mel jacobson on mon 31 jan 05
it was so good to be a student at mendocino.
i got to sit in on half a dozen mini workshops too.
remember, we all go from teacher to student every day.
david hendley addressed the topic of foot rings.
years ago he made most of his pots without
rings. plates were flat, right off the wheel to
dry. after several years of looking, he realized that
they were easy to make, no trimming, but they
lacked the professional touch...class. he started
to cut foot rings. he felt, and i agree, the foot ring
is a step up. it adds a certain quality that is perhaps
hard to explain, but it is classy. he then addressed the
scrap issue, got organized with it...and that is how
all of his pots are made today. clear thinking, good
craftsmanship and design.
earl/remember a great many things can go wrong from
the power pole to your kiln.
size of wires, size of breaker, what is going on around
your kiln...power tools, freezers, lots of power drain.
often rural power companies experience power drain
problems...summer is a good example of brown outs.
at times you can measure the volts coming in to each line
and it will be like 101 volts per leg. constant. it seems
that the average would be 202 volts instead of 220V. (or whatever is
standard in your area.)
i have seen people order kilns...lets say 180 volt kiln.
30 amps.
and they try to fire it to cone 10.
they scream at the kiln company...`THIS GD THING WON'T FIRE
RIGHT`.
and, they have 106 volts each leg coming into their breaker box.
makes for trouble.
in most cases, the power company will supply whatever you need.
in fact, they will even increase the size of the transformer.
(after we got hit by lightning at the farm, i casually asked the
power company guy...`hey, can we have that other, bigger
transformer in the truck..we run electric kilns, welders and such
in that barn over there...` `hell, yes...be our guest`.
then he walked over and said...`hey, you only have 60 amps
running to your barn...change that breaker on the pole to at
least 100.` man, oh man...there was our biggest headache..solved.
i did not realize that there was a breaker on the pole. changed it
to 150 amps, and then put in a 150 amp new breaker box..threw
away the old crap, ran about 200 feet of new yellow 12/2 with ground.
tightened it all up. and no breakers clicking off. and best of all,
i had doug gray pulling circuits, breakers. he was thrilled to learn.
we did not give him a union card/but he feels like an apprentice.
speaking of gray. a potter at seagrove, can't think of his first
name...gray. he throws in a plastic stock tank. he sets his wheel
inside on legs. brings it over to the edge. throws all day/ production
work. the scrap/water, sludge all goes to the bottom. when it is
full half way up...he cleans it out and re/cycles.
not a drop of clay or water on his floor. you could have a two
year old kid play on his floor all day long.
chris campbell should do a story about that, with good photos.
mel
mel jacobson/minnetonka/minnesota/usa
http://www.pclink.com/melpots
http://www.rid-a-tick.com
Lisa Skeen on mon 31 jan 05
The man to whom you refer is Tom Gray (http://www.n2clay.com). Charlie
Riggs does this as well. It's a great system; you can put a board across
the tub to hold your tools and another one across to hold the foot pedal.
The livestock watering trough is made by Rubbermaid and comes in 2 sizes.
Here in Summerfield, the smaller one is about $125, but for our purposes
will last a lifetime.
L
----- Original Message -----
From: "mel jacobson"
> speaking of gray. a potter at seagrove, can't think of his first
name...gray. he throws in a plastic stock tank. he sets his wheel inside
on legs. you could have a two
> year old kid play on his floor all day long.
Eva Gallagher on mon 31 jan 05
An alternative to the stock tank is a child's wading pool - these are often
thrown out when they get cracked and can be picked up free from curbside
garbage. All the trimmings stay in the pool and can be swept up easily. It
really works to keep your floor clean.
Eva Gallagher
Deep River
Ontario
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lisa Skeen"
To:
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 10:17 AM
Subject: Re: foot rings/electrics/throwing in stock tanks
> The man to whom you refer is Tom Gray (http://www.n2clay.com). Charlie
> Riggs does this as well. It's a great system; you can put a board across
> the tub to hold your tools and another one across to hold the foot pedal.
> The livestock watering trough is made by Rubbermaid and comes in 2 sizes.
> Here in Summerfield, the smaller one is about $125, but for our purposes
> will last a lifetime.
>
> L
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "mel jacobson"
>> speaking of gray. a potter at seagrove, can't think of his first
> name...gray. he throws in a plastic stock tank. he sets his wheel inside
> on legs. you could have a two
>> year old kid play on his floor all day long.
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
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Lynn Barnwell on mon 31 jan 05
Mel, that is Tom Gray in Seagrove. I have several of his pots and one of
his son's. Really nice fellow his web address is n2clay.com
Lynn Barnwell
Hinkle Creek Pottery
Corinth, MS
www.hinklecreekpottery.com
Ivor and Olive Lewis on tue 1 feb 05
Dea Mel,
You have me totally confused.
Is there some information I am not receiving when you say <to cut foot rings. he felt, and i agree, the foot ring is a step up.
it adds a certain quality that is perhaps hard to explain, but it is
classy. he then addressed the scrap issue, got organized with
it...and that is how all of his pots are made today. clear thinking,
good craftsmanship and design. >>
Either you are describing just an ordinary everyday situation or David
Hendly has done something special you may wish to comment on in
detail.
I do have an answer to getting rid of that 25% to 49% discard which
results from turning the basal surface of a thrown plate blank. Used
it for high footed bonsai planters. Not a difficult solution. Easy
when you do the research.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis.
Redhill,
S. Australia.
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