Throwing Cake Plates on the potter’s wheel is an adventure.  My choice is to throw them upside-down in one piece.  Using 6+ pounds of clay I center the piece, make an off-center opening and bring out the plate to approximately 11 inches with enough at the edge to form and “drop”.  Returning to the center of the clay I put a hole in the center and bring out and throw the stem portion.  The stem is thrown and finished with a flat, wide foot.  Then I return to finish throwing the plate portion of the piece and make sure and compress the bottom of the plate.  The last part of the throwing is pulling up the “drop” and gently rounding the edge.  I then cut under the cake plate.

Once the cake plate is leatherhard I carefully cut under it again and set it upright on my Giffin Grip.  Trimming is done right side up and very carefully as the piece will topple over or slump if treated like a regular piece to be trimmed.  To trim I simply use a medium trimming tool to cut away any uneven pieces and smooth out the side.  Trimming the top you need to be careful to get the topside level.  An optional feature would be to put a slight (1/3″) edge around the topside.

The “drop” can be left as is, carved, incised or decorated with slip or glaze. Enjoy your upside-down cake plate throwing!