A porous bat may be used on a pottery wheel including a locating pin at a nominal location. The porous bat includes an elongated hole at a location corresponding to the nominal location. The elongated hole is adapted to slidably fit over the locating pin. The hole has a first axis with a dimension sized to fit over the locating pin and a second axis with a dimension larger than the first dimension to compensate for variations in the location of the locating pin on the pottery wheel.