mel jacobson on wed 3 apr 02
i think for a fleet of wheels...the axner would be just great.
i feel the bailey wheel will give you...lots of bang for the buck.
20 brent's will give you years of service free life. but, you
will pay top dollar.
but, don't let howard know that some out there think
designing a wheel is a piece of cake. not.
his head is bursting. this was a real effort.
his mechanical engineer had a great deal to do. even
with dozens of models to look at. when you do your
own...well, it is all different. and, who gets to do the welding?
painting...motor, controls...how do you get that stuff at a
decent cost? ordering 15 at a time? local welding companies
do things on `their time`, and often not at all.
a couple of nice things..they come in color. powder paint..
the new stuff. absolutely permanent. hard as a rock.
soldner type controller. the best there is.
so, there are good wheels out there. the list is long.
each person has to match what they are doing with the
wheel they buy. i love my two brent model c's.
i love my skutt dc-1, i love the old lockerbie front end of
a train wheel. and, i know i will love the new axner.
gonna kick that one in the butt...try and wear it down.
but, i don't think i will be able to do that.
i try and tell the truth about products. that is why i do not
take gifts or graft. it would ruin clayart. i like many of the
vendors. they are good friends. i like the folks at paragon, they
are friends...same with L&L. nice folks. trying hard. i really
like feriz (itc). he is a dear friend. but, if anyone of them, makes
crap...i will tell the world about it. skutt makes great kilns. they
are a quality company....i have never in my life, said anything
negative about that company. i don't like droopy coils however.
still don't.
potters as a group are a cheap bunch. they do whine a great
deal about price...`where do i get it cheap?` hear it all the
time. some like quality. i do, nils does, vince does...and
many others. if you buy cheap crap, well you deserve what
you get.
if you can make stuff like david hendley...well good for you.
many of you love that too. but, when it comes to a good wheel,
that will pay for itself over and over, a thousand times over.
get the best you can get.
it is like annie in cincy, yapping at me about service on her
fork lifts (yes, two)...i helped out, did some research....and now they
are fixed. you don't mess with the safety of power tools like
that...they kill you. (that sort of research is a pleasure to do...help
out high energy people, not afraid to do the job right.)
tools, the life line of the crafts-person. hand made, power,
electric, gas. quality is the name of the game. get the best
you can afford, and make your product that comes from your
hands pay for it.
mel
icabox. we go to a warehouse and buy damaged
refrigerators. pay maybe 100 bucks. the last one
had a fork lift blade hole right through it. 1400 bucks retail.
brand new, never plugged in.
body putty, sanded it, we paint them the same color and paint
as the kitchen. blends right in. sharlene puts a paper collage` on the
doors. this new one has 14th century calligraphy on it. three coats of
of marine varnish. collectors item. worth three thousand now.
just a thing to put food in. keep stuff cold. is it required to be
a big white amoeba in the kitchen?
bought two of them for the farm, one in the barn, one in the
new building kitchen. 100 bucks each...brand new.
filled the hole with pure silicone. dented side to the wall.
2 dollar repair job.
what is between the walls of a fridge? nothing...air
and insulation...and not much of that. the mechanicals
are in the back..bottom. you can see them.
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
Lee Love on thu 4 apr 02
Two of my fellow apprentices paid 200000 yen (about $1600.00 US) for their
korean kickwheels. They were made by the Daigu (carpenter) who built our new
traditional workshop (it was finished just before I started studying there.)
These wheels are made of a heavy hardwood called keiyaki (velakova.) This
price was sans bearings and the metal shaft. I paid 90000 yen ($600.00 US)
and mine come with sealed bearings and a shaft. This is what a new budget
Shimpo electric goes for here. You can still get Shimpos here with cone drive
(only kind I've seen used.) Like myself, they seem to prefer these over the
electric box controls in Japan. My korean wheel is more finely crafted than
the 200000 yen wheels, but is made of more pieces of wood. My fellow
apprentices' wheel heads are either one piece or two. Mine is about 5 pieces,
but the throwing surface has no holes in it and is smooth. Their wheel heads
have four square holes where the uprights attach.
Mine was made by a local carpenter too. Wouldn't trade it for 10
electric wheels, though I'll probably have an old Shimpo someday for trimming
and doing my large platters that use bats so big that they do not allow you to
reach the kickwheel to kick. Using a wheel like these korean kickwheels is
much better than staring out the window. :^)
Lee in Mashiko
._____________________________________________
| Lee Love ^/(o\| Practice before theory. |
| Ikiru@kami.com |\o)/v - Sotetsu Yanagi - |
`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'
Janet Kaiser on thu 4 apr 02
Lee
Does this mean you have to buy and provide your own equipment as an
apprentice in Japan?
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art / Capel Celfyddyd
Home of The International Potters' Path
8 Marine Crescent : Criccieth : GB-Wales
URL: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
postbox@the-coa.org.uk
Lee Love on fri 5 apr 02
----- Original Message -----
From: "Janet Kaiser"
> Lee
>
> Does this mean you have to buy and provide your own equipment as an
> apprentice in Japan?
Hi Janet,
No. For me, I have a workshop at my home. My friend and Sempai
(elder brother apprentice) had his home and studio where I am living before he
moved to the mountains. So I bought a wheel for my own studio. Need to
start building my woodkiln soon.
The other apprentices order their wheels ahead of leaving because it
sometimes takes a long time to get them made and once the Daigu/carpenter is
finished, they have to get a machine shop to make the shaft and put the bearings
on.
Lee in Mashiko
._____________________________________________
| Lee Love ^/(o\| Practice before theory. |
| Ikiru@kami.com |\o)/v - Sotetsu Yanagi - |
`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'
| |
|
