The pinch pot is the simplest handbuilding technique: a ball of clay is hollowed out and its walls thinned by pressing with the thumb and fingers, working around the form in a spiral until the wall reaches an even thickness. It needs no tools beyond the hands and is often the first technique taught to a new potter, since it builds a direct feel for wall thickness that carries over to every other forming method.
A ball of well-wedged clay is held in one hand, and the thumb of the other is pressed straight down into its center, stopping before it reaches the far side to leave a solid floor. Working around the rim in a continuous spiral, the fingers on the outside and the thumb on the inside pinch the wall between them, gradually thinning and widening the form with each pass while the piece is slowly rotated. Pinching too quickly or unevenly in one spot thins the wall faster there than elsewhere, which is the most common cause of a pinch pot cracking or collapsing partway through. Wall thickness is usually checked by feel, pinching the wall between thumb and finger, rather than by eye; a wall held up to strong light also shows thin spots as brighter patches where less clay blocks the light.
A pinch pot's size is limited mainly by hand reach and by how far a single piece of clay can be worked without drying out or the walls beginning to sag, which keeps the technique best suited to cups, small bowls, and similar compact forms rather than large vessels. Two pinch-formed halves can be joined rim to rim (scored and slipped, as with any handbuilding join) to make a larger hollow form such as a sphere, and a pinch pot is also a common starting point that is later built up further with added coils or attached slab elements.