Emma's Tagine part 2

Today, I trimmed the bottom of Emma's Tagine and threw the "bottom" of the lid to form the top, if that makes sense. Basically, I threw the lid upside down. Finished the rim, flipped it over when the rim was dry enough and threw the top bit into the proper shape.

The lid

I did run into one problem. When the lid dried, it shrank so that it was a little too small for the bottom. I had to spend a little time trying to gently stretch out mostly dry clay to the proper width. It's closer now, but with more shrinkage, there could be a problem. This is the hard part about making anything with a lid. It may seem like the top and bottom fit perfectly, but then they shrink. Still, I prefer to make something slightly smaller because then there's more of a chance of a decent fit (not a perfect one) than one that is just too big. And trying to make something to fit a piece that is already bisqued or dry is a pain.

Here is the bottom, untrimmed.

Here it is trimmed.

I should have waited a little bit longer to trim it as it was a bit too wet. The center did dip down a bit and there are visible trim markings on it too. I don't like that! Fortunately, when a piece is a little too wet and dips, you can flip it over and push the dip back out without cracking and such. You still have to be careful, but it's salvageable.