Daisy Brand on fri 5 may 06
I have been using a Bluebird 750 SV pugmill for 25 years, and liked the =
way it pugged, without me ever having to wedge. Over the years I used it =
for both porcelain and stoneware, but now I only work with stoneware. =
Now it needed repair and I decided to get rid of it since at my advanced =
age, (I hate to admit this) it became increasingly more difficult for me =
to clean and maintain. I am looking for a good quality smaller pugmill. =
I looked at a friends Bluebird 440 that she said the pugged clay needed =
more wedging, another friend has a Bailey A400 with a "stainless steel =
barbell" that she has trouble with paint inside the hopper, that is =
chipping off into her clay. I am now considering a barrel, which someone =
complained about having a unhelpful manual and not very good customer =
service, or a Shimpo, which I know nothing about, except that I like my =
shimpo wheel. One of the questions I have is, is the number of HPof the =
vacuum pump important for better deairing? Like, the Bluebird 440 only =
has a 1/12 Hp pump, and the Shimpo has a 3/4H one. Can anyone out there =
recommend anything?
I would be really greatful to hear anything you have to say about this =
subject.
Thanks.
Daisy
daisy.brand@rcn.com
Kathi LeSueur on fri 5 may 06
Daisy Brand wrote:
>I have been using a Bluebird 750 SV pugmill..... I am looking for a good quality smaller pugmill. I looked at a friends Bluebird 440 that she said the pugged clay needed more wedging, another friend has a Bailey A400 with a "stainless steel barbell" that she has trouble with paint inside the hopper, that is chipping off into her clay. >>>>>>>
>
I have a Bluebird Powerstar now, but used a small Bluebird for years.
It's still in use to the person I sold it to. A friend was having
problems and needing to wedge the clay after pugging with his Bluebird.
I asked if he'd called the company for advice. Turned out his vacuum
wasn't working properly. Once it was, the machine worked fine. So, my
question would be, has your friend talked to Bluebird? I've always found
them extremely helpful. Another advantage is that they use
"off-the-shelf" parts for their machines which means you can always get
parts for them easily and any machine shop can repair them for you. Many
other pugmills use part that were designed exclusively for their machine.
Kathi
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