Jennifer Boyer on sun 25 jun 00
Well,
I did it. Pulled apart my 12 year old Venco 3" deairing pugmill
and cleaned out the screens and barrel, for the first time I'm
embarassed to say. Martin from the UK inspired me with his
pleas to help the constipated Venco's, and was mine ever! The
screens were totally clogged. It took a long time to pick out
the gravel, grog, sponge debris, rotted wooden tool, string,
penny, screw, washer, etc etc....
First things first:
I took off the 8 side barrel bolts(using WD40 and my good
wrench-the right size), 1 between the hopper and motor end(there
might be 2 more, but I left the bottom half of the barrel in
place and bolted onto motor housing), and the 2 bolts at the top
and bottom of each of the screen covers, taking the covers and
gaskets off. I scooped out clay from the end of the barrel. I
sprayed the screens themselves with a lot of water, since the
clay around them was really hard. After awhile I could wiggle
out each screen by attaching the screen puller and tapping it
with a hammer up and down. I made a note of which side of the
screen faced where. The screens then went in to a hot water bath
for their own llittle spa experience. Yuck. They needed a wire
brush treatment as well.
I tapped and yanked on the top half of the barrel, which seemed
stuck, but I managed to tap it with a hammer to get a little
space between the upper and lower halves. I pried them apart
with a little carpenter's nail puller and took the upper half
off.
The gasket(looked like a double layer of electrical tape) was
dried out and I decided to toss it out. I cleaned out the clay,
and there was some dried out grainy stuff in corners and
crevices that I threw out.
I scraped the surfaces of the barrel halves where the gasket had
been and cleaned them with steel wool. After some research in
the Clayart archives(and a failed attempt to use regular
electical tape - 2 layers-nope. no suction) I went to the local
hardware store and bought 1" Quick-Fix All Weather Rubber Tape
made by Seal Wrap to make a new gasket out of. It's sticky(30
mil thick) on one side, but I found that even with cleaning,
nothing wants to stick to the barrel seams for very long. I
punctured holes in the new gasket(applied to the bottom barrel
half)once in place, where it covered holes for the bolts. I
made sure the gasket wasn't stretched at all(it might shrink
back) and that it hugged the motor housing end where the barrel
halves but up against the motor housing. I greased the motor
housing where the top barrel half meets it. Then I put the top
barrel half back on. This was tricky, as the tape gasket wanted
to bunch up. This would be easier with 2 people. I then put the
bolts back in and tightened them, making sure that the gasket
didn't shift and create spaces. I trimmed the gasket where the
screen gaskets should be tight to the barrel sides.
Then I put the crudless screens back in and put back their
gaskets, covers and bolts. I then ran clay through and had to
jump out of the way as the clay shot out! I got good suction! At
first, the suction dropped but I sprayed the barrel seperation
with water and found a place near the motor housing where the
water seemed to be sucked in. I tightened the bolt and greased
the seam. phew, all done......and only one scraped knuckle. Now
that the screens are clean, I'm going to pull them out more
regularly(I promise) without pullling the barrel apart. That's
a pain. But it was good to do. I'll do it again in another 12
years.. ;-)
So, this long post is for all you Venco owning procrastinators
who have issues(like me) with maintenance. It's worth it. The
pugmill has gone on fast forward. And it was only a little
scarey =^0. GO FOR IT!
Take Care
Jennifer, putting on another bandaid.
PS. Anyone who has any words of wisdom as to improvements on my
technique, please , please hold forth. And thanks to Erik Hertz,
a Clayart poster from awhile back(Venco posts in 97) who
answered my email to him yesterday about some of my ??
--
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Jennifer Boyer jboyer@adelphia.net
Thistle Hill Pottery
Vermont USA
http://www.thistlehillpottery.com/
Check out these sites about web hoaxes:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/culture/urbanlegends/mbody.htm
http://www.stiller.com/hoaxes.htm
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Tommy Humphries on mon 26 jun 00
When reassembling the barrel next time try using some blue RTV sealant. It
works like a charm and will seal up anything that needs a gasket.
Tommy Humphries
"`You know, it's at times like this, that I really wish I'd listened to what
my mother told me when I was young.'
`Why, what did she tell you?'
`I don't know, I didn't listen.'"
(Douglas Adams)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jennifer Boyer"
To:
Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2000 10:12 PM
Subject: Cleaning the Venco Pugmill screens: my story(long)
> I scraped the surfaces of the barrel halves where the gasket had
> been and cleaned them with steel wool. After some research in
> the Clayart archives(and a failed attempt to use regular
> electical tape - 2 layers-nope. no suction) I went to the local
> hardware store and bought 1" Quick-Fix All Weather Rubber Tape
> made by Seal Wrap to make a new gasket out of. It's sticky(30
> mil thick) on one side, but I found that even with cleaning,
> nothing wants to stick to the barrel seams for very long. I
> punctured holes in the new gasket(applied to the bottom barrel
> half)once in place, where it covered holes for the bolts. I
> made sure the gasket wasn't stretched at all(it might shrink
> back) and that it hugged the motor housing end where the barrel
> halves but up against the motor housing. I greased the motor
> housing where the top barrel half meets it. Then I put the top
> barrel half back on. This was tricky, as the tape gasket wanted
> to bunch up. This would be easier with 2 people. I then put the
> bolts back in and tightened them, making sure that the gasket
> didn't shift and create spaces. I trimmed the gasket where the
> screen gaskets should be tight to the barrel sides.
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
> Jennifer Boyer jboyer@adelphia.net
> Thistle Hill Pottery
> Vermont USA
> http://www.thistlehillpottery.com/
>
> Check out these sites about web hoaxes:
> http://urbanlegends.about.com/culture/urbanlegends/mbody.htm
> http://www.stiller.com/hoaxes.htm
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
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>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
Craig Martell on mon 26 jun 00
Hi:
Sounds like you had quite an adventure Jennifer! Getting the barrel halves
apart is a lot easier if you just take out all the bolts that mate the two
pieces and the bolts that secure the top barrel half to the flange toward
the gearbox and motor and then just turn the machine on for a few
seconds. The clay pressure will pop the two halves apart enough so that
you can lift the top half off. It's not advisable to put a metal pry bar
between the halves to part them. Aluminum is a soft metal and you can
damage the mating surface.
regards, Craig Martell in Oregon
Louis Katz on mon 26 jun 00
Not having a Venco but having worked on a big 25 HP job I suggest Plain old
Silicone caulk.
Use a sheet of wax paper as a release the first tile you assemble it, Silicone
doesn't stick to wax.
Jennifer Boyer on tue 27 jun 00
Hi Craig,
I NEVER would have thought of turning the pugmill on while it
was unbolted! But it makes sense. And I was extremely gentle
with the pry bar, but am happy to have an alternative to using
it. Thanks
Jennifer
Craig Martell wrote:
>
> Hi:
>
> Sounds like you had quite an adventure Jennifer! Getting the barrel halves
> apart is a lot easier if you just take out all the bolts that mate the two
> pieces and the bolts that secure the top barrel half to the flange toward
> the gearbox and motor and then just turn the machine on for a few
> seconds. The clay pressure will pop the two halves apart enough so that
> you can lift the top half off. It's not advisable to put a metal pry bar
> between the halves to part them. Aluminum is a soft metal and you can
> damage the mating surface.
>
> regards, Craig Martell in Oregon
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
--
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Jennifer Boyer jboyer@adelphia.net
Thistle Hill Pottery
Vermont USA
http://www.thistlehillpottery.com/
Check out these sites about web hoaxes:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/culture/urbanlegends/mbody.htm
http://www.stiller.com/hoaxes.htm
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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