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northstar big blue extruder

updated thu 6 feb 03

 

Joyce Lee on wed 5 feb 03


Sorry, Joyce D. I misunderstood. My Northstar
extruder purchased in Vegas is the 4" about which
Les wrote. It's mounted on the wall and will take
smaller amounts of clay than 25# ... is easy to
use if the clay is soft enough .....and probably
sufficient for most extruder purposes.

However, later, after months of research, as a gift from #1=20
Support Person, I received the BaileySystem 3 air-
powered extruder, mounted on a stand, with a 9"
barrel plus a tile adapter. For a non-tech person
such as I, working with an air-compressor took
some adjustment .... but I had a lot of advice from
clayarters, including Peter in Florida who even sent
hard-copies of photos showing his own setup and
how he uses it. My Bailey has a pedal control which
leaves both hands free to control the clay. Bonnie
Hellman has the same extruder and may opt to
speak to her experiences even though her CPA
duties are probably demanding at the moment. =20

#1 SP is no richer than I and is considerably more thrifty, but his =
engineering/technical mind dictates that it's
less expensive in the long run for most of us to get
the best equipment for the job that we can possibly afford.
He does his skimping elsewhere. He and I also
know that the "best" is NOT necessarily the most
expensive, and is often handmade ..... but not by the
likes of this Ancient Person who paid her dues
many times over by using less than adequate just
about everything, making do, wearing it out, using
it up .....=20
and living a full, happy life while doing so.

Joyce
In the Mojave listening to the early-morning wind
howl and the westie yipping right back at it ....