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#1
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Throwing left, right and seldom center!
Hi folks! I am finally back at my wheel after many months not being able to use it for one reason or another. I realize that it will take me a while to get "the feeling" back, but in the mean time, I have a rotten dilemma. If I throw on my wooden bats (I have 2), the holes are slightly bigger than the screws, so the whole bat goes kachung-kachung as I am trying to center - so I can't center. I put some toothpicks into the spaces, but it still seems as if the bat is not "solid". If I throw directly on the wheel, I center pretty good and can make "something" - but!!!! When it comes time to take my work off the wheel, I use my "topfheber" (http://www.michel.ch/michel/images_k.../topfheber.jpg), I end up making the nice round pot crooked somehow :-( Any tips/suggestions would be gratefully read and tried! Marianne |
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#2
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Take some slightly stiff clay and put it on the pins that stick up. Line up the bat holes and push down. Let the clay ooze out and fill up the hole. This will usually steady the bat just fine. If you don't like that method and prefer to work directly on the wheel head. Make sure that you undercut your pot a bit before you cut it off and clean off the crud from the wheel head. Then use your wire to cut off the pot and quickly dry your fingers on whatever is handy. Make a V with the two fingers closest to the thumb on both hands. With your palm facing up insert the V under the pot in the undercut and twist and lift to place on a nearby board. This takes a little practice and should be done quickly after the cut is made with the wire tool. Obviously this will not work with wide bottom pieces like plate, or large bowls. Hope this helps Cea In article , Bubbles wrote: Hi folks! I am finally back at my wheel after many months not being able to use it for one reason or another. I realize that it will take me a while to get "the feeling" back, but in the mean time, I have a rotten dilemma. If I throw on my wooden bats (I have 2), the holes are slightly bigger than the screws, so the whole bat goes kachung-kachung as I am trying to center - so I can't center. I put some toothpicks into the spaces, but it still seems as if the bat is not "solid". If I throw directly on the wheel, I center pretty good and can make "something" - but!!!! When it comes time to take my work off the wheel, I use my "topfheber" (http://www.michel.ch/michel/images_k.../topfheber.jpg), I end up making the nice round pot crooked somehow :-( Any tips/suggestions would be gratefully read and tried! Marianne |
#3
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"Celeste Evans" wrote in message ... Hi Celeste! Thank you for your quick reply! Take some slightly stiff clay and put it on the pins that stick up. Line up the bat holes and push down. Let the clay ooze out and fill up the hole. This will usually steady the bat just fine. I knew someone out there would have a good "trick"!!! I will try that - and, if it works, I will buy myself some more bats! :-D If you don't like that method and prefer to work directly on the wheel head. Make sure that you undercut your pot a bit before you cut it off and clean off the crud from the wheel head. Then use your wire to cut off the pot and quickly dry your fingers on whatever is handy. Make a V with the two fingers closest to the thumb on both hands. With your palm facing up insert the V under the pot in the undercut and twist and lift to place on a nearby board. This takes a little practice and should be done quickly after the cut is made with the wire tool. Obviously this will not work with wide bottom pieces like plate, or large bowls. I don't get how I can have my palms up without totally twisting my arms around. Do you mean palm down??? This method would mean that I would have to leave a higher base than I usually would, right? - in order to get my fingers around it, I mean. Hope this helps Yes, it does! I will try the clay-trick first. Thank you! Marianne |
#4
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In article , Bubbles
wrote: "Celeste Evans" wrote in message ... If you don't like that method and prefer to work directly on the wheel head. Make sure that you undercut your pot a bit before you cut it off and clean off the crud from the wheel head. Then use your wire to cut off the pot and quickly dry your fingers on whatever is handy. Make a V with the two fingers closest to the thumb on both hands. With your palm facing up insert the V under the pot in the undercut and twist and lift to place on a nearby board. This takes a little practice and should be done quickly after the cut is made with the wire tool. Obviously this will not work with wide bottom pieces like plate, or large bowls. I don't get how I can have my palms up without totally twisting my arms around. Do you mean palm down??? Nope, palms up! This isn't hard you are just looking at it wrong or, more likely I'm not explaining it well. Make a Churchill V. Rotate your wrists so the thumbs face you. Let your thumbs move to the sides, then drop the back of your hands down to the wheel. Spread the two V fingers apart on both hands put under the pot twist and lift. This method would mean that I would have to leave a higher base than I usually would, right? - in order to get my fingers around it, I mean. Not a whole lot, you will be lifting with the finger tips mostly. But it doesn't really matter if the other method works for you. Have fun! Cea |
#5
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instead of the "Churchill V" consider the "Mr. Spock Vulcan Greeting"
with your hands. the key is a dry pair of hands & a well trimmed pot & clean wheel head. also, if you lay down clay on the wheel head & apply the bat to the wheel head it should stick better. you could even stick a bat to the wheel head with no pins, just the bat patty of clay. see ya steve |
#6
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Bubbles
It's many years since I did any throwing and I have never seen this 'screw' method for steadying bats - I used a ring of clay with no other mechanical retention. I have done a bit of Google searching and this is what I understand from the descriptions; There are holes drilled through the wheel, into which are screwed cap-screws (round-headed bolts with a hex). The bats have holes drilled through them that correspond with the heads of cap-screws. When the bat is placed on the wheel the screws stabilise the bat. If this is all correct and the holes in your bats are now oversize, then the solution seems obvious. Drill new, correct size, holes in the bats. It may be difficult for someone without good machine-shop skills to precisely position the holes (seems like 10" centres are standard). If the bats are standard, off the shelf items, then it may be worthwhile buying one new bat and using its holes as guides for drilling the old bats. Just be sure to firmly clamp the two bats together prior to drilling. If this is a regularly occurring problem, then it is probably worth not using the new bat for throwing and just keeping it for drilling more holes in the future. Of course, I may be totally misunderstanding the situation, in which case just ignore everything that I have written. Ken "Bubbles" wrote in message ... Hi folks! I am finally back at my wheel after many months not being able to use it for one reason or another. I realize that it will take me a while to get "the feeling" back, but in the mean time, I have a rotten dilemma. If I throw on my wooden bats (I have 2), the holes are slightly bigger than the screws, so the whole bat goes kachung-kachung as I am trying to center - so I can't center. I put some toothpicks into the spaces, but it still seems as if the bat is not "solid". If I throw directly on the wheel, I center pretty good and can make "something" - but!!!! When it comes time to take my work off the wheel, I use my "topfheber" (http://www.michel.ch/michel/images_k.../topfheber.jpg), I end up making the nice round pot crooked somehow :-( Any tips/suggestions would be gratefully read and tried! Marianne |
#7
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"KSL" wrote in message u... Bubbles It's many years since I did any throwing and I have never seen this 'screw' method for steadying bats - I used a ring of clay with no other mechanical retention. I have done a bit of Google searching and this is what I understand from the descriptions; There are holes drilled through the wheel, into which are screwed cap-screws (round-headed bolts with a hex). The bats have holes drilled through them that correspond with the heads of cap-screws. When the bat is placed on the wheel the screws stabilise the bat. If this is all correct and the holes in your bats are now oversize, then the solution seems obvious. Drill new, correct size, holes in the bats. It may be difficult for someone without good machine-shop skills to precisely position the holes (seems like 10" centres are standard). If the bats are standard, off the shelf items, then it may be worthwhile buying one new bat and using its holes as guides for drilling the old bats. Just be sure to firmly clamp the two bats together prior to drilling. If this is a regularly occurring problem, then it is probably worth not using the new bat for throwing and just keeping it for drilling more holes in the future. Of course, I may be totally misunderstanding the situation, in which case just ignore everything that I have written. Hehe! The thing is that all holes will sooner or later become too big, since the edges of the screws will kind of file the holes every time you put the bat on the wheel - so I would go through a lot of bats if I didn't find a sollution to the loose bat problem. I have tried sticking the bat on the wheel with clay, and maybe that is a better sollution than the rest - simply forget the screws altogether. I have some descriptions of the method in my books, so I will look into that as well. I think throwing on bats is the best bet, since I then don't have to "destabilize" the pot before it is properly leather hard. Though I will also try out Steve and Celeste's methods too, just to see what works best. And - hey! This group is SO GREAT! Thanks for all the helpful responses! Marianne (aka Bubbles) |
#8
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As an addendum to that; I have used the *Double Vee* technique for a
long time, born of working on a treadle wheel and disliking having to stop every time a pot had to come off. I clean up the base of the pot with a wooden knife, and with the wheel still turning wire it off, dry my fingers (apron), slow the wheel right down, and while it is still moving slowly pick the pot up, left fingers fractionally in advance of the right. The dry fingers grip the base WITHOUT any pressure distorting it and the piece peals off easily. This is a technique well worth practising as it frees you up a lot. Steve Bath UK In article . com, steve writes instead of the "Churchill V" consider the "Mr. Spock Vulcan Greeting" with your hands. the key is a dry pair of hands & a well trimmed pot & clean wheel head. also, if you lay down clay on the wheel head & apply the bat to the wheel head it should stick better. you could even stick a bat to the wheel head with no pins, just the bat patty of clay. see ya steve -- Steve Mills Bath UK |
#9
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another comment from a friend of mine. i mentioned my "bats were worn
out" and wobbly to him once. he said, "change your bat pin heads first". i did & suddenly the bats were a lot snugger again! when i looked at the pin heads i was STUNNED at how worn down the were! you'd think that metal against wood would have the wood holes wear on the bats first. ~ but after some 18 years of throwing with that wheel, the pin heads DID wear out! see ya steve |
#10
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Two things to try
1. Use a clay bat ring instead of the pins Take about 1/2 pound of wedged clay & center it on the wheelhead. Open it to the wheeelhead and slowly make a ring about 1/2 inch wide that is slightly smaller than the diameter of yur bat. Pinch the clay between you fingers and thumb holding your thumb steady and let the clay go up. Then, press down on the clay, holding the inside of the ring steady to let the clay move out from the senter of the wheel. Just repeat this a few times until you get the ring the size you want. It should be about 3/8 inch high when you're done. Place a dry bat on the ring, tap it in the center a few times & you're goo d to go. 2. Batgrabber You can buy a batgrabber at www.batgrabber.com that is placed under your bat. It's a rubber-ish material that will hold the bat from moving . It also seems to do a great job of helping with warped bats as well. Good Luck! Hi folks! I am finally back at my wheel after many months not being able to use it for one reason or another. I realize that it will take me a while to get "the feeling" back, but in the mean time, I have a rotten dilemma. If I throw on my wooden bats (I have 2), the holes are slightly bigger than the screws, so the whole bat goes kachung-kachung as I am trying to center - so I can't center. I put some toothpicks into the spaces, but it still seems as if the bat is not "solid". If I throw directly on the wheel, I center pretty good and can make "something" - but!!!! When it comes time to take my work off the wheel, I use my "topfheber" (http://www.michel.ch/michel/images_k...toepferscheibe /topfheber.jpg), I end up making the nice round pot crooked somehow :-( Any tips/suggestions would be gratefully read and tried! Marianne |
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