Jon H. Goldstein on tue 31 dec 96
Due to recent back injury I have avoided the wheel for 3 months. I am
planning to return to throwing, and it has been suggested that I throw
standing up. I am about to order the Brent Extension Kit for the
wheel. I welcome any advice that will make back problems a thing of the
past.
--
Jon H. Goldstein
Office of Policy Analysis
Dept of the Interior
Scott Finney on tue 31 dec 96
Back problems are always troublesome to say the least. I have found a
book called "Maggie's Back Book" that may prove helpful to many with
this problem. Another recently released publication of back problems and
carpal tunnel problems is "Stretching at your Computer or Desk".
http://www.shelterpub.com/_home/shelter_index.html is where you can find
out information regarding these two books.
Scott Finney
Clay Expression
finney@linex.com
Bill Amsterlaw on thu 2 jan 97
For Jon Goldstein:
Re: Standing at the wheel...
My back often bothered me when I worked at the wheel in the sitting position.
The problem was solved by raising the wheel so I could work standing up: No
more back trouble! Working upright may seem awkward at first if you have
never tried it - but once you learn to do it, you will find that you can throw
anything standing up that you are able to throw sitting down.
Ways to raise your wheel:
1. My way was to build a stand out of wood to put the wheel on. The stand
also serves as a convenient rack to hold a stack of wooden bats.
2. Several wheel manufacturers sell stands specifically designed for raising
the wheels they sell. Buying one that allows you to make height adjustments
would be a convenient feature.
3. An easy way to see if the upright position is for you: Make a platform for
your wheel out of cinder blocks.
Other advantages to the standing position:
1. It is a lot easier to step back from your work and take a good look at what
you are doing.
2. You can move around and change your position very easily - seems to make it
less fatiguing to work long hours at the wheel.
3. The elevated wheelhead makes a convenient work surface for doing a lot of
things other than throwing. It is a great substitute for a banding wheel, a
place to put the handles on cassaroles, etc.
4. Eliminating that stool results in one less object to trip over in a cramped
workspace.
Learning to throw in standing position:
You will have to learn some things about how to steady yourself. When you
work in sitting position, your butt and two legs form a stable tripod and your
pelvis is immobilized by the stool you sit on:
Your waist and upper thighs become a solid foundations on which to rest your
elbows. When you stand up on two legs, the only thing that can't move is your
feet. So, when you work in standing position, you need to learn different
ways to lean against the machine to steady yourself. Here are some things
that I do:
1. When I center, I usually bend forward and rest my forearms against the top
of the splashpan.
2. The rest of the time, when I am moving clay or tooling, I lean my waist
against the part of the wheel.
Footpedal modifications that may interest you:
Many people who work standing up prefer to control wheel speed with a hand
lever rather than a footpedal. Some people mount the footpedal at waist level
so they can operate it by hand. In August 1995, Jonathan Kaplan
(jonathan@csn.net) described a way to attach a handle a Brent footpedal that
would let you control speed either by hand or foot. For myself, I am happy
working the footpedal with my foot. Sometimes I get the wheel going and take
my foot off the pedal. However, most of the time when I am throwing, I keep
most of my weight on my left leg and keep my right foot on the pedal so I can
vary the speed without taking my hands off the work. This may sound awkward,
but it works well for me.
About back pain...
From my experience, when your back acts up, resting only makes it take longer
to get mobilized again. You should keep as active as you can. Working in the
upright position will allow you to continue to make pots even at times when
your back pain problem has flared up.
- Bill Amsterlaw (wamster@msn.com)
Plattsburgh, NY
------------------------------
On 31 Dec 1996 Jon H. Goldstein wrote:
>>
Due to recent back injury I have avoided the wheel for 3 months. I am
planning to return to throwing, and it has been suggested that I throw
standing up. I am about to order the Brent Extension Kit for the wheel. I
welcome any advice that will make back problems a thing of the past.
<<
Fiona.Beaumont on fri 3 jan 97
Jon
I would just like to add my twopenneth tp Bill's suggestions:
I learnt to throw standing up first, as I was recovering from a slipped
disk.
As Bill has suggested, the best way to "brace" yourself is to lean on the
splashpan with your forarms and and brace from the upper arms. This relieves
your back considerably. For throwing larger pots, tuck your elbow into your
waist and brace from there.
Another advantage, is that whilst you're still recovering, its easy to just move
away from the wheel to ease your back, I always found that walking around a bit
in between throws released any potential tensions in my back.
As for the controls, as Bill suggested, its possible to move them for an
electric wheel, but I actually prefer using a kick wheel standing up. A
bog-standard kick wheel allows you to alternate feet (unless you're like me and
for some reason can't co-ordinate your left foot! - no, I really did used to be
a dancer, honest!)
A more esoteric solution, is to use the wheel designed by Seth Cardew, which you
kick 6/7 times, and it uses an archimedes worm to maintain the momentum without
having to continue kicking! This means you have the wonderful control of a kick
wheel, without the hard work! I'm in the process of negotiating with Ara Cardew
to try and buy one of these (nice chap!), but at least I can collect it
relatively simply, seeing as we live on the same continent! It may be somewhat
expensive to ship to the US. But there may be something similar available over
there.
Happy New Year from Frozen England (getting our weather from Moscow at present!)
Fiona
Dunstable, UK
fiona.beaumont@ps.net
Wendy Hampton on sat 4 jan 97
Bill,
When I envision how you are throwing in a standing position, I find it hard
to understand how you would accomplish throwing tall pieces. When I am
sitting and I am throwing a tall pot I have to stand to pull it up. If you
are standing how could you keep control over the clay?
Thanks for your advise.
Wendy from Bainbridge Island wa
Bill Amsterlaw on sun 5 jan 97
Hi Wendy Hampton:
You wrote:
>>
When I envision how you are throwing in a standing position, I find it hard to
understand how you would accomplish throwing tall pieces. When I am sitting
and I am throwing a tall pot I have to stand to pull it up. If you are
standing how could you keep control over the clay?
<<
Good question. I agree: Starting in standing position is not well-suited for
making huge work. However, the vast majority of utilitarian work is under 18"
tall. Using a wheel in standing position is well-suited for work of this
size. If you make forms much taller than this, you may have to climb up on
something to get your arms in good position - do-able, but not convenient. If
you make huge forms much of the time, keep your wheel on the floor; you will
be standing much of the time, anyway. If you use a platform to elevate your
wheel, it is relatively easy (with the help of a friend) to move the wheel
from platform to floor and back again any time you wish.
- Bill Amsterlaw (wamster@msn.com)
Plattsburgh, NY
June Perry on mon 6 jan 97
Dear Fiona:
Is it possible to get more information on this archimedes worm that Seth
Cardew uses in his wheels. I'm thinking about building a Leach type treadle
wheel like Michael Cardew and others used and I'd like to incorporate this
archimedes worm (whatever it is) into the design.
Do you know what this thing is and if it would be possible to get specs or
parts? I would very much appreciate any information you could give me on
this.
Thanks in advance!
Warm regards,
June
Kenneth D Westfall on thu 9 jan 97
On Sat, 4 Jan 1997 09:53:06 EST Wendy Hampton writes:
>----------------------------Original
>message----------------------------
>Bill,
>When I envision how you are throwing in a standing position, I find it
>hard
>to understand how you would accomplish throwing tall pieces. When I
>am
>sitting and I am throwing a tall pot I have to stand to pull it up.
>If you
>are standing how could you keep control over the clay?
>Thanks for your advise.
>Wendy from Bainbridge Island wa
>
I use milk crates that i stack up like scaffolding around my wheel to
gain additional height to work on tall pots.
Kenneth
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