Stool Height

[Amazing]

What should the height of my pottery stool be compared to the height of my wheel?

[Marcia Selsor]

We are all built differently. It helps if your stool makes your pelvis support the back.I copied Pietro's design at La Meridiana for my stool. It also has storage.

 

Marcia

[Amy Eberhardt]

Whatever is comfortable for you. As Marcia said, each of us is a completely unique model. Experiment with it. If you find that your back is barking at you after only one hour, make an adjustment. Keep doing that until you find a height that works for you. You might even find that you prefer throwing from a standing position.

[Biglou13]

try different heights. having stool @ right height from the ergonomic sense can actually make throwing easier, which begs another question. what is correct wheel height?

 

you want to strive for a neutral posture as much as possible. (much easier said than done)

 

there is no standard wheel height. nor stool height. there is no standard leg length, torso length, arm length, neck length.

 

but what is good posture while throwing? this could be some ones master thesis..... but short(way over simplified) answer (with a bit of science)

 

stomach in ( helms maintain body up right..eg core and support appropriate spinal curve, core strength, supports lumbar) curve)

head in with upper body (maintains proper cervical/neck curve)

shoulder back ( try not to hunch shoulders forward, also helps with thoracic curve of spine)

hip tilt (see above slanted seat helps, maintains proper pelvic tilt activates posterior chain.....)

 

now try and maintain this while throwing.......

 

with so many potters im surprised this issue of ergonomics isn't raised more often.

 

im not sure how tall you are but try raising your wheel first. if your stool isin't adjustable raise back legs with strip of wood.

 

my opinion is that great majority of potters work with wheel too LOW. Is your desk or work bench at near hip height????

 

like above posts keep adjusting until you find "the zone"

 

i personally use a cushioned apple box tilted forward by 1" strip of wood with a raised wheel.

 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Apple-box2.jpg/220px-Apple-box2.jpg

 

now add blocks and bricks to get your feet and legs into a position that supports posture, and is comfortable.

[MatthewV]

Also make a foot rest so your legs are at the same high.

 

I'll agree most wheels are much too low. Most of my students have found ~4" longer than the manufacture's legs is right for them. I made many different blocks of wood so the wheel height is easy to adjust.

 

[Biglou13]

Nice Matthew. More need to be throwing like this. Much nicer than scap pieces from the wood pile that I've used. We have also used bed risers. And many mfgrs sell extensions!!!

[MatthewV]

Are the manufactured risers adjustable? Having the wheel too high is worse than too low in my opinion.

 

The correct height will depend slightly on how you throw. For a sitting position, I will recommend resting the left elbow on the left leg and putting the bottom of hand in the center of the wheel. Like when you are centering. The arm should be just above the throwing surface (include the bat!) and not rubbing against the bat.

If the splash pan gets in the way... put some wet clay on the wheel at full speed. It will splatter into a line. So if you cut just a little above that line on the half you put close to you, 95% of the splatter will go into the pan and very little will be on your pants. A jigsaw is the best cutting tool.

 

It is sad how little improvement pottery wheels have had. Maybe someday Brent will hire me to do some R&D work to make a better wheel.

 

/engineer