Pamela Watkins on wed 5 nov 03
Mel >clip<
when many people where learning to throw in the
fifties, kick wheels were common. treadle, kick, randalls,
leach, klockstiens etc. >clip<
I have just started two very new beginners for pottery lessons in the studio. The couple are collectors pottery and sculpture, and incidentally if Vince picks this up, we were talking about his workshop and the Applcn Center and they have an early piece of the Glass Instructor (forgive me can't remember his name) that they purchased years ago on a VW cross country treck and a chance tour of the Center- They are to retire soon and are interested in a hobby, producing, and/or getting a feel as to what work is involoved in the pieces that they've collected. I am enlightening them!!! : )
ANYWAY:
I started my lessons off traditionally -pinch. coil. slab forms...the last lesson -demo on the kickwheel then then the Brent and give the folks a go.......
Wheel Speed- It is funny this thread came up.........I was just about to punch one out on the merits of returning to "old ways". I have been working on the Brent exclusively since it landed in my studio and the old kickwheel had been turned into a glaze podium and collecting dust. I felt inclined to have these students start out on Old Bertha Kicker, just like I did. I was a bit nervous about doing a demo on her since I hadn't touched her in several years.
WOW, I pulled out the best vessel out of ten pounds I have made to date! I immediately made mental note to not let her collect any more dust - slow it down on the Brent and to pick up more of the new stoneware from a new supplier that is much more suitable to my dry throwing ways (ie.. it's very soft) . That was another thread.......Merits of changing suppliers and claybodies........
Peace,
Pamela
~jaq
mel jacobson wrote:
almost universally, because of electric power wheels,
folks get very confused as to what is `fast`.
all of the contemporary electric wheels are set at the
factory for very high speed. far more that is conformable
to throw with. it is up to the potter to tone down that
speed. most have a speed controller in the foot pedal.
when many people where learning to throw in the
fifties, kick wheels were common. treadle, kick, randalls,
leach, klockstiens etc.
the instructors would tell folks to `wind them up` for centering.
and that was good advice. you had to get up a head of steam
to center a ten pound ball. that is no longer true.
but, like so many urban legends, it remains a hard and fast
`rule`.
what is high speed on a kick wheel is almost slow on a brent
cxc. wheels today have the speed and torque to throw
100 lbs of clay easily. but, even throwing 50lbs. does not
require 150 rpm's. it gets in the way. the slightest movement
of the body will kick the clay `out of center`.
it takes discipline to slow the wheel down. get a perfect rhythm
of speed, squeeze and pull. most potters just learn it, but some
get it in their heads that fast wheel speed means that you can
throw the pot in less time. not true. there is a maximum speed
for your rhythm and hardness or softness of the clay.
the larger one throws, the slower the wheel must spin.
the forces outward increase dramatically at high speed.
it must be controlled.
so much of throwing is based on physics. potters by nature
can figure out the problems. but, speed for some reason has
been a thorn in the side of young/beginners. slow down,
work for precision, then understand that style and rhythm
become your own signature. speed, pull, squeeze, soft
clay, hard clay are yours to control. loose and tight throwing
is just changing rhythm. it is not about some abstract/art/design
problem. it is about simple changes in physics.
it is like the wood firing potters that insist that their aesthetic
of brown pots, loppy in design are the only things that have value
from a wood fired kiln. it seems to me that ming dynasty pots
were fired in wood burning kilns. they are not brown and loppy.
it is choice, then everyone has to make the same pots.
funny choice. it is like teenie bobbers, wearing the same clothes.
derivative design. the modern way.
mel
we all copy, just don't have all of us copying the same pots.
that is boredom.
(someone wrote me and complained that i made old time
glazes, and old time teapots.)
hooooray for me. i just did not want to join their club.
i have my own.
they were confused however, mine actually are for making
tea, and that is a very strange concept for them.
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
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