Brad Carter on thu 16 dec 04
Hey folks,
Does anyone have a tried-and -true tool for cutting spiral patterns into the
bottom of platters? I have used monofiliment with one end tied to a nail,
and the other end tied to a dowel. The monofiliment is tied about 3/8 inch from
the end of the nail and dowel. I throw a platter and near the outside edge
of the flat bottom, I open up a trench all the way to the wheelhead, pushing
the clay from this trench to the outside so that it lies adjacent to where the
lip of the platter rises up from the bottom of the plate. The plunge the
nail down in the exact center of the platter so that its tip centers in a small
dimple located at the center of my wheelhead. Next, I take the slack out of
the monofiliment by pulling the dowel away from center. Then I start the
wheel rotating slowley and plunge the dowel into the trench--and quickly move the
dowel up and down so that it cuts a pattern into the bottom of the plate.
After the plate has made a full rotation, I lift the upper portion off and there
is a nice radiating wavey pattern on the bottom. Then I refill the trench
by pushing the clay back in.
My little tool is pretty simple and kind of akward. I'm just wondering if
anyone has developed another way to do this.
Best regards,
Brad Carter
Grass Valley, CA
bradcarter@aol.com
Des & Jan Howard on fri 17 dec 04
Brad
I use a re-jigged electric hair trimmer with a "D" section hair pin
epoxied to the end.
Start the cut from the centre of the platter, move out steadily, spirally.
I'll put pics on my website when I get some photos scanned of this
process & some chattering.
Des
Brad Carter wrote:
>Does anyone have a tried-and -true tool for cutting spiral patterns into the
>bottom of platters?
>
>My little tool is pretty simple and kind of akward. I'm just wondering if
>anyone has developed another way to do this.
>
>
--
Des & Jan Howard
Lue Pottery
LUE NSW 2850
Australia
Ph/Fax 02 6373 6419
http://www.luepottery.hwy.com.au
Cindy on fri 17 dec 04
Dear Brad,
I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to do, so I'm not sure if this
is anything like what you want, but . . . I have a cut-off tool made from
the stretched out spring of an old ball-point pen. I cut off the cup, bowl,
plate or whatever with this spring (handles are attached to each end) while
the wheel rotates fairly slowly. You do have to carefully buff the base of
the item after firing, though. Cutting off this way makes little burrs
sometimes. It does make a beautiful pattern on the bottom of your pot, and I
think it's worth it.
Merry Christmas,
Cindy in SD
| |
|
