Ceramic Travel Coffee Mug
With a Wide Base

We coffee lovers need a good ceramic travel coffee mug to fall in love with. Rather than buy a boring tumbler with a silicone lid, learn about a unique, handmade, wide base coffee cup.

This popular design has a narrow neck and an ample capacity.

The wide bottom provides a very stable base to prevent it from tipping, while the narrow neck and rim help to prevent liquid from splashing and spilling.

Another variety of ceramic coffee travel mug will fit into your car cup holder. It has a narrower base and wider rim.

This type requires a cork, rubber, or silicone lid to prevent spilling.

Make a Wide-Bottom Mug

To make a wide bottom travel mug with a narrow neck, start with a ball of clay about the size of a softball. Center the clay normally. Click to learn pottery centering techniques. When you open up the center, pull the clay open further than normal to create a 4 inch wide opening.

As you pull the clay up, push mostly from the outside so that the walls slope inward toward the top at a 60 degree angle, like the shape of a tall volcano.

Thin the lower walls to 1/4 inch. Keep them angling inward. This leaves you with a nice 5 to 6 inch wide base.

Close the rim in to create a neck that is 2 inches tall by 2 1/2 inches wide. This will prevent liquid from splashing out of the mug if it gets bumped.

These mugs generally are not trimmed on the wheel since the narrow rim is difficult to balance upside down without using a chuck. They also function best when they have some weight to the bottom.

Dry the mug to leather hard and attach a handle.

I recommend attaching the handle at the middle of the neck and about 1/2 inch up from the bottom.

This is for a normal sized handle. As an alternative, you can make a smaller two-finger loop handle and attach it just at the neck.

I hope you enjoy making your ceramic coffee mug, and happy potting.

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