Pottery and porcelain casters fill moulds with clay to cast pottery and porcelain wares. They pour excess slip out of the mould when needed, drain moulds, remove the cast from the mould, smooth the casting surfaces to remove marks and place the castings on boards to dry.

Tasks

Tasks include -
(a) Making articles of pottery and porcelain;
(b) Making clay or plaster-of-paris moulds;
(c) Reading technical drawings to know customer’s requirements;
(d) Forming articles on potter's wheel by pressing thumbs into centres 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;
(e) Adjusting wheel speeds according to the feel of the clay as pieces enlarge and walls become thinner;
(f) Operating jigger machines to form ceramic ware, such as bowls, cups, plates and saucers;
(g) Adjusting and setting controls of pug mill that mix, extrudes, cuts, and deposits clay charges in or over moulds as specified;
(h) Smoothening surfaces of finished pieces, using rubber scrapers and wet sponges;
(i) Forming abrasive wheels by moulding and pressing an abrasive mixture by hand or by machine;
(j) Examining finished ware for defects verifying accuracy of shapes and sizes of objects, using callipers and templates;
(k) Preparing work for sale or exhibition, and maintaining relationships with retail, pottery, art and resource networks that can facilitate sale or exhibition of work.