Hartley & Noble

Hartley & Noble Pottery Batts & Tile Batt Systems
Home of the Russian Doll Batt
Pottery Drape Moulds / Forms
Bespoke

01/09/2026

I learnt this one the expensive way… 🤦‍♀️ If you saw last week’s honest review of my mini pottery wheel, you’ll already know I didn’t make the best choice buying this wheel.

But that wasn’t my only mistake. I didn’t measure the wheelhead either!

Online, my wheel is described as 6 inches, so I didn’t bother measuring it. I had a £50 Batt System made for it… and it doesn’t fit!

So I’m sharing the lesson I learnt from my £50 mistake: before ordering batts for your pottery wheel, measure the actual wheelhead first 📏

I’ve linked our quick video showing how to measure a wheel without batt pins, and we have guides for both types of wheel on our website too.

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30/08/2026

This is a white speckled glaze, but it’s fired much creamier than I expected. I’m wondering what I could try next time to get it a bit whiter?

It’s a lovely satin matte from Scarva. I’m using a white stoneware clay and fired to cone 6. I’m wondering whether the clay body, firing temperature or firing schedule could be influencing the colour. Is there anything I could change to make my white more bright?

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26/08/2026

✨ We always enjoy seeing how potters use our equipment in their own practice, and it was really lovely to see using our Batt Adaptor Kit recently.

A big thank you to Florian for letting us share the video.

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23/08/2026

How can you tell when your plates are dry enough to come off the tile? 👀

Last week I shared a little video showing how I threw these plates, and a few people asked how I pop them off. I hope this helps 👇

I’m still new to throwing plates, so I’m learning the signs to look for. I check how damp the clay feels and look for a small gap appearing around the edge. If the clay still feels damp and the plate is sitting tightly against the tile, I leave it a little longer.

There’s no wire involved with this method✨ which means less risk of warping the plate at this stage.

This works because of the quality of the material that my batt system is made from.

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19/08/2026

Do you know of a genuinely small pottery wheel that can comfortably handle around 500g of clay? 👀

I think I may have expected a bit too much from this little VEVOR wheel 😂

I was hoping I could throw around 400–500g of clay on it and make a mug, but I don’t think that’s really what it’s designed for. It feels much better suited to miniature pottery.

That might be perfect for some potters, but it isn’t what I’m looking for right now.

So the search continues…

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What a brilliant day at Potfest Suffolk! ☀️ We arrived when the gates opened and stayed until after they closed. Surroun...
09/08/2026

What a brilliant day at Potfest Suffolk! ☀️ We arrived when the gates opened and stayed until after they closed. Surrounded by the most incredible mix of ceramics and the people who make them.

One of the loveliest parts for me was finally meeting pottery friends in real life who I’ve known through Instagram for the last few years, people who’ve encouraged me and supported me as I’ve been learning pottery.

Stuart loved chatting to potters about how they work (and, inevitably, how he could invent tools to make their lives easier). While I spent most of the day nattering, watching demonstrations and being completely distracted by beautiful pottery.

We were even lucky enough to meet and have a fascinating chat with Matt Cox about Potfest and how it all began.

Thank you to everyone who stopped to chat and made us feel so welcome, including those I was too busy talking to to actually remember to photograph! If you love ceramics and you’ve never been to a Potfest, we’d absolutely recommend it.

We already can’t wait to visit more pottery festivals. Which ones would you recommend we check out next?

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05/08/2026

Are you coming to Potfest in Suffolk this weekend?? Come say hi 👋 We’d love to meet you!

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