Kohaku Posted December 6, 2013 Report Share Posted December 6, 2013 I just finished a three hour, down-to-the-nub studio cleanup, and I'm reminded of how much I hate trim scrap. Does anyone have a solid system for keeping bits of trim residue from flying all over the place? It's not bad when the pots are on the softer end of leather hard (you can sort of gather up the trim as it comes off your tool)... but I prefer to trim when things have stiffened a bit. Those scrap fragments fly off, landing in difficult to clean nooks in the studio, adding to dust issues. I've tried positioning a garbage lid off the side of my wheel, which works to a point. Cumbersome though... and I can't be bothered when I'm in a hurry. I'd love to encounter a few solutions with a bit more elegance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane Puckett Posted December 6, 2013 Report Share Posted December 6, 2013 Are you trimming with a Giffin Grip? Just wondering, as that is the time I most have that same problem. At some point there was a post on here where someone used a plastic storage box to make a splash pan-type catch for Giffin Grip trimmings. Perhaps that would help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kohaku Posted December 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2013 Are you trimming with a Giffin Grip? Just wondering, as that is the time I most have that same problem. At some point there was a post on here where someone used a plastic storage box to make a splash pan-type catch for Giffin Grip trimmings. Perhaps that would help. I use a Giffin for some forms... but mostly not. I've definitely experienced this issue- as one example- with trimming platters (which I lay out on a large bat). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davidpotter Posted December 7, 2013 Report Share Posted December 7, 2013 could you place and open hand just behind the tool where the trimmings are flying? sort of block them and then they fall down to the wheel head and into the splash pan? that is if you use a splash pan when trimming or at all. but that is what i do, even when i let something dry a little too much and have powder like trimmings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Coyle Posted December 7, 2013 Report Share Posted December 7, 2013 Maybe slow down your wheel when you trim.... Just enough so it doesn't chatter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kohaku Posted December 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2013 Thanks guys. I've used some combo of these two things at times. Sometimes I need to stabilize the piece with one hand when I trim though... and sometimes I really, really want to crank through wares at speed. What I really want is some sort of reliable catchment. Maybe if I mounted a basket on a post, had it just touching the wheel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted December 7, 2013 Report Share Posted December 7, 2013 I use cardboard bent around the splash pan. I use scraps for making paper clay or experimental clay mixed with additives. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biglou13 Posted December 7, 2013 Report Share Posted December 7, 2013 Extra large box from large hardware store cut the box in 1/3. Cut off one wall with associated flap Open repairing Box to clear wheels spindle. Tape. Now you only have to clean in one direction towards you. Remove box pour chips in to recovery bucket. Remove tape fold trim catcher flat for ez storage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay lover Posted December 7, 2013 Report Share Posted December 7, 2013 I have a large triangular splash pan, sort of like the Bailey. I cut 3 pieces of foam board, that light weight , plasticly stuff campaign signs are made of.(Actually, I nabbed 3 of the signs after the last local election, I'm a major recycler.) Cut the 3 boards the length of each side of the pan, tapered the height on one of the side pieces so as to stay out of the way of my trimming hand. Taped them together so the thing can be folded to lay flat. When I'm going to trim, I set it up against the inner edge of the pan, which is tall enough to hold it up, since it is almost a triangle. Works great, cheap, sores easily, and just lifts out when I'm done. If your pan is short, you could use little C clamps or spring clips to hold it to the pan. All trimmings go in my pug mill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted December 7, 2013 Report Share Posted December 7, 2013 Put your wheel and stool inside a 6 foot wide kiddie pool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kohaku Posted December 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2013 Biglou and Clay lover- thanks... sounds like what I've after (love to to see a picture if either of you are trimming and have an extra hand for a camera). Neil- a six foot kiddie pool would be bigger that the working part of my studio! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted December 7, 2013 Report Share Posted December 7, 2013 I just use the typical Japanese method. No splash pan, the trimmings just fall to the floor around the wheel. Any that stay on the deck... I brush off onto the floor when I'm done. I scrape up the trimmings with a putty knife and a dust pan and put them into plastic garbage cans for later reclaim. In Japan the wheel is often in a "pit" surrounded by a nice wood deck at wheel head height. Often that pit is just allowed to accumulate clay scraps for a long time. (But you can eat off of the regularly cleaned deck and wheel head when the day is done.) The pit is cleaned periodically (often by apprentices). Many of the clay bodies used in Japan are not beneficiated (industrially processed and ground and particle sized) like our western materials, and they do NOT create as much airborne dust as our clay bodies do. If you clean up immediately after a long trimming session (which I usually do).... the stuff is still wet and there's no dust. best, ..............john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kohaku Posted December 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2013 I just use the typical Japanese method. No splash pan, the trimmings just fall to the floor around the wheel. Any that stay on the deck... I brush off onto the floor when I'm done. I scrape up the trimmings with a putty knife and a dust pan and put them into plastic garbage cans for later reclaim. In Japan the wheel is often in a "pit" surrounded by a nice wood deck at wheel head height. Often that pit is just allowed to accumulate clay scraps for a long time. (But you can eat off of the regularly cleaned deck and wheel head when the day is done.) The pit is cleaned periodically (often by apprentices). Many of the clay bodies used in Japan are not beneficiated (industrially processed and ground and particle sized) like our western materials, and they do NOT create as much airborne dust as our clay bodies do. If you clean up immediately after a long trimming session (which I usually do).... the stuff is still wet and there's no dust. best, ..............john I guess what I really need is a better studio space. Mine is a corner of a converted barn- loaded with gaps in the floor and odd nooks. Sweeping is a huge pain... I think I'm better off using some kind of catchment. John- your commentary always makes me wish that I could re-set my life and work my way into an apprenticeship in Hagi or Tajimi... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted December 8, 2013 Report Share Posted December 8, 2013 I guess what I really need is a better studio space. Mine is a corner of a converted barn- loaded with gaps in the floor and odd nooks. Sweeping is a huge pain... I think I'm better off using some kind of catchment. John- your commentary always makes me wish that I could re-set my life and work my way into an apprenticeship in Hagi or Tajimi... Kohaku, My studio is a converted 200+ year old barn attached to a center chimney collonial that is a tad older. When I bought the place .... it still had stalls in the barn. Did full retrofit over a couple of years......... plumbing, insulation, walls , sheetrock, heat, and so on. Made pots in a temporary upstairs bedroom location (well covered in plastic) for the first year while I closed in the barn and got heat in there. Took 1 year until I was making pots actually in the studio. Maybe under you wheel area laminate down some sort of thin plywood like material on top of the barn flooring that can serve as a good flat scrap cleaning surface. Hate to say plastic... but even maybe lonolium type flooring (ugh!). Under my main wheel location, the floorboards were tight and quite smooth (and HARDWOOD!). So it cleans up OK. I don't let things dry out.... I clean them up leatherhard 98% of the time (I'm not perfect ). You can see an older shot of my main wheel area in Steven Branfman"s "Potters Professional Handbook". WHICH by the way, is a GREAT book for people wanting to do this crazy "clay thing" semi-pro or pro. Lots of good ideas in there. I have about 100 lifetimes planned out for what I still want to do with clay . best, .........................john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kohaku Posted December 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2013 I guess what I really need is a better studio space. Mine is a corner of a converted barn- loaded with gaps in the floor and odd nooks. Sweeping is a huge pain... I think I'm better off using some kind of catchment. John- your commentary always makes me wish that I could re-set my life and work my way into an apprenticeship in Hagi or Tajimi... Kohaku, My studio is a converted 200+ year old barn attached to a center chimney collonial that is a tad older. When I bought the place .... it still had stalls in the barn. Did full retrofit over a couple of years......... plumbing, insulation, walls , sheetrock, heat, and so on. Made pots in a temporary upstairs bedroom location (well covered in plastic) for the first year while I closed in the barn and got heat in there. Took 1 year until I was making pots actually in the studio. Maybe under you wheel area laminate down some sort of thin plywood like material on top of the barn flooring that can serve as a good flat scrap cleaning surface. Hate to say plastic... but even maybe lonolium type flooring (ugh!). Under my main wheel location, the floorboards were tight and quite smooth (and HARDWOOD!). So it cleans up OK. I don't let things dry out.... I clean them up leatherhard 98% of the time (I'm not perfect ). You can see an older shot of my main wheel area in Steven Branfman"s "Potters Professional Handbook". WHICH by the way, is a GREAT book for people wanting to do this crazy "clay thing" semi-pro or pro. Lots of good ideas in there. I have about 100 lifetimes planned out for what I still want to do with clay . best, .........................john Yeah- I wish that I could rip the floor up... it's currently ply squares with big gaps between. Unfortunately, I rent the space, so I'm a bit limited. Our house lacks a good garage or shed... the current arrangement is pretty makeshift. My wife is pushing for a move to Hilo, HI in a couple years. I fantasize about a place for my wheel under an outdoor awning, where I can watch the rain fall down while I throw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Moscow to Hilo-that will be a shock Hilo is such a rainy town-warmer than your winters for sure. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kohaku Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Moscow to Hilo-that will be a shock Hilo is such a rainy town-warmer than your winters for sure. Mark Access to dive sites and Japanese culture (not to mention good taro and kava) would expand in my life just a bit. I could live with the rain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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