David Hendley on sat 13 sep 97
Carol,
Hand extruders are EXTREMELY SIMPLE machines.
All you need is a tube for the clay,
something to push it down,
and something to hold the die.
I've made 3.
One looks similar to a Brent extruder, with a 4" pipe barrel,
one has a square barrel a la Bailey,
and one was made with a car jack, also with a round barrel.
If you are a handy person, and can cut and weld metal, building an extruder
would be pretty easy.
You can usually get everything you need at the scrap metal yard.
I like best, and mostly use, the first mentioned.
A 4" long piece of pipe the next size larger fits over the tube to hold the
die.
Bolts through tapped holes hold it onto the barrel, and a 1/2" "ring" of
the barrel diameter pipe is welded at the bottom to hold the die.
You can also have threaded the bottom of the barrel, buy a pipe cap, and
cut out the center of the cap to hold the die.
The plunger is a 2 - 4" piece of the next size smaller pipe that fits
inside the barrel.
A flat pieces is welded to one end and a piece of 1" pipe is welded to the
center of the inside of the flat piece ( do thse two steps in opposide order).
What you now have is like a piston that can move up and down inside the pipe.
Now work out a way to get leverage to move the piston.
Look at the commercial extruders.
Some use turn buckles, some use channel iron with slots cut every few inches.
There are no tricks here. What you see is what you get, and they all work.
I wrote complete directions, with diagrams and photographs, for the bumper
jack extruder in the Sept. 1976 Ceramics Monthly. It requires very minimual
welding and is quite easy to construct.
I never liked it as well since it sits horizontally.
I don't know if it could be mounted vertically.
Also, pulling the plunger back out after extruding is a little difficult.
A 2-way (up and down) jack would fix that.
This design would give you lots of coils in a hurry.
You could still give them a quick roll for a hand rolled look.
I'd be happy to send a photocopy of the article, but copies are kinda
expensive in my little town, so I'd like to ask anyone who wants a copy to
send a buck for copying and postage.
David Hendley
mailing address:
Rt. 4 Box 131
Rusk, TX 75785
At 06:54 AM 9/11/97 EDT, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Hi David,
> I too think it is not the cost of the "equipment" but what you produce
>with it. I scrange for everything I can. I am interested in knowing how you
>made your extruder. i coil build and still make them all by hand (I am very
>fast now). Would you please post your design?
>Thank you
>Carol Jackaway
>CoilLady@aol.com
>
>
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
See David Hendley's Pottery Page at
http://www.sosis.com/hendley/david/
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