Lily Krakowski on fri 30 aug 02
Believe me. As I type my hands hurt and my arms tingle pianfully. Ok. Old
lady. Big deal. But when I learned to throw I wanted to throw with the Big
Boys, centered quite hard clay, and large amounts of it. I hunkered over
the wheelhead and had to take time out after centering and open to wash mud
off my eyeglasses. (No. The tip of my nose has been flat since birth!)
I have had carpal tunnel problems since my 40s, and I was not a fulltime
potter. Imagine how quickly I could have hit that spot had I been!
I have been spared back problems, but not neck and shoulder ones.
Having whined this far: I throw standing up. I have the pedal of my Brent
at my side (something I saw a production thrower do) and do not diddle
daddle with the adjustments, but just set it for centering and opening and
reset it for throwing. This allows me to distribute my weight between both
hips and knees comfortably.
I throw quite soft clay. Just about as soft as the pug mill permits without
dog-toothing. I throw as dry as I can, easy with soft clay. By doing this
I do not need monstrous strength, I do not overstrain my shoulder muscles
and whatever the muscles are that hold my head in place.
It is abuse of those that has caused neck problems, the chiropractor says.
Also by doing so I reduce stress on my hands and thumb.
One aspect of centering has not been mentionned. Your hands set the
limits. Your hands say to the clay: you can spread upward, but not out.
Think in terms of corraling the clay. That may help.
Also. From some book I learned this. When you want to center a big lump
wedge up a big lump--for uniformity. Then center a small lump you can
center with ease. Round it off nicely, with a rib scrape off all mud,
flatten the top, and center another lump of clay ON TOP OF IT. Repeat as
needed till you have lump size you want. I would be grateful if someone who
knows the book, would tell us--writers deserve credit.
Lili Krakowski
P.O. Box #1
Constableville, N.Y.
(315) 942-5916/ 397-2389
Be of good courage....
Greg Lamont on fri 30 aug 02
Lily's posting got me thinking about this: When I was a student, my big
breakthrough in learning how to center clay was when I came to the
realization that the key was to visualize two lines of force crossing each
other in an "X" where the center of the "X" is the center point of the
wheelhead. When I explain it to my beginning students, they get the point
right away. They then figure out what hand positions will allow them to
accomplish that goal. They're usually centering in no time.
Greg
-----Original Message-----
From: Lily Krakowski
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Date: Friday, August 30, 2002 6:35 PM
Subject: centering--do you want the name of my surgeon?
>Believe me. As I type my hands hurt and my arms tingle pianfully. Ok.
Old
>lady. Big deal. But when I learned to throw I wanted to throw with the
Big
>Boys, centered quite hard clay, and large amounts of it. I hunkered over
>the wheelhead and had to take time out after centering and open to wash mud
>off my eyeglasses. (No. The tip of my nose has been flat since birth!)
>
>I have had carpal tunnel problems since my 40s, and I was not a fulltime
>potter. Imagine how quickly I could have hit that spot had I been!
>
>I have been spared back problems, but not neck and shoulder ones.
>
>Having whined this far: I throw standing up. I have the pedal of my Brent
>at my side (something I saw a production thrower do) and do not diddle
>daddle with the adjustments, but just set it for centering and opening and
>reset it for throwing. This allows me to distribute my weight between both
>hips and knees comfortably.
>
>I throw quite soft clay. Just about as soft as the pug mill permits
without
>dog-toothing. I throw as dry as I can, easy with soft clay. By doing this
>I do not need monstrous strength, I do not overstrain my shoulder muscles
>and whatever the muscles are that hold my head in place.
>It is abuse of those that has caused neck problems, the chiropractor says.
>Also by doing so I reduce stress on my hands and thumb.
>
>One aspect of centering has not been mentionned. Your hands set the
>limits. Your hands say to the clay: you can spread upward, but not out.
>Think in terms of corraling the clay. That may help.
>
>Also. From some book I learned this. When you want to center a big lump
>wedge up a big lump--for uniformity. Then center a small lump you can
>center with ease. Round it off nicely, with a rib scrape off all mud,
>flatten the top, and center another lump of clay ON TOP OF IT. Repeat as
>needed till you have lump size you want. I would be grateful if someone
who
>knows the book, would tell us--writers deserve credit.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Lili Krakowski
>P.O. Box #1
>Constableville, N.Y.
>(315) 942-5916/ 397-2389
>
>Be of good courage....
>
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