CTM Potters Supplies

CTM Potters Supplies: clay, glazes and equipment for UK potters

CTM Potters Supplies is a family business that in 2005 acquired the long-established CTM Supplies and the Contem brand after the previous owner retired. Trading as Simba Materials Limited, it supplies tools, clay, glazes and raw materials for pottery making and runs showrooms or sales counters in Doncaster and Exeter where customers can browse the stock in person.

The company describes itself as probably the most cost-effective source of pottery materials in the UK, a claim it links to buying in bulk. It also states that it holds probably the UK's most cost-effective stock of metal oxides and raw materials, alongside glaze frits, plasters and polishing powders.

Clay ranges and direct delivery

CTM is a main distributor for Valentine Clays and its Standard, Earthstone, LoStone and Professional ranges, stocking sixty-five of them across the two sites, including some powdered clays and casting slips. Around 85 clays from the Valentine and Earthstone ranges are kept in stock, and the company can also deliver pallet lots of Valentine and Earthstone clays as well as pallet lots from Potclays.

Orders of clay from Valentine (including Earthstone) or Potclays can be arranged for delivery by tail-lift vehicle in lots from 250 kg to 1000 kg, with discounts available for multiple clays from a single manufacturer. The catalogue also lists coloured and special clays, paper clay, porcelain, terracotta, white earthenware and low-porosity stoneware.

Glazes, colours and raw materials

The glaze and colour range covers earthenware, stoneware and porcelain finishes, including brush-on and powder glazes, clear and white glazes, crackle glazes, lustres, on-glazes, underglaze pencils and powdered underglaze. Brands named in the catalogue include Amaco (Potters Choice, Flux and Celadon brush-on), Botz (earthenware, stoneware, engobes and Pro Glaze), Contem (earthenware, metallic, stoneware, stains and liquid underglaze), Mayco (Designer Liner, Mudcrack and Magma, Stoneware and Stroke and Coat), Terracolor and Staffordshire Stoneware Glazes.

Raw materials stocked include colouring oxides, formers, grogs, plaster, frits and polishing powders, together with suspension agents, decorating slips and other miscellaneous liquids.

Tools, studio equipment and starter kits

The tools section covers hundreds of items: brushes (Chinese, English natural and twist-grip sets), tile and pattern cutters, sponges, mud tools, ribs and sticks, knives, clay cutters and harps, steel and stem turning tools, needles and hole cutters, ribbon and clean-up tools, Sheffield forged steel tools, boxwood modelling tools, looped, coiled and handle makers, and strip and sculpturing tools. Studio equipment includes extruders and clay guns, sieves, plastic and wooden rolling pins, guides and rollers, slab rollers, wooden wheel batts, buckets, containers and scoops, scales, banding wheels, glaze mixing equipment and tongs, safety wear, palettes and kidneys.

Starter kits are offered for throwing, modelling, sculpting and handbuilding. The catalogue also lists refractory items, shelves and supports, kiln repair and firing supplies, Orton cones and bisque tiles, plus bisque and press moulds.

Kilns and potters wheels

CTM usually holds 20 to 40 Rohde, Kilncare and Nabertherm kilns in stock in the UK so that buyers can inspect build quality, and it maintains a separate website for kilns and wheels. For wheels, the company selected a stock range intended to cover most potters' needs and budgets: a Frema table-top model, two budget powerful BTH wheels, two Shimpo wheels, a Gladstone Bailey and a Rohde HMT600, with other Gladstone models available to order. Wheels are regularly brought in by the dozen to support competitive pricing.

The company offers telephone advice on choosing a wheel or a Rohde, Nabertherm or Kilncare kiln, covering amperage requirements, internal height and width options, controllers, delivery and initial firing routines, and will call back customers who reach the line while staff are serving someone in person.

Ordering, payment and accounts

Orders can be placed by phone or by emailing a list for the company to price up, including delivery charges, so that schools can complete purchase requisitions accurately. Payment is by phone or bank transfer. There is no card processing fee for personal cards, while a 2% fee applies to business purchasing cards and business debit or credit cards, and a 2% charge applies to any non-UK international cards. Accounts can be set up for schools, colleges and charities subject to orders being placed on official paperwork or official order numbers.

Prices on the website and in downloads are net of VAT, and delivery charges and VAT are added to all orders. The company notes that prices are subject to change without notice.

Buying from one site and association discount

CTM recommends buying from a single site so that a buying history is kept, useful for example when a customer wants to identify a glaze used previously. If an item is out of stock at one site, the company despatches from the other, so there is no need to call both. Orders can be sent by post, courier or pallet, whichever suits the customer or proves most cost-effective.

Members of National and Regional Potters Associations receive a 5% discount, provided the association promotes members' work through events, furthers ceramic knowledge through seminars and lectures, and has annual subscription membership. The membership number must be supplied, and the company recommends registering it so it only has to be given once. The discount applies to all items except direct-delivered clay, where margins are described as small, and kilns and wheels, where discounts are already applied or worked out specifically based on current exchange rates.