A Buck on fri 6 nov 09
Mel,
Often your posts will bring back a memory as this one did. In=
the late 90's my wife was taking her 4th semester of pottery at the local =
junior college and I talked the teacher into letting me take the class too.=
I got him to let me in by telling him I wouldn't be doing a lot of t=
hrowing in class. He knew I could have, combined to the existing stud=
ent load of pots, produced more than the kilns could fire. There=
were a lot of students that semester and kiln space was short as it was.&n=
bsp; His paid lab tech was taking the semester off and I wanted to spend th=
e time working with the kilns and developing glazes anyway so it was g=
oing to work out well.
The class had about 40 wheels, mostly motorized Lockerbies with a few Sh=
impos mixed in, and all the wheels were in use the better part of the class=
es. That's a lot of students when you consider that some of them were=
hand-building and others were glazing at the same time. It was funny=
to see the students fighting over who got to use the Lockerbie wheel =
the teacher used to demonstrate on.
About half way through the class, the teacher acquired 4 old used Denver=
wheels. Nice, solid, work horse type potters wheels with red bronze =
wheel-heads. They looked different than the finished looking Shimpos.=
They were not mounted into tables so they were low and very mechanic=
al looking. The peddle was a piece of board with an eye hook in the e=
nd that hooked by a light chain to the speed control lever on the side=
of the motor. You pressed the peddle down the wheel turned, you let =
off the pressure the wheel slowed down and stopped. Very smooth speed=
control. They were not exactly quiet wheels but no louder than the m=
otors on the Lockerbie, just a little different tone.
If I did any throwing in class I usually waited until people started to =
leave in the evening. I threw so seldom in class that most of th=
e students that saw me hanging around the kiln room didn't know I could.&nb=
sp;Anyway, I went to class one night feeling like doing a little throwing.&=
nbsp; The Denver wheels had not been there long and, althoug=
h all the other wheels were in use, no body wanted to use those WEIRD =
looking OLD potters wheels. So I sat down at one of the Denver wheels=
next to a much taller Lockerbie. The lady on the Lockerbie looked do=
wn at me like I was crazy to think I'd be able to do anything on that wheel=
. Well, I quickly threw a 4 pound bowl, a really nice 5 pou=
nd ginger jar with lid and a 10 inch tall bottle shaped vase. When I =
got done and was cleaning up the wheel, I noticed I was getting some odd lo=
oks from the other students. Or maybe it was the wheel that
was getting the looks because, after I'd wandered off to the kiln room for=
a while, I came back into the throwing area and every one of the Denver wh=
eels had someone working at them. Even the lady that was working on t=
he Lockerbie next to where I was throwing was now working at the wheel=
I had used. For the rest of the semester, the last one that I attend=
ed at that school, if there was a wheel available it wasn't one of the Denv=
er wheels.
My wife still uses the second hand Lockerbie kick wheel I boug=
ht for $50.00 and motorized. Over twenty years of use and still =
going strong. She usually used a Shimpo wheel in class and I don't th=
ink she ever got to try one of the Denver wheels. I guess she kn=
ew, level headed gal that she is, that they weren't magical.
Andy Buck
Raincreek Pottery
Port Orchard, WA
--- On Thu, 11/5/09, mel jacobson <melp=
ots2@VISI.COM> wrote:
px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px">
From: mel jacobson <melpots2@VISI.COM>
S=
ubject: LILI ON WHEELS
To: Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Date: Thursday, N=
ovember 5, 2009, 7:44 AM
A Buck on fri 6 nov 09
I appologize to the list for the previous post being so messed up. I got Y=
ahooed. I was asked to clean it up and repost. --Andy--
*****************
Mel,
Often your posts will bring back a memory as this one did. In the late 90'=
s my wife was taking her 4th semester of pottery at the local junior colleg=
e and I talked the teacher into letting me take the class too. I got him t=
o let me in by telling him I wouldn't be doing a lot of throwing in class. =
He knew I could have, combined to the existing student load of pots, produ=
ced more than the kilns could fire. There were a lot of students that seme=
ster and kiln space was short as it was. His paid lab tech was taking the =
semester off and I wanted to spend the time working with the kilns and deve=
loping glazes anyway so it was going to work out well.
The class had about 40 wheels, mostly motorized Lockerbies with a few Shimp=
os mixed in, and all the wheels were in use the better part of the classes.=
That's a lot of students when you consider that some of them were hand-bu=
ilding and others were glazing at the same time. It was funny to see the s=
tudents fighting over who got to use the Lockerbie wheel the teacher used t=
o demonstrate on.
About half way through the class, the teacher acquired 4 old used Denver wh=
eels. Nice, solid, work horse type potters wheels with red bronze wheel-he=
ads. They looked different than the finished looking Shimpos. They were n=
ot mounted into tables so they were low and very mechanical looking. The p=
eddle was a piece of board with an eye hook in the end that hooked by a lig=
ht chain to the speed control lever on the side of the motor. You pressed =
the peddle down the wheel turned, you let off the pressure the wheel slowed=
down and stopped. Very smooth speed control. They were not exactly quiet=
wheels but no louder than the motors on the Lockerbie, just a little diffe=
rent tone.
If I did any throwing in class I usually waited until people started to lea=
ve in the evening. I threw so seldom in class that most of the students th=
at saw me hanging around the kiln room didn't know I could. Anyway, I went =
to class one night feeling like doing a little throwing. The Denver wheels=
had not been there long and, although all the other wheels were in use, no=
body wanted to use those WEIRD looking OLD potters wheels. So I sat down =
at one of the Denver wheels next to a much taller Lockerbie. The lady on t=
he Lockerbie looked down at me like I was crazy to think I'd be able to do =
anything on that wheel. Well, I quickly threw a 4 pound bowl, a really nic=
e 5 pound ginger jar with lid and a 10 inch tall bottle shaped vase. When =
I got done and was cleaning up the wheel, I noticed I was getting some odd =
looks from the other students. Or maybe it was the wheel that was getting =
the looks because, after I'd wandered off to the kiln room for a
while, I came back into the throwing area and every one of the Denver whee=
ls had someone working at them. Even the lady that was working on the Lock=
erbie next to where I was throwing was now working at the wheel I had used.=
For the rest of the semester, the last one that I attended at that school=
, if there was a wheel available it wasn't one of the Denver wheels.
My wife still uses the second hand Lockerbie kick wheel I bought for $50.00=
and motorized. Over twenty years of use and still going strong. She usua=
lly used a Shimpo wheel in class and I don't think she ever got to try one =
of the Denver wheels. I guess she knew, level headed gal that she is, that=
they weren't magical.
Andy Buck
Raincreek Pottery
Port Orchard, WA
--- On Thu, 11/5/09, mel jacobson wrote:
From: mel jacobson
Subject: LILI ON WHEELS
To: Clayart@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Date: Thursday, November 5, 2009, 7:44 AM
.
it is sort of like `self centering clay` people look for
the magic tool, not skill development. basically the
new electronic wheels are mostly the same. some small
differences in electronics and bearings..but, by in
large, a well trained potter could use any of them and not
really know the difference. they spin.
for years kids at hopkins high would want to use my
wheel, it made better pots.
mel
from: minnetonka, mn
website: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart link: http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
new book: http://www.21stcenturykilns.com
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