There are great skills in #StokeonTrent pic.twitter.com/s1i76suJSU

— A.Norman Tempest (@RSTDesign) March 7, 2019

One of Royal Stafford’s own workers in the clay department showing us how much talent is needed to make our pottery.
This machine is used to make our plates and serving dishes as it speeds up the process and gets consistent results with every piece.

0:00 He first cuts a piece of clay that is the right size for our oval platters.

0:07 He then uses the machine the roll out the clay. It’s much quicker to do it with a machine compared to hand rolling it and the results are the same every time. He also applies a small amount of water to make the clay more pliable and easier to mould.

0:30 Once the clay is the correct thickness, he throws the clay onto the oval plate mould. By throwing it down onto the mould he will be able to perfectly indent the pattern into the clay.

0:40 After he has put the next piece of clay onto the machine ready to be rolled out, he removes any excess clay from around the mould. He then places it onto a potters wheel so the machine can more precisely trim off any more excess clay – creating the perfect edge to our oval plate. The machine also pushes the clay down into the grooves of the mould.

1:14 Finally the oval plate is removed from the wheel and placed into a large unit where the clay can dry and be ready for firing.

1:43 Any plates that are completely dried are removed from the mould and the mould is used for the next plate.