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Wheel Durability


jabraben

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I have an old Creative Industries wheel, Model MP HP, that I've had for a little over 20 years, since it was only about a year old. This one: http://fortpottery.com/webpages/details/hp.html.  It saw a lot of use in the first year, and sporadic use in the second year, and has mostly been in storage for the remainder of that time. It runs fine now, though I haven't thrown on it in years. I'm looking to sell it and I'm wondering how durable a wheel like that is. Is it even possible to get replacement parts? What should I expect to sell such a wheel for? It's a very solid wheel and in fairly pristine condition, I just don't know if age alone would cause it to deteriorate.

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My experience selling used potters wheels is that condition matters more than age. I generally don't see used wheels going for less than $400 if they work, have a few bats, and clean up nicely. Depending on how it was stored a new belt might be necessary.

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Those old MP wheels were pretty good work horses. MP was lower on HP and torque, but would handle most day to day pottery. I had one in my classroom with an HP, both are still running now even after my retirement in 2009. At that time they were about 15 years old. Sitting for a while, they may have some lube issues, but I doubt it. However, any good potter would at least check out the belt.

 

best,

Pres

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My Creative Industries MP was purchased new in 1988.  It too has experienced long periods where it sat without use :(.

 

The good news - it's still running strong and it's a great wheel.

 

However ...... many parts are now "unobtanium".  When Speedball purchased CI, they did not buy the HP/MP/Jr lines.  Forget about manufacturer support for these wheels and you can't buy replacement parts for them - including controllers, foot pedals or splash pans.  

 

I've seen two CI MP wheels come up for sale in my area over the last few years.  Both had pedal or controller problems (wheel head was jumpy, didn't handle increasing loads smoothly, or the pedal wasn't responsive).  One may have been an adjustment issue in the pedal.  The other owner confirmed that she had self-repaired the potentiometer which had improved but not fixed the problem.  I don't know what the actual selling price ended up being, but they were asking $300-400 for them.  To me, they were not worth anywhere near that amount because of the lack of support/replacement parts. 

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