How to become a Potters, Manufacturing 2024

Potters, Manufacturing Operate production machines such as pug mill, jigger machine, or potter's wheel to process clay in manufacture of ceramic, pottery and stoneware products.

Potters, Manufacturing is Also Know as

In different settings, Potters, Manufacturing is titled as

Clay Mixer
Glazer
Jigger Artisan
Jigger Machine Operator
Jiggerman
Kiln Worker
Potter
Pottery Manufacturer
Production Potter
Pugmill Operator

Education and Training of Potters, Manufacturing

Potters, Manufacturing is categorized in Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Potters, Manufacturing

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Education Required for Potters, Manufacturing

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Degrees Related to Potters, Manufacturing

Training Required for Potters, Manufacturing

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Potters, Manufacturing in different industries are

What Do Potters, Manufacturing do?

Press thumbs into centers of revolving clay to form hollows, and press on the inside and outside of emerging clay cylinders with hands and fingers, gradually raising and shaping clay to desired forms and sizes.
Adjust wheel speeds according to the feel of the clay as pieces enlarge and walls become thinner.
Position balls of clay in centers of potters' wheels, and start motors or pump treadles with feet to revolve wheels.
Raise and shape clay into wares, such as vases and pitchers, on revolving wheels, using hands, fingers, and thumbs.
Prepare work for sale or exhibition, and maintain relationships with retail, pottery, art, and resource networks that can facilitate sale or exhibition of work.
Smooth surfaces of finished pieces, using rubber scrapers and wet sponges.
Design clay forms and molds, and decorations for forms.
Move pieces from wheels so that they can dry.
Pull wires through bases of articles and wheels to separate finished pieces.
Examine finished ware for defects and measure dimensions, using rule and thickness gauge.
Perform test-fires of pottery to determine how to achieve specific colors and textures.
Maintain supplies of tools, equipment, and materials, and order additional supplies as needed.
Verify accuracy of shapes and sizes of objects, using calipers and templates.
Operate drying chambers to dry or finish molded ceramic ware.
Start machine units and conveyors and observe lights and gauges on panel board to verify operational efficiency.
Adjust pressures, temperatures, and trimming tool settings as required.
Operate pug mills to blend and extrude clay.
Operate jigger machines to form ceramic ware, such as bowls, cups, plates, and saucers.
Teach pottery classes.
Operate gas or electric kilns to fire pottery pieces.
Mix and apply glazes to pottery pieces, using tools, such as spray guns.
Attach handles to pottery pieces.
Pack and ship pottery to stores or galleries for retail sale.
Design spaces to display pottery for sale.

Qualities of Good Potters, Manufacturing

Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Tools Used by Potters, Manufacturing

Air cleaners
Air compressors
Ball mills
Banding wheels
Carving spatulas
Carving tools
Ceramics kilns
Clay cutters
Clay extruders
Clay mixers
Clay presses
Cleanup tools
Conveyor feeding systems
Dial calipers
Digital scales
Dipping tongs
Drying ovens
Dust masks
Electric kilns
Fettling knives
Gas kilns
Grinding wheels
Hake brushes
Handheld sprayers
Hole cutters
Insulated gloves
Kick wheels
Kiln glasses
Kiln gloves
Lace tools
Laptop computers
Layout templates
Mold trimming knives
Oxyprobes
Personal computers
Portable pottery wheels
Pottery molds
Pottery wheels
Precision rulers
Pug mills
Pyrometers
Raku tongs
Safety glasses
Scoring tools
Slab rollers
Slip trail applicators
Spray booths
Spring scales
Texturing brushes
Thickness gauges
Tile cutters
Triple beam balances

Technology Skills required for Potters, Manufacturing

Inventory control software
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Outlook

US Universities

How to become Potters, Manufacturing in 2024