PCN

A sharp steel needle for trimming a rim level and for cutting off. The tool you reach for without looking.

PCN is Kemper's potter's cut-off needle. Its main use on the wheel is levelling: hold the needle against a turning rim, let it cut in until it meets your thumb, and lift the ring away. A rim trued that way is level to the wheel rather than level to your eye, which is a different and better standard. It also does the ordinary work of scoring, piercing, and testing wall thickness. Sharp steel, so it stays in a pot on the bench point-down rather than loose in a drawer.