dayton j grant on fri 30 nov 01
To avoid injury while centering I keep my left hand(most vulnerable to
centering injury)pretty much on top of the peice being centered ,and my
right hand applies the actual centering pressure ,and on smaller peices I
dont even touch the clay with my left hand while centering,Ive jammed
pretty much evry joint up to my shoulders and jammed joints are really
painful and take a long time to heal and are easily reinjured if not
fully healed so its best to avoid this by developing a respect for the
wheel and a failsafe almost ritualistic physical relationship with the
moving clay.Its best to develop an automatic reflex of quickly pulling
your hands away the very second you feel the loss of control especially
when using sharp things like metal ribs (which can be pretty scary when
lost into a moving peice)and if you do lose a rib inside of a moving
peice 'please' always stop the wheel before you try to get it back.
d.g.
Steve Mills on sun 2 dec 01
find your approach to centering very interesting, as the way I
visualise it you are doing the exact reverse of what I do: with the
wheel turning counter clockwise, the main amount of work is done by my
left hand; the heel of my hand is at about 7.00 when viewed from above,
and the palm and heal of my hand form a straight line to the elbow. As
my elbow is also lodged against my left hip, there is very little
muscular effort being used, only applied body weight. This is
particularly useful as the onset of arthritis has reduced my muscular
strength considerably. So the raw strength of centering is applied on
the left-hand side, as I have indicated by a body weight, and the right-
hand side of my body i.e. my right hand, arm, and shoulders is used for
fine control. Using this method I cone upwards two or three times to
centre, bringing the conical shape down by leaning the top over a
little, the clay then naturally contracts down again to form a ball on
the wheel head. So in short I centre and prepare my clay on the wheel
with as little physical effort as possible, and no physical damage!
I hope this is clear
Steve
Bath
UK
In message , dayton j grant writes
>To avoid injury while centering I keep my left hand(most vulnerable to
>centering injury)pretty much on top of the peice being centered ,and my
>right hand applies the actual centering pressure ,and on smaller peices I
>dont even touch the clay with my left hand while centering,Ive jammed
>pretty much evry joint up to my shoulders and jammed joints are really
>painful and take a long time to heal and are easily reinjured if not
>fully healed so its best to avoid this by developing a respect for the
>wheel and a failsafe almost ritualistic physical relationship with the
>moving clay.Its best to develop an automatic reflex of quickly pulling
>your hands away the very second you feel the loss of control especially
>when using sharp things like metal ribs (which can be pretty scary when
>lost into a moving peice)and if you do lose a rib inside of a moving
>peice 'please' always stop the wheel before you try to get it back.
>d.g.
--
Steve Mills
Bath
UK
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