Jeff Longtin on thu 30 jun 05
Feeling wistful and nostalgic I thought I'd toss this out to everyone-
The posting on "wheels on ebay" was really great and brought back many
memories- those old Amaco wheels were similar to the wheels I encountered in
junior and senior high school.
(While not ideal wheels to develop ones technique they were, nonetheless,
the "state-of-the-art" at a certain point in time and deserve respect as a
result.)
Mel's posting on speed and throwing caught my attention and prompted this
posting.
In the 8th grade my junior high school art teacher amazed me by actually
throwing a fairly decent pot on an old Amaco treadle wheel. (It certainly looked
like a lot of effort!)
By the time I was in high school, 10th grade, I was ready to develop me
technique on the Shimpo electric wheels that were in abudance. (The old Amaco
electric sat in the corner. It made ALOT of noise.)
A late spring "field trip" put in me in touch with a local potter, Bill
Kaufman, who had a beat up, old, wooden Brent kickwheel for sale.
You would have thought I won the lottery when I took that thing home. (I
thought I had made the deal-of-a-lifetime.) I took that wheel home and planted
it the only place my folks would allow, the back yard patio.
So there I was, all summer long, throwing pots, on a wobbly kickwheel, in
the backyard.
It was then that I learned about wheel speed and clay consistency.
I take this experience for granted, but I'll suggest to those who haven't
used a kickwheel before, to take Mel's advice to heart (about slower speeds and
throwing) and give it a try.
When your ego says, "I'm a good potter I SHOULD be able to throw a pot at
any speed" and the wheel slows down WAY slower than you expected, that you
learn about pulling, clay consistency, and wheel speed.
It makes you (or me anyway) appreciate all those potters who came before
WITHOUT the luxury of electricity.
take care
Jeff Longtin
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