Hollis Engley on sun 26 oct 03
From: Steve Slatin
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2003 8:19 PM
Subject: A really Bat question (for Halloween)
> I was thinking of making the fit tighter with a rubber band or two
> draped over the bat pins before insertion of the bat, but don't want
> to crack the plastic that fits over the pins.
> Has anyone else experienced this problem? How did you fix it?
> Thanks -- Steve S
>
> Steve: My experience with plastic bats is that the pin holes wear and
widen and eventually everything is a little bit - or a lot - off-center. And
the only solution, honest to God, is to throw them out. Get some others. You
don't want to spend time diddling with the bats and bat pins that you could
use making pots. Really, if you have a tool that doesn't work, don't try to
adapt yourself to it. Get a better one. I use masonite bats and a couple of
heavier bats made of pressed wood fiber. (Can somebody remember what that's
called?) You'd think the masonite bats would be softer than plastic and that
the holes would wear the same way, but they don't. Or they haven't yet.
Hollis Engley
Hatchville Pottery
Falmouth, Mass.
hengley@cape.com
John Jensen on sun 26 oct 03
I'm sometimes given to hasty solutions to such problems: When using
masonite bats, I just smear a bunch of clay on the wheelhead and spread
it out with a few fingers while the wheel turns. I guess it ends up
being about a sixteenth to a eighth inch thick...not particularly,
wonderfully, even or symmetrical. As I recall...it stops the wobbling
or chattering you refer to.
John Jensen, Mudbug Pottery
mudbug@toadhouse.com , http://www.toadhouse.com
Steve Slatin on sun 26 oct 03
I'm not accustomed to using bats. As a student, I usually
made small stuff, and if I wanted to do something big I'd
close out my throwing with one big item, and leave it on the
wheel head to "set up" while I cleaned my workspace, did
glazing, etc. I'd pull it off at the end of class and it
wouldn't deform too badly.
I'm throwing more seriously now, and can't afford to leave
my wheel for an hour to let the clay stiffen up a bit. I
got a bunch of CI plastic bats, and they're fine as long as
I'm making small stuff (when I don't need them). What I find
is on the bigger pieces while centering the clay on the "down"
gesture and again if I pull straight back to open up a flat-
bottomed cylinder, I get a sort of chatter from the bat and end
up a bit off center.
After some tinkering, I was able to run the problem down to the fit
between the bat pins and the holes that accommodate the bat pins
on the plastic bats. I tried putting a dab of fairly stiff clay
on the wheel head, 90 degrees away from the bat pins, about as far
out from the center as the pins, and it helped a bit, but not much.
I was thinking of making the fit tighter with a rubber band or two
draped over the bat pins before insertion of the bat, but don't want
to crack the plastic that fits over the pins.
Has anyone else experienced this problem? How did you fix it?
Thanks -- Steve S
Cheryl Weickert on mon 27 oct 03
Steve,
The easiest thing to do is to take several small dots of soft clay and put
them all the way around the wheel at the same distance as the bat pins and
then put your bat down on top of it and smoosh down... It works like a
charm for me and sometimes is rather hard to get the bat back off of the
wheel but no more wobbly bats.
Pinky... in MN where winter is making a comeback!!! seen snow yesterday.
wayneinkeywest on mon 27 oct 03
Steve:
Most wheels use pins that are 3/8 inch diameter.
Drilling new holes in your bats should solve the problem.
Rotate the bat 90 degrees from the current holes, line
it up centered while the bat is sitting on the pins
(but not in the holes) and the wheel is rotating
slowly (so you can center the bat). Once the
bat is centered, stop the wheel, take a hammer
and hit the bat just over the two pins to make
an impression in the bat, giving you an exact
placement for the holes. I use this method
for making new bats from HardieBacker,
and it works well for me. Use a drill bit with
a centerpoint so it doesn't wobble when you drill.
If you don't want to drill new holes, you can
stop the chatter by using a thick slip under
the bat, to "stick" the bat to the wheelhead.
I've also had some success with that new "shelf liner"
made from that rubberized fabric available at
your local department store under the bat.
Hope that helps,
Wayne Seidl
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Slatin"
To:
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2003 8:19 PM
Subject: A really Bat question (for Holloween)
> I'm not accustomed to using bats. As a student, I usually
> made small stuff, and if I wanted to do something big I'd
> close out my throwing with one big item, and leave it on the
> wheel head to "set up" while I cleaned my workspace, did
> glazing, etc. I'd pull it off at the end of class and it
> wouldn't deform too badly.
>
> I'm throwing more seriously now, and can't afford to leave
> my wheel for an hour to let the clay stiffen up a bit. I
> got a bunch of CI plastic bats, and they're fine as long as
> I'm making small stuff (when I don't need them). What I find
> is on the bigger pieces while centering the clay on the "down"
> gesture and again if I pull straight back to open up a flat-
> bottomed cylinder, I get a sort of chatter from the bat and end
> up a bit off center.
>
> After some tinkering, I was able to run the problem down to the fit
> between the bat pins and the holes that accommodate the bat pins
> on the plastic bats. I tried putting a dab of fairly stiff clay
> on the wheel head, 90 degrees away from the bat pins, about as far
> out from the center as the pins, and it helped a bit, but not much.
>
> I was thinking of making the fit tighter with a rubber band or two
> draped over the bat pins before insertion of the bat, but don't want
> to crack the plastic that fits over the pins.
>
> Has anyone else experienced this problem? How did you fix it?
>
> Thanks -- Steve S
>
>
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melpots@pclink.com.
Steve Slatin on mon 27 oct 03
Thanks for the outpouring of advice. I am trying the gooey clay
dodge today, and will be looking for the rubberized fabric shelf
liner later on in the week. (I live approximately 55 miles west of
nowhere, and finding things is sometimes difficult). With any luck
one of them will work, if not both.
My muddy-fingered best to all -- Steve S
Kathie Wheater on mon 27 oct 03
>What I find
>is on the bigger pieces while centering the clay on the "down"
>gesture and again if I pull straight back to open up a flat-
>bottomed cylinder, I get a sort of chatter from the bat and end
>up a bit off center.
BOOO!!!!
or is it boohooo
Yes I know this problem intimately. It makes for a nice elliptical form
At the community college I wrapped the pins with teflon tape. At my
home wheels I screw the pins down tighly with wing nuts. That has
worked the best. I've tried cementing the bats with small coils and adding
clay to the hole the pin goes into with lesser success. Now I always use
bats and always leave the pins in. No more ka-chunk-ka-chunk-ka-chunk
KathieW
mother witch
one black cat
two bionicles--Tahu and Onua
fire and earth with a pinch of magic and a bowl of cream
Gail Dapogny on mon 27 oct 03
Steve,
While I think that Mel and Wayne have the best idea (redrillling
holes), you can also get a newish thing (cheap) called a bat-grabber.
It works great and is for exactly what you are describing. You wet it,
place it on the wheel, and it holds down whatever you place on it --
wood, plastic, masonite, or plaster. I know that Bracker's is one
supplier that carries them.
Gail Dapogny in Ann Arbor
On Monday, October 27, 2003, at 11:03 AM, Steve Slatin wrote:
> Thanks for the outpouring of advice. I am trying the gooey clay
> dodge today, and will be looking for the rubberized fabric shelf
> liner later on in the week. (I live approximately 55 miles west of
> nowhere, and finding things is sometimes difficult). With any luck
> one of them will work, if not both.
>
> My muddy-fingered best to all -- Steve S
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Gail Dapogny gdapogny@umich.edu
1154 Olden Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103
http://www.silverhawk.com/ex99/dapogny (single historical photo - no
longer
Don Whitehouse on thu 30 oct 03
Steve,
I made a "startling" discovery last night. I also use CI bats and was
having wobbles.
Guess what? Not all bat pins are created equal. I replaced mine with shiny
new stainless ones and no more wobble!!
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