Our throwing or hand building clay must be properly conditioned before rolling out or
 
thrown on the wheel.  Proper wedging smoothes out the consistency by evenly distributing
 
the moisture present in the clay, eliminating hard areas.
 
Many of us find wedging our clay properly a difficult job.  We may lack the
 
strength or have hand problems that prevent us from doing this job right.
 
A method called wire wedging eliminates the stresses to our hands and wrists resulting
 
from regular spiral wedging.   In wire wedging just 30 cut and slams will
 
produce over 1 million layers in your wedged clay.   Remember the power of 2,  check
 
out the math.    This results in a very homogenized clay that resists S cracking

in your pots and helps your tiles fire flat.
 
If you have a pottery instructor ask them to demonstrate this easy method for you.  Once
 
seen it is easy to understand and pick up.
 
The basic method is as follows:
 
1.  Cut off a piece of clay 3 to 5 pounds to start, smaller lumps are harder to work with.
 
2.  Pat and roll it into a smooth rectangular block.
 
3.  At the wedging table use the tensioned  wire to cut the block in half,   making 2  roughly square pieces.  Place one   piece on the  wedging table and slam the other piece down on top,  being careful to not make any pock marks on  the surfaces that will be joined, they might trap an air bubble.
    Don't slam down the cut edges, imagine your clay halves as slices of bread your stacking up as you slam them together.
 
4. Continue picking up your slammed clay and cutting in half with the wire, slamming one half on the other each time.  30 cut  and slams will do a wonderful job of conditioning and mixing your clay.
 
If the clay you start with needs to be softened up use a spray bottle with water to add moisture between cuts.

This is a wonderful way to completely homogenize 2 different clays or a softer clay with a harder clay.
 
If your rolling your clay orient your layers horizontally, which means you'll need to mark  top or bottom of the stack if it isn't obvious.
If you plan to throw your clay cut off a piece and pat it into a pug with the layers parallel to the wheel head or gently hand wedge it a few times.
 

If wedging has you down try slamming your clay, once you get the hang of it goes very fast and you'll love the results.

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