Ceiling Fan Pottery Wheel + 7 More DIY Pottery Solutions

Some very, very clever people have taken pottery back to its uber-DIY roots and come up with the hacks that you need to do your own pottery, in your own space, on your own time.

So the thing with pottery is that it can get expensive fast.

Like really expensive. Really fast.

Most of that expense, however, is because you’ve got to go somewhere to do your pottery, letting that place pick up the bill for all the infrastructure, but paying hefty membership, hourly, or rental fees in return. And it’s the same at every level, whether you just want to paint a water bowl for your cat or want to throw your own vase.

Fortunately, some very, very clever people have taken pottery back to its uber-DIY roots (pots weren’t always thrown on electric wheels and fired in professional kilns, you know!), and come up with the hacks that you need to do your own pottery, in your own space, on your own time. One of my favorites is this pottery wheel made from a ceiling fan motor, courtesy of HowtoLou. This pottery wheel is totally do-able, although I’d suggest reading through all the comments for some mods that can make it a little safer, and it works! It’s an especially great solution for families with older kids who want to try throwing pots, but who don’t want to pay for pricey classes or studio fees right now.

Intrigued by the possibilities of DIY pottery? Check out some other pottery hacks here:

1. Paint your own pottery. With some careful thrifting and the right supplies, you can have your own at-home pottery painting studio. Everyone wants their very own custom-painted ceramic mug!

2. Make a pottery wheel from a treadmill. LOTS of people want to give away their old treadmills. Their failed exercise goals can be your new pottery wheel!

3. Make a kickwheel. You can leave off fooling with electricity altogether by making a kickwheel for throwing pots, instead.

4. Make a primitive kiln. This project uses a carefully-supervised open fire and split ash to fire pots.

5. Pit fire without a kiln. Before kilns were invented, there were pit fires. Learn how to fire your pots the REALLY old-fashioned way!

6. Smoke fire pottery. This method is a lot less hard-core than most of the other non-kiln firing methods, but the trade-off is that the fired pots will still be porous. They WILL be lovely, however, so it’s a great method for kid creations.

7. Fire pottery on the grill. Use a charcoal grill to fire your pottery. The link also includes notes about clay types and decorative effects that you can incorporate into this method.

Got a great hack for DIY pottery? Share it in the Comments below!