Clay Times Back Issues Volume 3 Issue 8 • Jan/Feb 1997 | Page 22

How to Make Drip-Free Spouts
BY JOHN HESSELBERTH

Spouts that drip or don’t drip have long been
something of a mystery to many potters. The problem
is sometimes minor when a spout has one or two
drops dribble down the outside of the pot when pouring is stopped. But occasionally some of us will make a
pot that dribbles a continuous stream of water down
the outside of the pot while simultaneously pouring a
stream of water where it is supposed to go. What is the
difference? What is going on?
While I have not conducted an
exhaustive search for the answer to
this question, I have looked through
many, many books on the general subject of pottery to learn what is known
about this problem. Most authors simply ignore dripping and dribbling
and, instead, focus on the mechanical
aspects of hand building or throwing
spouts. A very few do address the
subject, though. For example, Susan Peterson, in her
book, The Craft and Art of Clay, writes, “The spout
needs to be wide enough at the pouring edge not to
gurgle, have a sharp lip to prevent dripping, and be
attached so that the open end is higher...”
Michael Casson, in his book, The Craft of the Potter,
also addresses the challenge of drip-free spouts: “The
rim’s edge is very important for this operation and
potters get up to all sorts of tricks to achieve a goodlooking lip that also pours well...This gives rise to a
nice rising lip with a sharp edge that will cut off the
liquid...” Again, he focuses on sharp edges.
Unfortunately, having a sharp edge is not the complete answer. I have made more than a few spouts
with sharp edges that still drip or dribble. (I suspect
most of us have!)
By far, the best discourse I have found was given
by Daniel Rhodes, in his landmark book, Pottery Form.
On page 137, he addressed the subject:

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“The spout need be only long enough to give a
well-directed stream of tea into the cup. Usually, it protrudes no more than about one half of the diameter of
the body of the pot. It can either be a tapering or a
tube-like form. Excessive taper, that is a very wide
base narrowing down to a small opening, may create
turbulence in the liquid and cause gurgling. The inside
of the spout needs to be at least as large as the diameter of, say, a fountain pen, and it can be bigger than
that and still pour well. It should be smooth inside,

without constrictions. At the end, the spout will terminate in a sharp lip which cuts off the flow of tea and
prevents dripping. The direction of the spout at this
point should be roughly parallel to the table; then,
when the pot is tilted, the area just under the edge of
the lip of the spout will be uphill to the tea. A feature
which helps to prevent dribbling is a little ditch or
channel cut on the inside of the spout beginning at the
very edge or lip and running back a
bit into the spout. When the pour is
If the spout tip is horizoncut off, the tea tends to run back
tal or pointing downward
when liquid begins to flow,
down this little groove instead of
the spout will not drip.
down the outside of the spout.”
If the spout
tip is pointing
upward, the
spout will drip
and/or dribble.

This is very helpful advice.
Peterson and Casson also point out,
as many of us have heard from one
source or another, the importance of
a sharp edge. Yet I believe Rhodes’
statement about the direction of the
spout is often ignored and is what gets most people
into trouble. In my opinion, his remarks about direction, however, need a little expanding to assure nodrip, dribble-free spouts.
In my experience, the direction of the end of the
spout, when the pot is full, tilted slightly, and just
starting to pour, needs to be horizontal or pointing
slightly downward. This is illustrated in the drawing
above. As you look at this illustration, think about
what is going to happen if the spout shown w