick or thin wall cylinders. The Steve Tool readily pays for itself in the first pot sold! Textured surfaces can add another layer of interest to your shapes and also control runny glazes. You'll be capable of producing hundreds of surface affects on wheel thrown pottery or hand built claywork! No more stealing toys from the kitchen! The same Steve Tool can be configured into many variant designs by rearranging the disks over the shaft in assorted patterns. Loosen the nuts, adjust the plastic disks into alternate locations & retighten the nuts. It's just a wheel, so let it spin.
Use it for pastry? Why not? We steal from the kitchens, why not start using a pottery tool for pies, pastries, etc? It's only right...
