Joyce Lee on sun 13 jan 02
Since I knew nothing about clay, nor about art, when I began five years =
ago, I've bought all the equipment I could manage to afford, probably =
hoping that the "right" equipment would make me a better potter faster. =
I do not have one piece that is not capable of doing the job it's meant =
to do..... thanks to detailed advice from clayarters (all in the =
archives, I think) from almost Day One.
However, though with micro-management of placement there's room for =
everything, for me very personally based on my working style at the =
moment, there's no need for some of the items I purchased. If I had it =
to do again, I wouldn't buy the mixer, but would apply the money to a =
larger pugmill... the largest and best I could manage WITH stand. I =
probably wouldn't purchase a slabroller though it is awfully nice and =
can be used as an extra work table; instead, I'd do as has been =
suggested and throw a bottomless cylinder; that or use an extruded =
cylinder .... my reasoning being that I don't seem to make the large =
slabs for which the roller is intended, and if the desire hits, I can =
always buy one. I would still buy the Shimpo wheel for its great, large =
footpedal and the almost silent motor, but would not accept it unless =
some splashpan system was used other than the semi-permanently attached =
one which drains through a hole on the bottomside. It's messy to drain; =
consequently is seldom cleaned. I do enjoy the half-donut-shaped table =
attached (optional).
I would buy those expensive kiln shelves from the beginning, the ones =
that the mayor just bought. Or maybe I wouldn't. I had so many glazes =
run in every single load for a couple of years that my shelves are a =
disgrace .... none warped, however. Perhaps it's best that I've waited =
... probably would have ruined those, too.
I'm sure I'll appreciate the "good" and highly recommended sprayer that =
sits waiting for me to learn how to spray ....=20
dumb, huh? How am I going to learn if I don't just do it? I'll think =
about it tomorrow..
I'm still deciding about the air-compressor operated extruder. After =
finally discovering what "soft" clay is, the manual wall-mounted =
extruder and I have become friends ...... though I did have to take a =
polaroid of the position of the screws on the die holder ... kept =
getting it wrong when I needed to change the die, so my extrusions were =
always crooked. I tacked the picture to the wall with the instructions =
mounted above it ..... much easier.
I would have gone for the next size up Geil from the beginning, though =
it's still nice to have the smallest one which I use for smaller loads, =
for raku and for the few large coiled pots I've made. I think the Geils =
are worth the money for convenience as well as for safety, especially =
for a novice and non-mechanical retired person, as I was (I'm somewhat =
more mechanical now and have moved from the "novice" to the =
whatever-comes-next stage.)
Joyce
In the Mojave where there's no point in waiting for Godot .... if it's =
to get done, I'll have to do it myself.... with a lot of help from =
clayarters...... couldn't do without you clayfiends and addicts.
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