Sandy Miller on fri 18 aug 06
I just finished watching David Hendley's Extruder Magic dvd's! They are great!
Well made, informative and a snippet into David's life down in Texas. I have to admitt I have had an extruder bolted to the beams for three years now. I use it for feet and
lugs on pots, not much more. After watching David I have a whole new appreciation
for what my under utilized extruder can do! I am a by nature a "thrower" so thought what do I need to watch an extruder dvd for? A friend made me watch..........really.
Then I saw David put an extrusion of clay on his wheel! Way Cool! Extruded footrings on plates...........Why? David figured it out it was more efficient, great point! And love those plate racks David! Might have to build a few for my studio.
I would much rather have my morning coffee with David and his amazing extruder than
the world news!
Happy Extruding everyone!
Sandy Miller
www.sandymillerpottery.com
David Hendley on fri 18 aug 06
Thanks for the comments on my extruding videos Sandy,
and glad you liked them.
I also started my ceramic life as a thrower and never had
much interest in handbuilding, partially because once you are
a skilled thrower, using slabs and coils is just such a painfully
slow way to work. I also used my extruder mostly just for
handles and lugs.
A bout of wrist pain (carpel tunnel? I don't know) about 10
years ago made me decide to give up throwing for 6 months.
I built an expansion box for my extruder and concentrated
on extruding hollow forms and components to be combined
for handbuilding.
Plus, I had always had this nagging feeling that I wasn't a
"complete" potter since I didn't know much about handbuilding.
Wow, a whole new world without a wheel was revealed.
Especially interesting was designing extruder dies. Once I was
totally immersed in the process, I viewed everything I saw
from a different "extruded" perspective, picturing what an
extruder die to make the object might look like.
This is quite a mind-expanding exercise, and one of the reasons
I try to convince people that they need to make their own
extruder dies, rather than buy the pre-fab die package.
As a side note, also in the '90's, I spent 3 months doing
nothing but colored clay neriage, where "loaves" of clay are
constructed, and then pieces are sliced off to make slabs with
patterns of colored clay in them. Doing this similarly alters
your visual perception and thinking, as you picture how
you would build the loaf to produce the flower, face, or house
you are seeing.
Anyway, for those who may wonder, my extruding videos
are made from the perspective of a thrower and vessel-maker.
Volume I deals with extruded additions to thrown forms,
Volume II is about extruding hollow forms which become the
bodies of the pots, and Volume III shows the expansion box
and using extrusions as handbuilding components.
The videos, even at 3 volumes, only scratch the surface of
showing what the extruder can do. The entire areas of
tile making and ceramic sculpture, for example, are not
covered at all.
See my website for more info!
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
david(at)farmpots(dot)com
http://www.farmpots.com
P.S. - I looked up "colored clay" on Yahoo, to check the
spelling of "neriage", and Vince Pitelka's "Techniques"
page was number 1 in the search results:
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/gallery/techniques/techniques.htm
Good job explaining the history and process, Vince.
>I just finished watching David Hendley's Extruder Magic dvd's! They are
>great!
> Well made, informative and a snippet into David's life down in Texas. I
> have to admitt I have had an extruder bolted to the beams for three years
> now. I use it for feet and
> lugs on pots, not much more. After watching David I have a whole new
> appreciation
> for what my under utilized extruder can do! I am a by nature a "thrower"
> so thought what do I need to watch an extruder dvd for? A friend made me
> watch..........really.
> Then I saw David put an extrusion of clay on his wheel! Way Cool!
> Extruded footrings on plates...........Why? David figured it out it was
> more efficient, great point! And love those plate racks David! Might
> have to build a few for my studio.
> I would much rather have my morning coffee with David and his amazing
> extruder than
> the world news!
> Happy Extruding everyone!
> Sandy Miller
> www.sandymillerpottery.com
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