Which Model Brent Wheel For School Use?

[akplace21]

I have been given the green light (after 15 yrs) to purchase potters wheels for my new art facility.  I teach high school grades 9-12 and will have 2-4 classes of ceramics a day all school year long.  I am partial to Brent wheels but open to suggestions otherwise.  What brands and models should I consider for my classroom?  I am looking for a quality piece of equipment that will suit my needs but not blow my budget.  I would buy the Brent CXC for my home studio but think that may be overkill for high school students.

Thank you in advance. 

[Guest JBaymore]

I've had Model C-s stand up well at Massart and at NHIA where I've taught.  The CXC will stand up better though.

 

The reason for the CXC is not centering power,.... it is that the motor will be "cruising" in use.  less strain on it over time.  Also... that have better belts on the drive.

 

best,

 

...............john

[MatthewV]

Shimpo VL Whispers will also hold up well. They are also quiet. Most people seem to like using them more. They cost less than a Brent C. Whether or not they will last 20 years is an unanswered question; they only have a 5-year warranty.

I also have Brent wheel in my studio and all of my future wheels are expected to be Shimpo.

[Mark C.]

The CXC may last longer as John says but the C will also last a good long time if thats better for the budget .

[neilestrick]

Thomas Stuart/Skutt wheels have a really large splash pan that will keep your studio cleaner, and industrial sized motors that will run cooler. Their 1/3hp model will be more than enough.

[Pres]

I have purchased Baileys for budget concerns, back in the 90's. They are still running very well, and seem to have many more use in them. I have also had a CI and MP and HP, the HP is still ticking along very well, but the MP has been relegated to mostly trimming as everyone likes the larger motors on the Baileys and the HP. I spent many a day at Penn State with their model C wheels. They would take most of what I could do back then, and do it day in and day out with very little upkeep and much abuse that the under grads and grads put them through. My personal wheel is a CXC, as it will take everything and more this old guy can do on it. Never changed a belt yet, and it is over 20 years old.

 

 

best,

Pres

[Marcia Selsor]

I had Brent Model C s in my class room for many years. They had an occasional foot pedal problem but it was just needing adjustment.

 

Marcia

[neilestrick]

To be honest, pretty much any wheel will work just fine, and pretty much any wheel will last a good long time. There's just not a lot that goes wrong with wheels of any brand. I see all brands in schools, and the teachers never have any complaints except with the really old ones, which is true of just about any piece of machinery. Get what fits your budget.

[oldlady]

may i suggest you find a place that has the kind of wheel you want to buy and get several of them running at the same time.  listen and see if you would be able to say very much over the noise.  it is true that most good wheels are very good but the noise some make can be a constant headache.  

 

some of the youtube videos allow you to hear a single wheel working and you are able to judge how much noise the wheel itself makes.

[No Longer Member]

To be honest, pretty much any wheel will work just fine, and pretty much any wheel will last a good long time. There's just not a lot that goes wrong with wheels of any brand. I see all brands in schools, and the teachers never have any complaints except with the really old ones, which is true of just about any piece of machinery. Get what fits your budget.

 

 

I agree with Neil, however; given the wheel mounted motor nature of the Whisper I'd go with something else for school or full time production use. I don't know the cost of that motor but I would imagine it's more than the usual suspects of "regular" DC motors.

[GEP]

The one brand I wouldn't recommend for a classroom is Pacifica. In the place where I used to teach, we had Brents and Pacificas. The problem with Pacificas is that the method for attaching the splashpan involved some instruction and was not intuitive. I frequently saw students trying to manhandle the splashpan into place. And therefore we experienced lots of cracked splashpans. In classes meant for newcomers, a wheel without a splashpan is unusable.

 

On the other hand, I never saw anyone have any trouble attaching the splashpan on a Brent.

[elaine clapper]

I taught ceramics at the high school level for 20 plus years.   My first wheel at the high school in 1989 was an old brent kick wheel someone found at an auction. I then I bought two Brent CXC wheels.   I retired in 2012 but all three wheels are still there and going strong. 

[Mark C.]

I would agree on passing on the Pacifica wheels for classrooms-I have seen a few not hold up well in heavy use.I think speedball wheels also fit in this category .

[neilestrick]

A friend of mine runs a large program at a college, and Pacifica wheels are his favorites.

[Mark C.]

A friend of mine runs a large program at a college, and Pacifica wheels are his favorites.

Well that goes to show there are always exceptions .

[Pres]

Get 30 potters, and 30 educators in a room, and you will probably get a wide variety of preferences when it comes to wheels. The purists would gasp at anything but a kick or treadle wheel. Others would call sacrilege at adding a motor to anything. The teachers would groan at the space taken up by a kick wheel as in the old Amaco or Brent. Then we would be left with the 50 or so that would get a belt or gear driven electric wheel. Of these arguments of foot pedal sensitivity would come into play, along with needed horsepower and torque. Others would argue for quieter wheels, or heavier wheels, or larger wheel heads, or even a switch for right or left handed throwing. Still others would cringe at the use of splash pans. Others would argue for sitting vs standing wheels or the option to do both. Then we would have everything categorized and the final choice would come down to brand.

 

Over the years every brand out there has had good and bad years, and knowing what you want is not necessarily what you need, so the best choice is often an educated stab in the dark. We all have our dream wheel, and often end up buying it after much thought and probably several years of wishing. Hopefully that wish come true does not disappoint. I believe that forums like this help to cement the decision and make it easier to discern whether it is something we need, or want.

 

 

best,

Pres

[No Longer Member]

Get 30 potters, and 30 educators in a room, and you will probably get a wide variety of preferences when it comes to wheels.

Pres

 

 

Probably 120....

[perkolator]

We use Brent CXC....they don't get heavily used since we're not potters in our studio, but they've lasted over 20 years of undergraduate abuse.  Very simple machines to service if any problems with them, usually it's the foot pedal fork that breaks when someone stomps the pedal or drops pedal.

 

I've thrown on a lot of different wheels in high schools around the area, they always seem to have mixed equipment between schools.  I mainly prefer the wheels with a removable splash pan vs the style that's recessed into a molded splash pan.  Go for the highest HP rating you can find, I've had small wheels bog down when centering with only 15-20lbs of clay on it.  

 

My preference would probably go to the Brent since its what I've thrown on the longest.  I was quite fond of my old motorized Lockerbie, but that thing was a beast and took up too much real estate.  The ancient Alpine gear driven wheel I replaced it with years ago will torque off your arm if not paying attention  Shimpo's are pretty nice too, quiet.

[neilestrick]

 Go for the highest HP rating you can find, 

 

Respectfully, horsepower means nothing, because wheels use their power differently. It's all about how they handle loads, so look for centering capacity, not horsepower. For most people, a 100 pound centering capacity is more than enough. That's what all 10 of my studio wheels are, and they've never been too small for anything my students or I have done. The Soldner P100 is only 1/4hp but centers 100 pounds. The Thomas Stuart 1/3hp centers 100 pounds. The Speedball 1/2hp centers 100 pounds. The Pacifica and Brent 1hp center 100 pounds.

[perkolator]

This is true, it depends on what you use your wheel for and what your personal needs or preferences are.  Technically a 90hp car can achieve highway speeds just like a 300hp car can, but they'd definitely not be the same getting there.

We're not throwing pots, we use the wheel as a tool to make forms used in large scale sculpture...and undergrads destroy everything in their path, so our needs are much different than most other studios...this is why my viewpoint is always skewed toward being overkill with everything 

[Saki]

I have taken classes at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia, which has Brent B and Brent C wheels. They have literally thousands of people come through the studio every semester, and the wheels keep ticking. 

 

 

 

I agree with Neil, however; given the wheel mounted motor nature of the Whisper I'd go with something else for school or full time production use. I don't know the cost of that motor but I would imagine it's more than the usual suspects of "regular" DC motors.

 

Do you mean you recommend against the Whisper there is something about the motor that makes it less suitable for production use? and, if so, what is the issue? (this is an honest question.)