mel jacobson on thu 23 aug 12
no wheel is build to fit anyone.
they are not `one size fits all`.
every wheel installed at any studio has
to be form fit.
some have to be lifted with blocks, some have to have
the legs cut off.
(good god, take them to a shop, or use a hack saw...cut them
to size. if you are 4`8" cut them off... it is your wheel..make it
custom. ignore...`do not cut off this
tag.` i rip them off the first day. i also rip off all the tags on comput=
ers
and cameras. and i hate adverts on the back of my car.
`you bought this car at apple owners discount`. rippppp.
stools must be lifted or lowered.
bracing is essential.
if you cannot brace your legs...things get scarrrry.
if you are standing you had better build a rack for your arms
to rest on...solid.
and, if you are standing...raise that wheel way up...not just a little.
your arms should rest on the wheel someway.
this is not an easy fix.
it takes years to get a wheel perfect.
colleen and i have different stools. mine is very tall.
i sit way over my work. and, she has her own brent c, but of
course she has to throw on my wheel...dork.
(she left a big note on the clay pile.
`dorko, this is your clay`
dorko happpy when he makes pots`
dorko happy boy`
(of course she wants to do a firing...and i won't do one
without half the pots mine.)
i also use a back brace from home depot...all the employees wear
them...check it out...about 12 bucks...all Velcro.
read my old posts on trying to be a japanese potter...with crossed legs.
piss on the lotus position...they would need a crow bar to undo me.
impossible. i cut holes in the table i sat at. i made a lot of adjustment=
s.
then i was a happy boy.
you should not be in pain...and think of your legs as being the strongest
point on your body...the legs do the heavy stuff. and bracing is essential=
.
it is a long hard road to wheel perfection.
mel
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart page below:
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html
http://www.21stcenturykilns.com/
Robert Harris on thu 23 aug 12
I learnt to throw standing up, on one of double cone driven English wheels,
probably 1960s vintage, with a massive flywheel.
I still miss that wheel. The foot pedal was weighted, so if you took your
foot off it would turn by the momentum of the flywheel only. The pedal
could be kicked in and out of little notches which would keep it at a given
speed. As a 12 year-old I used to have to give it a great wallop to get it
out again! Notch number three was a good throwing speed, but at that speed
something was slightly off true and it would go into this great clanking
rhythm. Thump - thump - thump every turn of the wheel. The wheelhead
remained true though. I really really miss not having a flywheel and a
mechanical (as opposed to electric) pedal. Those wheels were beasts though
(in both a good and a bad way - certainly couldn't move them to clean under
them!)
At twelve the wheelhead came midway up my chest. Not an easy place to get
leverage, but I managed (sitting on a stool wouldn't have worked as the
pedal was right by the floor - out of reach of my legs). By the time I was
18 I was taller, and I'd figured out various blocks and books I could stand
on so that the wheelhead was about the height of my waist. This meant that
I could seat my elbow in my hip joint and give a good solid shove when
centering large bits of clay.
One thing I have noticed is that in the UK, in general, even when sitting,
we learn to center resting our forearms on the splash pan or firmly clamped
to our sides, certainly never resting on our knees or thighs. I cannot sit
in that hunched over position that the low Shimpo (and other Japanese
influenced) wheels seem to promote.
These days I sit on a tallish stool so my knees are at about 60 degrees
(certainly nowhere near 90) and have my wheelhead just below bellybutton
height. This means I throw with a fairly upright posture, and I rise up out
of my seat to centre large pieces of clay (elbow in the hip socket again),
or when I throw taller pots.
Like someone else mentioned when I do lean forward I do so with a straight,
or even concave back. All of this has helped me avoid back problems, but
after demonstrating on the usual low community class wheels, I am horribly
stiff the next day.
If you look at Phil Rogers' throwing videos you'll get an idea of the
standard English set up. Note, that often English wheels have attached
saddles/seats that frequently angle down toward the splash pan which helps
with preventing the bum sliding back when you lean forward.
Robert
P.S. If anyone knows how to build electric cone and flywheel driven wheels,
and/or has plans I'd really like to know!
On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 6:10 PM, mel jacobson wrote:
> no wheel is build to fit anyone.
> they are not `one size fits all`.
>
> every wheel installed at any studio has
> to be form fit.
>
> some have to be lifted with blocks, some have to have
> the legs cut off.
> (good god, take them to a shop, or use a hack saw...cut them
> to size. if you are 4`8" cut them off... it is your wheel..make it
> custom. ignore...`do not cut off this
> tag.` i rip them off the first day. i also rip off all the tags on
> computers
> and cameras. and i hate adverts on the back of my car.
> `you bought this car at apple owners discount`. rippppp.
>
> stools must be lifted or lowered.
> bracing is essential.
> if you cannot brace your legs...things get scarrrry.
>
> if you are standing you had better build a rack for your arms
> to rest on...solid.
> and, if you are standing...raise that wheel way up...not just a little.
> your arms should rest on the wheel someway.
> this is not an easy fix.
> it takes years to get a wheel perfect.
>
> colleen and i have different stools. mine is very tall.
> i sit way over my work. and, she has her own brent c, but of
> course she has to throw on my wheel...dork.
> (she left a big note on the clay pile.
> `dorko, this is your clay`
> dorko happpy when he makes pots`
> dorko happy boy`
> (of course she wants to do a firing...and i won't do one
> without half the pots mine.)
>
> i also use a back brace from home depot...all the employees wear
> them...check it out...about 12 bucks...all Velcro.
>
> read my old posts on trying to be a japanese potter...with crossed legs.
> piss on the lotus position...they would need a crow bar to undo me.
> impossible. i cut holes in the table i sat at. i made a lot of
> adjustments.
> then i was a happy boy.
> you should not be in pain...and think of your legs as being the strongest
> point on your body...the legs do the heavy stuff. and bracing is
> essential.
> it is a long hard road to wheel perfection.
> mel
>
> http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
> clayart page below:
> http://www.visi.com/~melpots/**clayart.htmlclayart.html>
> >
> http://www.**21stcenturykilns.com/
>
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