Vince Pitelka on wed 8 sep 99
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I learned to throw on one of those old Amaco wheels, so when I got
>the chance to buy a used one from $100, I snapped it up. I've been using
>it for about seven years and it's still going strong. Very sturdy. As
>someone else mentioned, Amaco still sells them for about $1,200, I
>think, but I can't imagine who would pay that much for one.
> At a demonstration show just last weekend down here, another potter
>was set up just down from my display and he was demonstrating also on an
>Amaco. He told me if I ever wanted to sell mine, he'd buy it. So, there
>are some fans of these old wheels.
Steve -
As I stated in an earlier post, I am amazed that Amaco still makes these
wheels and sells them for so much money, as I am also amazed that they make
those huge old-fashioned electric kilns with insulation about a foot thick,
which also sell for ridiculously high prices. They seem to be a company
stuck in the past, and because they have an established connection with K-12
classroom equipment, their products often get chosen by people who do not
know better.
But I am going to back-pedal a bit on my earlier post. I love old
equipment, and those old wheels are really beautiful - so compact and so
heavy, with that nice cast aluminum frame. I do believe that if I came
across one for $100, I'd snap it up pretty quick. Don't know if I'd use it
for throwing, but I'd use it for other tasks.
My first home-made power wheel, which I have written about before on
Clayart, was built for a total expenditure of about $20, and incorporated a
used washing-machine motor, the big pulley off the drum on an old clothes
dryer, and a 1940s-vintage three-speed Chevrolet stick-shift transmission.
Third gear for centering. Second gear for opening, lifting walls, finishing
small things. First gear for finishing larger things and for general
slow-speed throwing. Another nice thing was that in neutral the wheel spun
freely, like a ball-bearing banding wheel. I didn't use reverse.
Best wishes -
- Vince
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