Leland G. Hall on fri 9 apr 04
Hey Bill,
I have an Axner 900 with the two piece splash pan. Nope, it does not
attach to anything. Flops around something fierce. Just have to stay off
it pretty much. Also the edges are sharp as glass. Have cut myself
several times while cleaning. Flimsy yes. Come to think of it the first
one broke.
But it is strong and quiet. My circuit board had to be replaced first year
out, amongst other things. (wheel head, bearings, main shaft, tensioner.)
Now it seems fine though. I use it hard. No further problems. These
wheels are industrial. Nice pedal.
Bill wrote,
First impressions - rather quiet, strong wheels.
Second impression - the splash pan is bigger but is not anchored in
any way (this is the one piece, non-removable, unless you remove the
wheel head), so if you push against it, it shifts, making contact
with rotating wheel head - lot of noise, poor design. The plastic
used to make the splash pan is rather thin and cheesy.
Howard, you listening? Are the two piece splash pans made of thicker
material? Do they attach to the wheel any better?
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Leland Hall
Before The Wheel Enterprises
Raku Pottery and Sculpture
La Pine, OR
Vince Pitelka on fri 9 apr 04
> First impressions - rather quiet, strong wheels.
> Second impression - the splash pan is bigger but is not anchored in
> any way (this is the one piece, non-removable, unless you remove the
> wheel head), so if you push against it, it shifts, making contact
> with rotating wheel head - lot of noise, poor design. The plastic
> used to make the splash pan is rather thin and cheesy.
> Howard, you listening? Are the two piece splash pans made of thicker
> material? Do they attach to the wheel any better? Might want to make
> an exchange.
Bill -
We also just got a shipment of ten new Axner wheels, and we specified the
two-piece splash pans. We just put them into service, but so far we are
very pleased with them. The students love them. I am sorry to hear of the
problems with the one-piece splash pans. I am sure that Axner will want to
make it right. They impress me as an honorable company, concerned for the
needs of the individual potter.
Personally I do not understand why any wheel manufacturer would EVER use a
one-piece splash pan. There is no advantage to it, and no excuse for it.
It is just a big pain in the &%#!! One of Shimpo's greatest flaws was
their long-time adherence to the one-piece splash pan.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
william schran on fri 9 apr 04
We just got our shipment of 10 new Axner model 600 wheels at school.
These are replacing a couple of Brent "B"'s and several Amaco #15
wheels (real work horses - have been used in school environment for
over 15 years - think I've replaced belts & drive rings on all these
wheels a few times).
Anyway, got approval for an "equipment trust fund" purchase. Virginia
supports replacing equipment in higher education with this pot of
money. Most usually goes to computers and high tech stuff, but we
were able to replace some equipment in our lower tech fine art
program this year.
First impressions - rather quiet, strong wheels.
Second impression - the splash pan is bigger but is not anchored in
any way (this is the one piece, non-removable, unless you remove the
wheel head), so if you push against it, it shifts, making contact
with rotating wheel head - lot of noise, poor design. The plastic
used to make the splash pan is rather thin and cheesy.
Howard, you listening? Are the two piece splash pans made of thicker
material? Do they attach to the wheel any better? Might want to make
an exchange.
The wheels were packed very well, all arrived with no damage.
Will let you know as time goes on how theses wheels work out in a
school situation.
Bill
william schran on sat 10 apr 04
Leland wrote:>I have an Axner 900 with the two piece splash pan.
Nope, it does not
attach to anything. Flops around something fierce. Just have to stay off
it pretty much. Also the edges are sharp as glass. Have cut myself
several times while cleaning. Flimsy yes.<
I've not had a chance to sit down at one of the wheels yet! Been
dealing with our student show. Show curator has been out ill, so that
means I get to attend to all that stuff also. It's for the students
so it doesn't really bother me.
One of my students trying out one of the new wheels mentioned at the
point where the two pieces of the splash pan meets the corners come
to a very sharp point - she had caught her shirt sleeve on it a
couple times. Went around to all the splash pans with a pair of
snippers and cut off the corners.
Wondering if I took a bungie cord, hooked one side to the edge of the
spalsh pan and ran it under the wheel and hooked on to the other edge
of the pan....hmmmm.....maybe that would keep the darn things steady.
Bill
Cindi Anderson on sat 10 apr 04
What's your objection to a one-piece splash pan? Is it when they are not
anchored like is described here? In the case of a Thomas Stuart wheel for
example, when the wheelhead lifts off and the splash pan comes up in one
piece, do you dislike that too?
Cindi
Fremont, CA
----- Original Message -----
> > Second impression - the splash pan is bigger but is not anchored in
> > any way (this is the one piece, non-removable, unless you remove the
> > wheel head), so if you push against it, it shifts, making contact
> > with rotating wheel head - lot of noise, poor design. >
>
> Personally I do not understand why any wheel manufacturer would EVER use a
> one-piece splash pan. There is no advantage to it, and no excuse for it.
> It is just a big pain in the &%#!!
claybair on sun 11 apr 04
Bill,
I have the Axner 600 with the one piece splash pan.
It also is flimsy but it doesn't flop around as there are 2
extruded pieces on the bottom that anchor into the 2 holes
on the base.
I haven't seen the 2 piece splash pan but am wondering
if it doesn't also have those extrusions.
The splash pan seems to be the only thing flimsy on my
wheel. I really don't have any other complaints about it.
Hopefully they will upgrade the splash pan.
As it's a new wheel I expected the bugs to be located and fixed.
Perhaps we can get a good deal on those upgrades for being the beta
testers!:-)
I would suggest calling Axner and talking to them.
I was looking at getting their jigger but decided to wait until the design
has
been finalized. In the meantime I have gotten pretty good at throwing plates
and may not need it anymore unless I go into serious production.
Gayle Bair
Bainbridge Island, WA
http://claybair.com
-----Original Message-----
From: william schran
Leland wrote:>I have an Axner 900 with the two piece splash pan.
Nope, it does not
attach to anything. Flops around something fierce. Just have to stay off
it pretty much. Also the edges are sharp as glass. Have cut myself
several times while cleaning. Flimsy yes.<
I've not had a chance to sit down at one of the wheels yet! Been
dealing with our student show. Show curator has been out ill, so that
means I get to attend to all that stuff also. It's for the students
so it doesn't really bother me.
One of my students trying out one of the new wheels mentioned at the
point where the two pieces of the splash pan meets the corners come
to a very sharp point - she had caught her shirt sleeve on it a
couple times. Went around to all the splash pans with a pair of
snippers and cut off the corners.
Wondering if I took a bungie cord, hooked one side to the edge of the
spalsh pan and ran it under the wheel and hooked on to the other edge
of the pan....hmmmm.....maybe that would keep the darn things steady.
Bill
Vince Pitelka on sun 11 apr 04
> What's your objection to a one-piece splash pan? Is it when they are not
> anchored like is described here? In the case of a Thomas Stuart wheel for
> example, when the wheelhead lifts off and the splash pan comes up in one
> piece, do you dislike that too?
Cinci -
For anyone who likes a one-piece splash pan for whatever reason, it is of
course perfectly fine. Whatever works for you is your business. In
general, for an individual potter who takes good care of the wheelhead shaft
fit that allows the wheelhead to be removed, a one-piece splash pan could
work fine. Lots of independent potters do not clean their splash pans very
often, and thus there would be less disadvantage to a one-piece pan. But in
institutional situations, I would not want my students to be removing the
wheelhead every time they need to clean the splash pan. There would be too
many problems with deterioration of wheelhead fit, corrosion of the mating
surfaces, etc. For the wheels in the throwing classroom, each student has
to clean their wheel at the end of the class period, so two-piece splash
pans are the only reasonable solution.
When it comes down to it, I can't really think of any specific advantage to
a one-piece splash pan, other than that it is cheaper to manufacture.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
william schran on sun 11 apr 04
Cindi wrote:>What's your objection to a one-piece splash pan? Is it
when they are not
anchored like is described here? In the case of a Thomas Stuart wheel for
example, when the wheelhead lifts off and the splash pan comes up in one
piece, do you dislike that too?<
I have no particular objection to the one-piece splash pan. In fact I
ordered the wheels with the one-piece pan in an attempt to get my
students to stop dumping clay in the sink. With the removable pans,
they would wipe them out into the slurry buckets, but not every one
is careful about getting all the slop out. I thought with the
one-piece they would wipe out everything at the wheel then dump all
in the slurry bucket.
My issue is with the thickness of the plastic used to make the splash
pan. Ones from older wheels much thicker and more durable. Will have
to see how these new thinner ones survive with students.
And yes, they are not anchored in any way.
Bill
Neal on mon 12 apr 04
I've had my Axner 600 since the fall of 2002. I've decided
not to be compulsive about keeping the one-piece splash pan
clean. It's too hard to clean it. I don't think, though,
that I'd like it in a shared space with others using
different clays.
The motor on mine went bad. Robert at Axner was
great--talking me through replacing it after he sent a new
one (under warranty). He said they have made a number of
improvements to the wheel, including buying the motors from
a different manufacturer.
Neal
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william schran on tue 13 apr 04
Vince wrote: >But in institutional situations, I would not want my
students to be removing the
wheelhead every time they need to clean the splash pan. There would be too
many problems with deterioration of wheelhead fit, corrosion of the mating
surfaces, etc.<
In another message I wrote about my reasoning for ordering the one
piece splash pans - an attempt to keep clay out of the sink. And yes,
I give instruction on proper clean-up, where to dump what, but you'll
always have a couple folks who are just natural born slobs.
My students know how demanding I am about keeping the studio clean -
they know I give one warning during a semester for anything left
dirty or left turned on - the 2nd time, no more open labs the
remainder of the semester!
Well, these one piece splash pans are also two piece, cause one of my
creative students was able to take one apart - hmmmm.....
Bill
Howard Axner on tue 13 apr 04
Howard, are you listening?
Dear everyone,
It took me a couple of days to read the message, but yes I am=20
listening. And, I am very grateful for the feedback. We at Axner take=20=
building quality equipment and customer service very seriously and we=20
learn from you.
When we first designed the Axner Pottery Wheel, I thought the one-piece=20=
splash pan was a great idea, and maybe it was, but some aspects of a=20
design are subjective. I quickly learned that some people prefer a=20
two-piece splash pan and we quickly put that design into production. =20
Some people still prefer the one-piece design but it turns out that I=20
like the two-piece splash pan better myself. It does cost more to=20
manufacture. So instead of raising the price of the basic wheel, we=20
offer the two-piece splash pan as an alternative substitute, which is=20
available at a slightly higher price for those who want it. Our sales=20=
staff always offers this alternative to all buyers and I personally=20
encourage people to make the two-piece choice since I prefer it myself.
And I have heard the complaint about the plastic not being thick=20
enough. The two-piece design has been produced with the same thickness=20=
of plastic as the one-piece, but because the plastic does not need to=20
stretch as much, the two-piece design has been sturdier than the=20
one-piece. While I consider the splash pan thickness to be very=20
adequate in both cases, I do wish to be responsive to the general user.=20=
And since I have heard this complaint before, we have already=20
addressed it. We had thicker two-piece splash pans available at our=20
display at NCECA , which were the prototypes for our new design. And=20
now our first production order of thicker two-piece splash pans are due=20=
into our warehouse in two weeks.
Finally, it is true that our splash pan does not lock down onto the=20
table. As mentioned in one of the posts they do have two protrusions=20
that fit into two holes on the wheel=92s table. This is true for both=20=
the one-piece and two-piece designs. We experienced no lasting=20
problems with this design. Nonetheless, I am asking my engineer to=20
explore the possibility of re-designing the splash pan in a way that=20
will lock to the table.
Again, thank you for your feedback. I welcome more either by general=20
broadcast or by private e-mails to me at howard@axner.com.
Best wishes,
Howard Axner=
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