rell wall on fri 28 jan 11
Another oldie here. Haven't written in a long time. Been around since '93 o=
r
'94. In those days I had to hike to my computer through 2 feet of snow. And
we didn't have no stinkin' coffee cans and candles to keep us warm. Just th=
e
glow of the CRT.
I have the Bailey and have used the Brent in the past. Swore I'd never own
one. I'm 5'4" with good upper body strength. Maybe you tall folks don't
have a problem, but wrestling those masonite shims quickly became a pain in
the butt for me. And there was never a good place to put them in the studio
I was working in. I can't speak to the cable issues.
The Bailey works well. One knob adjusts thickness. Frequently I pass the
clay through the roller on drywall bats top with a piece of heavy duty
interfacing or a piece of an old window shade. This can get a bit unwieldy
if it needs another pass, which means I have to carry the whole shebang bac=
k
to the other side of the roller. So now I'm thinking of selling this one an=
d
getting the NorthStar that goes in both directions.
Conclusion: There's no perfect slab roller yet. And I know several
handbuilders who wouldn't take one if you gave it to them. They prefer to
fling out their slabs or cut them down from a large block of clay. They're
very good at this and make nice even slabs very quickly.
Ruth Ballou
Charleston, SC
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