Craig Martell on sat 4 oct 03
Hi:
I had a conversation with Harry Davis some twenty years back about making
dinnerware. He could throw a dinner plate in one minute. He made 60 an
hour. I watched him make a plate. He used his hands mostly. Only picked
up a rib once to settle the rim. He took just over a minute to make the
plate but alas, he was past 70 yrs old then. Probably the most remarkable
potter I ever met.
regards, Craig Martell Hopewell, Oregon
elca branman on sat 4 oct 03
The problem with throwing 20 pots per hour is that subsequent
trimming,,glazing ,stacking the glost kiln,, and all the side scutwork
necessary to turn those pots into saleable items takes lots more than the
hour making them.
I think the wheel time is the least of it.
Wedge , weigh and mix glazes, after ordering the ingredients , sieve ,
dip or spray, wipe bottoms, ooops forgot the stacking of the bisque and
the answering of the phone to reassure a customer that their pot will be
ready as promise, and yes, packing shipping..I 'm not even thinking
about, ughm, the paper work..well you all know the routine...
And in the end, nobody except you knows whether the pot reflects an hour
or ten minutes on the wheel.
Elca Branman
http://www.elcabranman.com
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mel jacobson on sat 4 oct 03
i know this is not big news to many
working potters, but a good thrower,
working standard forms can work at least
30 pots and hour.
some do more.
i know that several clayart workers do a hundred
pots a day...easy.
when i am pushed, and have standard things to make...
i can fill my kiln with one days throwing.
this is not a huge deal.
it is as i say....`get on with it, and don't stop til you are done.`
and i am a wimp compared to some of the great working potters
on this list.
we are so lucky to have folks like michael wendt, tony c,
david h, aernie, and many more.
workers with dedication. they do set a very high standard.
mel
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
new/ http://www.rid-a-tick.com
John Jensen on sun 5 oct 03
A funny thing happens to time when you start making pots really quickly.
Ten seconds becomes plenty of time. There is also a tendency to do
things right the first time and not fiddle around...it's amazing how
much time we spend double checking things. Once you figure out the most
effective and efficient way to make a given pot you can focus your
attention on doing just those things. Suddenly, there is plenty of
time: Only a minute? That is sixty whole seconds... a wealth of time.
John Jensen, Mudbug Pottery
mudbug@toadhouse.com , http://www.toadhouse.com
Brad Sondahl on sun 5 oct 03
Elca is right to suppose throwing the tip of the iceberg. To those of
us in production, 20 an hour is a leisurely pace. I fill my shelves
with a couple hours of throwing, and spend the rest of the week taking
care of them. But the majority of time spent by any craft potter is in
the selling, which rarely occurs at 20 or more pots per hour.
Brad Sondahl
--
For original art, music, pottery, and literature, visit my homepage
http://sondahl.com
Pottery sales page http://sondahl.freeyellow.com
My music site at mp3.com http://www.mp3.com/stations/sondahl
Earl Brunner on sun 5 oct 03
Yeah, I don't know about anybody else, but we used to multiply the
initial wheel time to throw the pot times 10 to get a rough estimate of
actual time from start to finish. And that may have been conservative.
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of elca
branman
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2003 8:31 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: throwing 20 an hour
The problem with throwing 20 pots per hour is that subsequent
trimming,,glazing ,stacking the glost kiln,, and all the side scutwork
necessary to turn those pots into saleable items takes lots more than
the
hour making them.
I think the wheel time is the least of it.
Wedge , weigh and mix glazes, after ordering the ingredients , sieve ,
dip or spray, wipe bottoms, ooops forgot the stacking of the bisque and
the answering of the phone to reassure a customer that their pot will be
ready as promise, and yes, packing shipping..I 'm not even thinking
about, ughm, the paper work..well you all know the routine...
And in the end, nobody except you knows whether the pot reflects an
hour
or ten minutes on the wheel.
Elca Branman
Lois Ruben Aronow on mon 6 oct 03
On Sun, 5 Oct 2003 10:11:23 -0400, you wrote:
>A funny thing happens to time when you start making pots really quickly.
>Ten seconds becomes plenty of time. There is also a tendency to do
>things right the first time and not fiddle around...it's amazing how
>much time we spend double checking things. Once you figure out the most
>effective and efficient way to make a given pot you can focus your
>attention on doing just those things. Suddenly, there is plenty of
>time: Only a minute? That is sixty whole seconds... a wealth of time.
>
Once you work up a rhythm, it hums along. A process that usually
includes the right music, coffee, and a happy state of mind.
************
www.loisaronow.com
=46ine Craft Porcelain and Pottery
New Work for Summer 2003
New Show and Retail information
Geoffrey Gaskell on mon 6 oct 03
I'm getting a little concerned about speed here. After all, speed is a pr=
imary cause of accidents on the road and it is likely to have similar eff=
ects elsewhere, such as in the potter's studio. Even cliches contain dire=
warnings: "More haste, less speed". Indeed with all this focus on speed =
there is surely an accident waiting to happen.
Now, folks, consider this: as with the motor vehicle, the electric wheel,=
at least, has an accelerator pedal. Depress the pedal to the utmost and =
in the former case one gets from point A to point B rather quickly unless=
something interrupts the journey; in the latter case one could be in a m=
ighty hurry to go nowhere. Slow down and take stock, I say!
There was a disappointing turnout to the opening of my exhibition last Th=
ursday. Probably the situation was not helped by the fact that I was the =
only one of the five exhibitors to have made any effort to publicise the =
event beyond family and friends. Anyway, I was rather amused at the atten=
tion one of my quirky pieces was receiving: a glazed pot sundered from th=
e top down through the middle. People were asking me if I had used the cu=
tting wire to achieve such precise effects. "No", I replied "That is my '=
anger management' pot. As I was trimming it, the trimming tool slipped [a=
n accident probably due to speed] and in my frustration I banged my fist =
upon the thing. Then, seeing the interesting resulting shape, I recovered=
my composure and kept it aside for the further work to bring it to compl=
etion in the same way as anything else I produce." With all the raised ey=
ebrows I momentarily thought that I had been transported to a Star Trek c=
onvention. I also pointed out that the same piece turned upside down woul=
d resemble Stan Laurel's trousers.
Geoffrey Gaskell
Bonnie Staffel on tue 7 oct 03
When I was throwing production in this mode in the 60's to 80's, my mugs
were rolled when soft leather hard giving the bottom its concave look with
the string cutoff shell pattern. No other work was necessary to clean up
the mug. Then I pulled the number of handles needed, and when the mug and
handles set up they were applied and finished. I would imagine time
expended for each mug was no more than 5 minutes if that long. Of course,
none of this time included clay prep, but I had an extruding Bluebird pug
mill so could cut off the same size pugs for throwing as well as choosing a
longer extrusion for pulling handles. In any of these procedures if you
take a long time to accomplish, then you are not making any money. Usually
that is why mugs are really money losers as the customer does not consider
them a pricey need, or a luxury product. I know I have produced thousands
of mugs in my career and now do not throw them if I can get out of it. I
just make them for family or close friends now. Some potters make
extraordinarily beautiful mugs and can command a good price for them. So if
they can produce them quickly, it is worth it.
After my mugs were bisque fired, I would line the mugs up and gather those
that looked similar together to make sets of six or eight on which I would
put matching decorations.
I used a kitchen timer and a clock to chart my progress. I would get up
with the ware board after each fill to stretch my legs and carry it to the
shelving unit. I looked upon the speed throwing as a challenge to achieve
production and kept my attention on the project. I might say we enjoyed a
good business in our Charlevoix studio/shop for twenty years. I took on
special commissions to keep my sanity.
Regards Bonnie Staffel of Charlevoix, MI.
http://pws.chartermi.net/~bstaffel/
Ron Roy on wed 8 oct 03
I heard or read - many years ago - Harry Davis threw 1100 pots in one day -
just to see how many he could make - in Leach's studio if I remember
correctly.
Attended a workshop by him in the 60's - he used a special "claw" technique
- held his hand in a special way and made a lid - complete except for the
trimming just by the way he held his hand.
I did admire his philosophy - still do in a way - make pots that everyone
can afford. A great problem solver.
Only fly in the ointment was - his pots looked like they were made by a machine.
RR
>i know this is not big news to many
>working potters, but a good thrower,
>working standard forms can work at least
>30 pots and hour.
Ron Roy
RR#4
15084 Little Lake Road
Brighton, Ontario
Canada
K0K 1H0
Phone: 613-475-9544
Fax: 613-475-3513
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