This round wooden bat serves as a support base for your work (often used with a banding wheel or a turntable). Its benefits are as follows:
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Allows for 360-degree rotation of your work. Place your piece on the wooden bat and position it on a banding wheel. This allows for consistent detailing, trimming, or attaching clay sections all around the piece.
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Reduces direct contact with the workpiece. When you need to move your piece for inspection, drying, or to another workbench, you can simply lift the wooden bat. This prevents fingerprints or distortion on soft pieces.
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Helps absorb moisture from the bottom of the piece. Wood has suitable moisture-absorbing properties for clay, allowing the base of the piece to dry evenly along with the top. This reduces cracking at the bottom of the piece.