Ken Takara Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 I have an old Lockerbie kick wheel. I want to mount a bat on the wheel head that is larger than the splash pan can accommodate, and I don't want to decorate my studio with more clay splatters than necessary. Specifically, the original splash pan can handle a 14" bat. I need a pan that can surround a 15" to 16" bat. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could adapt for use as my oversize mud guard? Thanks Ken Takara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centered Posted January 30, 2011 Report Share Posted January 30, 2011 I have heard of someone using the bottom of a trash can and cutting it to fit the wheel. I think I saw it in a pottery magazine and will try to find it for you. Maybe someone else on this forum remembers seeing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Herb Norris Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 There was a feature last year in the DIY contest : http://ceramicartsdaily.org/clay-tools/making-clay-tools/diy-clay-tools-video-contest-finalist-3/ Hope it works! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CocoMasonDesigns Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 I have a 34 year old shimpo wheel that you can no longer get a splash pan for. They do make one to "fit" but it requires you to take the wheelhead off, something I've never done before and it costs $30. Anyway, I made my own splash pan and I really love it. If you go to a feed store, or tractor supply store you can get a feed pan intended for livestock. They are round, and about 4 inches deep. It is made out of super heavy duty rubber - strong enough for cows to step on! I cut a X in the bottom and slipped it over my wheelhead and ta da.. a new splash pan. It only cost me $6. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlm205 Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 I have a 34 year old shimpo wheel that you can no longer get a splash pan for. They do make one to "fit" but it requires you to take the wheelhead off, something I've never done before and it costs $30. Anyway, I made my own splash pan and I really love it. If you go to a feed store, or tractor supply store you can get a feed pan intended for livestock. They are round, and about 4 inches deep. It is made out of super heavy duty rubber - strong enough for cows to step on! I cut a X in the bottom and slipped it over my wheelhead and ta da.. a new splash pan. It only cost me $6. Good luck! great use/example of inexpensive available item converted to "specialty ceramic equipment"! that same pan will be 40 bucks in next years ceramic catalogue! --john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spider Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 I have an older model shimpo wheel with a split pan. I remove the pan when I am doing anything larger than 14 inches (max for pan). i throw a 10 inch (about 2 lb) flat 1 inch pad of clay on the wheel head. I then cut 4 shallow circles with a Japanese cutting tool while the wheel turns slowly, Stop the wheel head, and cut a shallow X in the pad of clay. This allows removal of the working bat after each throwing sesseion with out too much sction. I use an old kitchen butter knife to pry up under the edge of the bat. Center the bat you are going to throw on, onto the wheel head pad. This is now your working surface. Roll a coil of clay that will fit around the outer surface of the bat, about 2 inches thick, fix it to the bat using gentle pressure. Using a small amount of water seal the inner edge of the coil to the bat. It should look like a plate rim, slightly raised. i make the inner surface slightly concave so water used during throwing will roll back onto the bat. Most of my larger batts are 18 inches across, but I have a couple of 20 inch and two 24 inch bats. When I'm finished throwing a platter, large bowl or whatever, I clean up any water/slurry on the wheel head. Run a pin tool under the coil and remove it to the next bat to be used again. Clean up the foot on peice, compress the foot, run a "edge" against the bat, pull a twisted wire cutter under the peice and set bat with peice aside to stiffen up. I usually put newpaper over the peice at the leather hard stage then gently place another bat over the peice and quickly flip the "sandwich" so the bat stuck to the bottom can now be removed without distorting the rim. Centering and cleaning the bottom is easily accomplished at this stage. Depending on the thicknes of the peice you may need to flip the peice several times so it dries evenly. If you have a drying rack system that allows for even drying with out handleing, even better. This method came from an old English potter friend. He is a frugal sort and knowing my Scottish ways he felt I would be interested in a feasible answer to this problem, too small of a catch basin (or no basin). I had a wooden kick wheel with a 100 lb fly wheel in those days. It had no basin and when I was first learning, there was a lot of clay and water on me and around the studio and any one foolish enough to be near. He came to watch and the above was what he taught me. No cost, just time. As skills on the wheel improved I used less water to complete a peice, so the wall I built around the object grew shallower (from 3 inches high to less then one inch) and allowed easier access to clean up the foot before cutting it from the wheel head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 I have a Bailey wheel and I got a "bat elevator" to put large bats on the wheel above the splash pan. You could do this with several bats and get longer length, 3 1/2" or so, pins. Measure what you would need. Mine is actually 3 bats glued together with the holes lined up for the pins. My "bat elevator" is about 2 " thick. The longer pins are about 3 1/2" There were some suggestions i PMI I think or Ceramic Arts Daily for surrounding the wheel with flexible plastic or you could use a 8" or so band of cardboard to keep the splashed under control. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JBaymore Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 I throw using slurry, not water, and use very little of it. I remove splash pans from every wheel I own (or use) because they always seem to restrict access to the form in some way. Another approach? best, ......................john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam S Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 I throw using water and don't use a splash pan. It seems the only time I make a really big mess is if I have to float a piece off the wheel. I agree with John, they just get in my way. Then again, I tend to get really close to the wheel when I'm throwing. Just my 2 cents. I must say there have been some creative suggestions! Cheers, Pam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan A. Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 I was going to suggest building up the wheelhead with batt layers as Marcia, but afterwards, how about using an old tyre to sit over the wheelhead and onto the pan rim? You could (if you feel energetic) even cut back the upper tyre rim a little to give more access to throwing and clay recovery but watch out for the cut sharp reinforcement edges within the rubber - better to use a fibre-reinforced tyre than a steel reinforced one if you go down this route. The tyre well would also catch the slops off the wheel at the new height. Since tyres come in various sizes, and by measuring the splash pan diameter, the correct tyre size could be found for your needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 I have a Bailey wheel and I got a "bat elevator" to put large bats on the wheel above the splash pan. You could do this with several bats and get longer length, 3 1/2" or so, pins. Measure what you would need. Mine is actually 3 bats glued together with the holes lined up for the pins. My "bat elevator" is about 2 " thick. The longer pins are about 3 1/2" There were some suggestions i PMI I think or Ceramic Arts Daily for surrounding the wheel with flexible plastic or you could use a 8" or so band of cardboard to keep the splashed under control. Marcia The wheel is constructed with the splash pan permanently part of the structure. Can't remove it. It has a drain.But the elevated system for large bats works well. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay lover Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I like a big pan for catching the trimmings and I wanted it to be big enough to hold my water bucket and some tools, keep things real close. At Lowe's I found what is called a mortar mix pan, they had 2 sizes, I got the larger, it is about 2" wide and 3" long. I cut a slot out of the 2"side and just enough of a groove in the bottom to be able to slide it up under the spindle of the wheel head. Using the existing splash pan as a pattern helped. It doesn't take much of a cut. The sides are 14" tall so nothing goes over the edge. When I want to recycle, I just pull it out from under the wheel head and dump everything into a bucket. I have a picture of it around my wheel but I don't know how to get it from my computor to here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay lover Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Trying here, maybe???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Takara Posted February 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2011 Thanks for all your replies. I knew I'd seen an article somewhere; apparently it was the trash-can video. The feed pan idea sounded good. I stopped by the feed store the other day and found a plastic, rectangular kitty-litter tray. At 6" high, it might be problematic for throwing, but it fits my Giffin Grip very well, keeping the clay scraps confined. I'm intrigued by Spider's suggestion; I'll try that when I throw on a bat larger than 16", or if the litter box proves unwieldy for throwing. Ken Takara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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