This last weekend we had a customer in our showroom that made a comment about my mugs being heavy. I mumbled something about better heat retention and left it at that. So today for curiosities sake I decided to measure and weigh one of those standard straight sided mass produced coffee mugs.
Let me preface with this: my mugs are made from one pound of clay and then have an attached handle. After firing they vary in size and shape and hold about 12 oz give or take. After firing they weigh around 13 oz and the walls at the thickest are 3/16" thick.
The mass produced mug holds exactly 12 oz. The walls are consistently 1/4" thick and taper to 1/8" on the rim and it weighs exactly 1 pound. They have possibly the most uncomfortable handles known to man.
What is with this notion that thinner is better? Thin cups chip/break easier and they lose the heat/cold faster. Functional pots should function properly.
I'll leave it at that.
Cheers!
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5 comments:
I'm not big fan of thin handmade pots. Esp. functional pots. We have some mugs and bowls made by a very well known NC potter and I hardly use them. I esp. don't like thin bowls, I always feel like I'm going to knock it and that will be then end of that. And those thin lipped cups, I just want to bite them like a potato chip. I do love really thin porcelain pots that are meant to look at. Esp. those with torn edges and soft translucent glazes. We don't own any though. Ha.
Cool that you did the measuring and weighing of the mugs.
I'm with you guys, I like thick pots.
Although, I have to say, I just bought a rather thin mug from Dean and Martin and I love it. They compensate for the thinness with having one of the most comfortable handles I have ever seen. I haven't owned a store bought mug in years. Can't stand them!
ah the customer and their comments are they the bane of our existence or part of the challenge that we love to torture ourselves with..I had one on sunday oh these handles are so delicate, try this one..oh thats too big, she bought the teacup! saturday was the opposite man size paws looking for 3 finger man handles which is prob my entire hand!! even my new handles weren't big enough..i think he was lookin for a tankard!!
Hi Brandon, I am an intermediate pottery student and just wanted to say how much I enjoy your blog. You often have extremely informative posts such as this one, the one about pricing, and your videos. Anyway, you have one of my favorite pottery blogs. Thanks a lot! ~Andy.
PS- I have a yunomi of yours from Etsy and its great, not too heavy, not too light. And I don't burn my hands picking it up after I fill it up.
i get these comments often. many people expect corningware weights....seriously. i shrug it off as well. nice post, with all of the measurements and such.
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