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Help Please. Grab A Tape Measure...


PatIsGone

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I built my own wheel and it runs great, but it took a long time to get it all working well. If I had to do it again, I would have bought a good used wheel or a new one. If you are just starting out it will save you tons of aggravation.

 

Reverse engineer something that you would like from an existing product. The dimensions that are used for the various brands of pottery wheels are A typical. You can make a pretty good dimensional guess with a scaled photo.

 

Are you building with wood or steel? DC motor? Direct drive or pulley?

 

Answer:

1) About 3 1/2" The distance is fine. 

2) My wheel head is 2" from the splash pan 1" above the wheel head. The splash pan is at the outer most edge.

3) I keep enough room for a water pail and have a raised shelf for tools. I limit my tools to the three that I will be using, any extra for Me is inefficient.

 

 

Homade splash pan http://ceramicartsdaily.org/ceramic-studio-equipment/clay-extruders/diy-clay-tools-video-contest-finalist-3/

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i throw with very little water so i do not use a splash pan. with a splash pan, you just have to clean up something else if you are messy. when i throw, the water can be caught in a towel tossed around the wheelhead and one on my lap.  just a different way of working.  why make everything hard if it is not necessary?

 

i have watched people who throw with a bucket of water per piece and cannot understand why they do that.  have seen splash pans so full of c$#p that water could not splash into it if it tried.  seems dumb. 

 

trimmings are caught by a 6 inch wide strip of aluminum usually used for homebuilding.  it stands in a circle about a foot out from the edge of the wheelhead and catches everything except what hits the towel in my lap.  fold up the towel, scoop out the trimmings inside the circle and i am done.  studio stays clean and inviting instead of covered with clay.

 

(the arrow on the foam pad points to the bat pin location.)

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post-2431-0-01664500-1448914897_thumb.jpg

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post-2431-0-01664500-1448914897_thumb.jpg

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I love that splash pan Idea, but I have yet to get a smaller trash can and try it.

 

What's the diameter of your wheel head shaft? Is it solid steel? You'll need at least an inch. You would be supprised at how much steel will flex.

 

At 14" you should be able to wrap your legs around it comfortably.

If thats a true 2 1/2 HP you should have lots of power. You might need a larger driven pulley to maximize the torque curve on the motor. I would optimize the pulley set up to say 0-300 rpm, but with the HP you will probably be ok.

 

I used cheap 1 1/4" black pipe for the legs because 1" black pipe telescopes into the 1 1/4"... this allows me from the top, to add or remove a shelf and adjust it to height. From the bottom I can add adjustable leg extensions to stand up and throw. I drilled a 5/8" hole in the 1 1/4" welded a half inch nut over the hole and use a half inch bolt with a 4" long piece of 3/8" black pipe welded to it for the adjustment handle.

 

If your welding, add some nuts to the bottom of the tubes then you can adjust the height with bolts. Use the largest bolts that will fit in the tubing. Double nut your bolts to keep the adjustment. You can make wider foot pads by welding larger washers to the bolt heads then add some sticky cork of felt to the washers for foot pads.

 

Over all It looks good, you have a good  start to a wheel.

 

Oldlady love your set up it is unique office pottery work station

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Do everything to protect the bearings from clay.

 

I will also recommend a 1" steel shaft off the top of my head. I made a shaft size calculator for a homework problem once; I'll see if I can change the parameters for a pottery wheel.

 

A longer belt and having the motor farther away might be easier to build. It will also allow for a larger drive pulley if necessary.

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I built the three leged version and it was harder to build because the front is curved and the leg sets under the driven pulley.

With the 12" head and a 14" width It should fit well.

I was just throwing out a few ideas that might help with the build. I'm all for saving some trouble shooting time.

 

Those feet look sweet!

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I just found a simple three post design...This one is better design than the one I built, but I didn't have much to go from when I built the wheel. In this design the wood top would offer most of the structural support

 

114473d1407862810-pulley-sheave-potters-

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A few suggestions-

Having a foot pedal will make throwing so much easier than a knob

A commercial splash pan with No sharp edges makes working much better 

Having the belts line up with pulleys is something you want to do before you use the wheel -its just a matter of set screws and getting it right on the shaft.

I'm not sure where your location is but a used wheel is pretty cheap if nothing else you could take some parts from one.

Mark

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