Lee Love on tue 13 jun 00
Finally got around to mounting my new kickwheel in the studio.
A friend of mine used his grinder on the square plate at the bottom of rod
that the wheel is mounted on. I figured, without the plate (the plate is
where a concrete block is supposed to be cast, so the wheel can be mounted
in a dirt floor), I could just chisel a small round hole in the concrete
floor of the studio. It worked! Took a couple sundays to make the hole.
I used bamboo that I had earlier split for measuring guages to hold the iron
bar in the concrete hole. Wasn't too difficult to level, you just pounded
in wedges on the side that you want to tilt away from.
I like this wheel better than the one at work. It is heavier, so
it has more momentum, and is about 2 inches taller, which seems to be more
comfortable for kicking. It also has sealed bearings with nipples to
grease them at, and the bearings pivot. I bought this wheel from the
potter that was in the begining of the article in CM on Mashiko that
appeared a while back. A carpenter friend of his makes them. Really
nice. He had three different sizes of wheels for sale: a really short,
squat one, a traditional sized Mashiko wheel and this taller type wheel.
Next, I should probably build a very small kiln. I'll do it under the
awning in back, where the woodfired pizza oven is. The potter at the end
of the Mashiko article built the pizza oven.
Taiko (my Akita), enjoyed hanging out in the pottery studio while I
threw. Every time we get home from a walk, she wants to head for the
studio. I've been letting her go to the studio, because it is rainy
season here in Japan. It is a good place to take her raincoat off and
let her shake off.
--
Lee Love
Nanai , Mashiko-machi ,Tochigi-ken 321-4106 JAPAN Ikiru@kami.com
Voice Mail and Faxes (a USA number): (303) 256-0374
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