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need advice from equipment geeks.

updated sun 12 feb 06

 

primalmommy on thu 9 feb 06


I'm puzzling over minor problems with a few of the wheels in the "fleet"
at our guild.

We have an old soldner wheel which I really like for demos -- a funny
round old vintage thing with an attached pedal, a tiny metal half splash
pan and little legs like a coffee table. The top is particle board or
MDF which is in bad shape -- unspongeable, with little chunks ending up
in the recycle. I want to resurface it.

The easy solution would maybe be a thick boat paint, but it gets used
every 3 or 4 days and wouldn't have much dry time. I am also considering
a thin sheet of formica, which I could cut to fit, stick down with
liquid nails and seal with some silicone caulk around the edges like a
sink, so water wouldn't leak under. But it looks like the little
crescent of splash pan would be a tight squeeze to replace unless I left
that part cut out.

Has anybody done something amazing and waterproof to particle board
before? I hate the stuff ;0( It needs to be a fairly quick-and-easy
project, one I can complete on a drop-by-and-do-it basis.

Next: we are missing some of the little black plugs from the shimpo
splash pans. One above, one below. First, what in the world are they
FOR? Why two? wth?

Is that the kind of thing I can pick up at NCECA from the Shimpo folks,
or order on the phone? Has anybody come up with a quick-fix solution for
missing plugs that I can use in the meantime? For now we are using wads
of wet clay to plug both holes.

One shimpo has also come up missing its on-off switch. Since there is no
potter's wheel junkyard I can drop by to salvage one, I'm probably going
to have to order one of those, too. Meanwhile I turned it permanently on
with channel locks and we've plugged it into a power strip so it can be
turned on and off from there.

I know I could make do with duct tape and c-clamps and whatever to
cobble these together, but these are student wheels and I want them to
be in good order.

Last thing: when I was having trouble with my own Brent, a heroic
clayarter sent me a schematic of the inside of my wheel's pedal. Amazing
world, eh?

Is there a place where one might find a schematic for a Thomas Stuart
wheel's pedal? It looks awfuly simple inside - a simple metal
tuning-fork shaped thing attached to the uppy-downy part of the pedal,
and a little plastic rheostat type tongue that fits into it. The problem
is, when I take the pedal apart and goose the little plastic lever up
and down, by hand, the wheel speeds and slows gradually just as it
should. When I put the pedal back together, it has two only speeds --
off completely, or bat-out-of-hell fast.

Why would it function like an on-off switch when assembled , when all
the parts are working fine individually? I wonder if there may be a
short, or it might be arcing to the metal or something. My suspicion is
based on the fact that during the five minutes I spent messing with the
works inside the pedal, (students were arriving) the damn thing shocked
me three times. I'm a beekeeper so it didn't slow me down much, but I'm
not keen on doing it over and over without some idea what I am looking
for.

Hoping clayarters can offer me some wisdom...
Thanks.

Yours
Kelly in Ohio


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Elizabeth Priddy on fri 10 feb 06


The type of self leveling epoxy used on bars, like drinking
bars, would be waterproof and super slick.

It isn't hard to use, just block out your time with no
interruptions. You would do the sides first, with it on
end with a clay (or other) dam and then when that sets
but before cured, pour the inside, again with clay dams to
protect the works.

E

primalmommy wrote:
I'm puzzling over minor problems with a few of the wheels in the "fleet"
at our guild.

We have an old soldner wheel which I really like for demos -- a funny
round old vintage thing with an attached pedal, a tiny metal half splash
pan and little legs like a coffee table. The top is particle board or
MDF which is in bad shape -- unspongeable, with little chunks ending up
in the recycle. I want to resurface it.


Elizabeth Priddy

Beaufort, NC - USA
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com

---------------------------------
Relax. Yahoo! Mail virus scanning helps detect nasty viruses!

Philip Poburka on fri 10 feb 06


Hi Kelly,


Below...amid...


----- Original Message -----
From: "primalmommy"

> I'm puzzling over minor problems with a few of the wheels in the "fleet"
> at our guild.
>
> We have an old soldner wheel which I really like for demos -- a funny
> round old vintage thing with an attached pedal, a tiny metal half splash
> pan and little legs like a coffee table. The top is particle board or
> MDF which is in bad shape -- unspongeable, with little chunks ending up
> in the recycle. I want to resurface it.
>
> The easy solution would maybe be a thick boat paint, but it gets used
> every 3 or 4 days and wouldn't have much dry time. I am also considering
> a thin sheet of formica, which I could cut to fit, stick down with
> liquid nails and seal with some silicone caulk around the edges like a
> sink, so water wouldn't leak under. But it looks like the little
> crescent of splash pan would be a tight squeeze to replace unless I left
> that part cut out.
>
> Has anybody done something amazing and waterproof to particle board
> before? I hate the stuff ;0( It needs to be a fairly quick-and-easy
> project, one I can complete on a drop-by-and-do-it basis.



If it is merely a flat piece of MDF, shaped how ever so peripherally, why
not just replace it?

Perhaps use a good grade of Plywood, or 'Medex', or two layers of 3/8ths
Med-ex glued together if need be...and just treat it with 'decopage' or lots
of drying Oil of some kind, and then it is both 'new', nice, and done more
or less fairly well...

Should not be too bad of a task...

Trying to paint what is there will not be a very happy solution...

And likely if is far from being really dried out enough to accept anything
very well, other than Polyethyleneglycol or something, which, technically,
'should' work if you realy needed to just do it as it sits somehow by
empregnating the puffy MDF with something that will arrest it's puffy
progress...and make it more or less Water Resistant thereafter...


> Is there a place where one might find a schematic for a Thomas Stuart
> wheel's pedal? > Hoping clayarters can offer me some wisdom...

http://www.thomasstuart.com


Or...

1 (800) 848 - 9565

And ask for 'Tom'...



> Thanks.


> Yours
> Kelly in Ohio


Good luck...!


Phil
Las Vegas

Hank Murrow on fri 10 feb 06


On Feb 9, 2006, at 9:53 PM, primalmommy wrote:
>
> We have an old soldner wheel which I really like for demos -- a funny
> round old vintage thing with an attached pedal, a tiny metal half
> splash
> pan and little legs like a coffee table. The top is particle board or
> MDF which is in bad shape -- unspongeable, with little chunks ending up
> in the recycle. I want to resurface it.

Dear Kelly;

If it has gotten that bad, why not replace the plywood with a fresh
piece. A jig saw and finishing with a roundover bit in a router would
do the job. Believe it is fastened with carriage bolts.

Cheers, Hank
www.murrow.biz/hank

W J Seidl on fri 10 feb 06


Kelly:
Hie thee down to thine nearest auto parts store.
Pick up a quart of fiberglass resin (not the cloth, just the resin).
There is a little itty bitty tube of hardener with it, under the cap.

Mix according to directions, except add a "bit" more hardener.
Using a _disposable_ brush, brush the mixed resin/hardener onto the
CLEAN(!!)Yes, I said CLEAN, and DRY too
MDF surface. Wait a half an hour, do it again if it's not thick enough.
Half an hour later, it is set, and you're done. Throw the brush away.=20
(Design tip: you can also add things into the surface. Like dried =
leaves,
paper bits, glitter, diplomas, etc.) =20

Have fun, and wear a mask, or you're gonna kill more brain cells than an
evening of primal wine would.

Best,
Wayne Seidl
Who once did an entire ancient VW Beetle in fiberglass resin...and =
pockets
ripped from old blue denim jeans. Way cool! Took four hours and a paint
roller. Lasted for years.

-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of primalmommy
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2006 12:53 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Need advice from equipment geeks.

I'm puzzling over minor problems with a few of the wheels in the "fleet"
at our guild.

We have an old soldner wheel which I really like for demos -- a funny
round old vintage thing with an attached pedal, a tiny metal half splash
pan and little legs like a coffee table. The top is particle board or
MDF which is in bad shape -- unspongeable, with little chunks ending up
in the recycle. I want to resurface it.

The easy solution would maybe be a thick boat paint, but it gets used
every 3 or 4 days and wouldn't have much dry time. I am also considering
a thin sheet of formica, which I could cut to fit, stick down with
liquid nails and seal with some silicone caulk around the edges like a
sink, so water wouldn't leak under. But it looks like the little
crescent of splash pan would be a tight squeeze to replace unless I left
that part cut out.

Has anybody done something amazing and waterproof to particle board
before? I hate the stuff ;0( It needs to be a fairly quick-and-easy
project, one I can complete on a drop-by-and-do-it basis.

Next: we are missing some of the little black plugs from the shimpo
splash pans. One above, one below. First, what in the world are they
FOR? Why two? wth?

Is that the kind of thing I can pick up at NCECA from the Shimpo folks,
or order on the phone? Has anybody come up with a quick-fix solution for
missing plugs that I can use in the meantime? For now we are using wads
of wet clay to plug both holes.

One shimpo has also come up missing its on-off switch. Since there is no
potter's wheel junkyard I can drop by to salvage one, I'm probably going
to have to order one of those, too. Meanwhile I turned it permanently on
with channel locks and we've plugged it into a power strip so it can be
turned on and off from there.

I know I could make do with duct tape and c-clamps and whatever to
cobble these together, but these are student wheels and I want them to
be in good order.

Last thing: when I was having trouble with my own Brent, a heroic
clayarter sent me a schematic of the inside of my wheel's pedal. Amazing
world, eh?

Is there a place where one might find a schematic for a Thomas Stuart
wheel's pedal? It looks awfuly simple inside - a simple metal
tuning-fork shaped thing attached to the uppy-downy part of the pedal,
and a little plastic rheostat type tongue that fits into it. The problem
is, when I take the pedal apart and goose the little plastic lever up
and down, by hand, the wheel speeds and slows gradually just as it
should. When I put the pedal back together, it has two only speeds --
off completely, or bat-out-of-hell fast.

Why would it function like an on-off switch when assembled , when all
the parts are working fine individually? I wonder if there may be a
short, or it might be arcing to the metal or something. My suspicion is
based on the fact that during the five minutes I spent messing with the
works inside the pedal, (students were arriving) the damn thing shocked
me three times. I'm a beekeeper so it didn't slow me down much, but I'm
not keen on doing it over and over without some idea what I am looking
for.

Hoping clayarters can offer me some wisdom...
Thanks.

Yours
Kelly in Ohio


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Carl Finch on fri 10 feb 06


At 09:53 PM 2/9/2006, primalmommy wrote:

>Next: we are missing some of the little black plugs from the shimpo
>splash pans. One above, one below. First, what in the world are they
>FOR? Why two? wth?

Others have answered your easy questions--I'll tackle this apparently
confoundingly one.

The plugs are there to drain the pan without necessitating lifting the the
wheel and tipping it over the slop bucket--the wheel is quite heavy. You
may use either, the lower or the upper, depending upon how much slop you
bear accumulating in the pan before emptying.

Now the upper one--that has an additional use, a special and unique
one. It's for removing the wheel head (no not *through* the plug
hole--it's much too small, right?). You remove the plug and insert the
T-shaped wrench that came with the wheel (you did save that wrench, didn't
you?) through the hole, under the wheel, and into the head of the 5/16" set
screw retaining the wheel head. Then crank CCW (probably twisting the
shank of the cheapo wrench, because never having removed the head before,
the set screw is stuck tight). So you insert a *real* wrench, with
appropriate extension, and try again.

You didn't mention which model Shimpo you have. Mine is an RK-2. So none
of this may apply to your situation.

--Carl
Rocket Scientist and "equipment geek"--not
in Medford, Oregon

W J Seidl on sat 11 feb 06


E:
She could also use a "dam" of tape around the outside of the MDF, to be =
able
to pour right to the edge. I would recommend duct tape, but it isn't =
stiff
enough for that. Better to use a good masking tape, or make a dam of =
strips
of cardboard taped together, then taped to the edge. But that "liquid
plastic" epoxy stuff is great fun to imbed (embed?) things in...except =
for
the scorpion that found his way into mine
Wayne

-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Elizabeth
Priddy
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2006 3:33 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Need advice from equipment geeks.

The type of self leveling epoxy used on bars, like drinking
bars, would be waterproof and super slick.

It isn't hard to use, just block out your time with no
interruptions. You would do the sides first, with it on
end with a clay (or other) dam and then when that sets
but before cured, pour the inside, again with clay dams to
protect the works.

E

Bonnie Staffel on sat 11 feb 06


Kelly, I am not sure about the size of the holes as my old Shimpo is
long gone, but there are different sized salt shaker rubber plugs you
might explore or if feasible, perhaps corks. Usually a hardware store
carries a varied size stock of corks.

Regards, Bonnie Staffel

http://webpages.charter.net/bstaffel/
DVD Throwing with Coils and Slabs
DVD Beginning Processes
Charter Member Potters Council