judy motzkin on wed 2 dec 98
Recently my Soldner wheel has started to run with a rumbly grumbly
noise. I lubed it, no help. This is an older, circa 1980, studio
model, the one with the big half moon table, moveable pedal.
Any advice on looking for the problem, solution?
Thanks
Judy
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George VanOstrand on wed 2 dec 98
Judy,,
My solder wheel is a bit younger than yours and so I'm not sure
whether my problems would be yours. I have had trouble with two things:
1 the brushes, those carbon pieces in the motor which contact the
rotor, too often need sanding to avoid a jittery effect in the wheel head.
This also causes the wheel not to start without a bit of a push.
2. The belt needs to be lubricated with Ivory soap rather than a
commercial product to avoid some high pitched sound. This was their
suggestion from the factory. They are quite helpful over the phone in
helping fix problems. I could find their number if you want. I know the
manual is somewhere around.
George VanOstrand
gvanostr@julian.uwo.ca
London, Ontario
pam easley on thu 3 dec 98
Look into the bearings -- I just had an oldster redone, very
inexpensive, and it's like new. I think there was a post recently re:
bearings, but con't remember who sent it or the exact date.
Good potting from "getting colder in Seattle", Pam
Donn Buchfinck on thu 3 dec 98
Hey some people having problems with blubird/soldner wheels.
I had my motor rebuilt, works better than It did in the first place. I do not
get any more high speed vibration.
I had to rebuild the wood top. I got some scratches in the wood and the water
just penetrated right through.
also if water leaks along the edge where the wood meets the metal, it can flow
down and fall on the belt, spinning off the belt onto the motor guard and
pooling there, eventualy penetrating the motor and wrecking the bearings.
how you combat this, after you take the wheel in and have waterproof bearings
installed is to take the guard off the motor and throw it in the misc tool bin
we all have in our studios. then if any water gets on the belt, the belt will
just fling it off at the wall. Plus the water penetrates the edge of the
board and flows through the plywood and makes the wood fall apart. I put a
bead of silicone calk in the space between the board and the metal angle iron.
I had to redo a lot of my wheel
172.00$ rebuild the motor
50.00$ to sandblast the frame
20.00$ for paint "primer & paint"
20.00$ marine plywood
16.00$ oil based marine coating
10.00$ misc. hardware to replace all the rusted bolts
total 288.00$
the wheel I have now is the one I wanted in the beginning
it's painted Black now not that horrible Home Depot Orange
with rustoleum
I called the company and talked to the president, Dave Ball, and he told me
that I might of gotten water on the wheel/motor. yes I do admit that I use
water when I throw pots, but a wheel should be able to withstand production.
Plus the new soldners do not even have a tension adjuster on the motor to
tighten the belt.
The wheel I have is called a p-200, able to take 200 lbs of clay. but when I
put 60-70 lbs of clay I can shut the wheel down when I am trying to center
that ammount.
All the teachers that I admire have one, but it is sad to say that it is not
the same wheel that soldner built.
we have one of the originals at the art center where I teach, we have a lot of
students, and they never have had to recoat the board or replace the bearings.
I think in the end, it looks like a soldner but it is not. even the cool
metal plaque on the foot petal has been replaced by a sticker. for my money I
think there are better products out there.
Donn Buchfinck
San Francisco
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