[Clayart] Hanging plates

[Vince Pitelka]

I will never again rely on epoxy for hanging platter.  During my years as a full-time studio potter in Northern California, I made a lot of highfired slip-decorated platters, and people wanted to hang them on the wall.  I left a small square patch unglazed on the back, and after the glaze firing epoxied on a strip of nylon webbing holding a small steel D-ring.  It worked great, and the platter could still be used.  I never had a come-back on those platters in California, but we brought four of those platters with us when we moved to Massachusetts for grad school.  After a few months of high humidity one of those platters fell off the wall and smashed. I thought it was a fluke, but not long after that the second platter fell off the wall.  We had two more on the wall, and the nylon webbing peeled off easily because the epoxy had softened.  I made wire plate-hangers for the two surviving platters, and we still have both.

Ever since then I have drilled several 1/8" holes through the outer foot ring (I always place several concentric foot rings on large plates and all platters).  When glazing, I bend a pipe cleaner in a "U" shape, dip it in water, and put it in the holes.  I dip the platter in the glaze and remove the pipe cleaner, and the holes always remain open.  After the glaze firing I install a loop of stainless steel music wire in the holes.  Once again, the platter can still be used, because that loop doesn't get in the way.  

The system I described yesterday for making plate hangers applies if no other hanging device works.
- Vince 

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Tech University
vpitelka at dtccom.net  
sites.tntech.edu/wpitelka/