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Centering Pot For Trimming With Laser Light


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I was watching a video of an Asian potter trimming a bowl bottom. He used a red laser light to determine center when securing the bowl to the wheel. This was a video without anyone talking or any captions. Has anyone done this or know about this method? Interesting! Of course i don't remember the name of the You Tube video ☹ï¸.

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I have a lazer pointer and it will not center pots.But our cat used to love playing with the light.

 

Sometimes old school rules apply

 

How about a new phone app for centering? would you pay for that?Nerd you paying attention as this could be a whole new market

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Don't own a laser pointer, not gonna buy one. I use my eyes, fingers as well. Just asking a question and believed this was the forum to do so! Calm down you wonderful people! We discuss dumpster diving and uses of odd bits of housewares to aid in the making of pots. Why couldn't a newer technology be useful to some? I am "older" but try to keep an open mind, keeps life interesting!

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Mark:

 

Currently I am trying to perfect my self-centering porcelain formula. Bring wheel up to 200 rpm and it centers itself. From 220-230 rpm is forms a cylinder, and at 240 rpm it makes a bowl. Need to get the price of the anti-gravity clay down to under $3000 a ton though.

 

Preagan: I get it, I really do. I have been trying to introduce new theories and thoughts on various aspects of this biz.

 

Nerd

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Hmm, the more I think about this, the more it seems it could be done. First, the prerequistes: the piece to be centered must be well thrown, with a uniform circular horizontal cross section throughout, an even rim, and with sufficient vertical dimension for this method to work (i.e., a flat plate won't work). Now, the method: Place the laser in a fixed support such that it points at the side of bowl or cylinder at an angle. When the piece rotates, the laser dot will move up and down on the side of the piece if the side is moving in and out relative to the angled line of the laser light. When the piece is perfectly centered, the side will be at the same relative distance and angle with respect to the laser at all points of rotation, and the dot will be steady. I'd better order my laser pointer from Amazon right now before you all run their inventory out of stock... ;-)

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neil, who uses fingers to make pottery anymore?  that is so old fashioned or school or whatever.  only the newest is good enough.  if it is not shown on youtube nobody is going to do it.  why would anyone want to read a book that tells how things were done way back in the 1970s?  why learn anything, skill is not important, only the idea matters.  soon, thinking about what to make will be enough and nobody will even need clay. -_-

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The bubble level on the phone comes in handy for leveling strange pieces into a chuck.

 

That only works if you've leveled your wheel first. Or you can just hold your finger in front of the pot to see if it's centered.

 

 

A finger?  What kind of device is this?  Are they expensive to purchase, and where can I get one?...

 

Currently I center pieces to trim by using a metronome, barometer and an egg balancing on its end.

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I know to many people that beleive they are just one tool way from achieving perfection before they even learn the basics.

 

That said, to say that I like gadgets would be a profound understatement. not only do I enjoy looking at them, I also like to come up with ways to repurpose gadgets for tasks that they are totally unintended for. Best of all I like to improve upon them, to make them better.

 

I'm a card carrying member of TA (Tinkers Anonymous).

 

The person that came up with the idea of placing an electric motor on a kick was a genius and the person that figured out how to install a gas pedal to that motor to get variable speeds was his student.

 

I can hear a potter of a few hundred years ago saying. "I don't need no newfangled contraption, my apprentice mixes all the clay I need by hand" to which the apprentice might reply, "But Sire, if we had a pugmill I can mix 10 times the clay in the same time it takes me to do it now and maybe there would be time for me to learn how to help you make more pots and make more sales."

 

 

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I have nothing against tools and gadgets and innovation. I've got a garage full of power tools, 11 electric wheels, and touchscreen controller on my kiln. But I do have a problem with unnecessary tools, and tools that are a crutch- a replacement for a learned skill. If you want to play piano, do you buy a player piano or do you take piano lessons?

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