Rib Tool (Pottery)

A rib tool is a wide, flat handheld implement used to shape, smooth or scrape the surface of clay, most often while a piece is turning on the potter's wheel, though it is also used in handbuilding. Ribs are made of wood, metal, rubber, plastic or silicone and come in straight-edged and curved profiles; a curved, kidney-shaped rib of this kind is also commonly sold and referred to as a kidney, a name for the same family of tool taken from its curved outline. A potter draws the rib against the turning or resting clay to true up a wall, refine a curve or remove finger marks left by throwing, leaving a more even, uniform finish than the fingers alone can produce.