hitchmss

The way I look at this QOTW is more about my competency in being able to produce objects on the wheel, and not about when I made "good" objects, whether those be for sale, or in comparison to my other works. I also agree that it is more a measure of intensive, focused hours of practice than it is years of dabbling/making/etc. What I tell students is that in the beginning while learning to throw they are going to be "taking" what the wheel and the process gives them; yes they have input, but once things begin to go awry, they do their best to keep it from flopping, and call it good enough. The point at which they are able to sit down, and produce any object they want, in just about any (realistic) size they want, is the point where I consider them to have mastered the throwing process. For me, this took me about my first 8-10 years, and its been another 8-10 years since that point. There are definitely objects or sizes that challenge my skills, but it has become a process like breathing in which I dont have to think about it much, if any, and I just do. While I feel that I have "mastered" the wheel, I definitely do not believe that I have nothing left to learn from the wheel; it is a process in which I will continue to grow in my technical abilities for the rest of my life......i.e for now throwing 15#, 1/4" thick bowls takes relatively little effort, and one day I will be throwing 30# bowls with the same ease. However, many have noted the other exhausting lists of skills that need to be honed to make "generally admirable" work, let alone work that is designed well for its utilitarian purposes; form, surface, glaze chemistry, eutectics, equipment handling, studio management....all these "broad" categories take years/lifetimes to hone.....it took me about 4 years, maybe 200 firings of my gas kiln to truly understand and with relative precision how to predict how each zone of the kiln will react....the next new kiln, will take me likely as long to learn its nuances too. It is these challenges which keep me excited about ceramics. In my area there were a couple of potters who would at shows share a double booth, and would hang these 10' tall banners of themselves with the words "Master Potter__________", yet they both made pots which were adolescent in their maturity at best; while yes, they may have put in the 10,000 hours, a master potter it does not make. I know Ive spent well over 10,000 hours practicing the art of walking, yet I aint bringing home the bacon with my vertical posture!

It sounds like Im in the same boat as everyone else here too. I built my slab roller frame, and top, and used a Bailey Machine to finish it out. Made the top from Formica, and made the in/out feed tables larger than need be; table end to end is about 10', by 30'' wide. I also made the height of the top closer to 37" so it was a comfortable height to work on. Both choices (bigger table, and higher top) were made because I knew it was going to have to serve double duty. When I get into my bigger studio I will be making a new top so it will be 4' wide and 10' long. I also built shelves underneath the table so I can store all my forms for slab work, along with all kinds of other tools etc. I made it small enough that it could fit through most doorways, and can come apart when I need it to. I usually have the "wheel" taken off my mech so its easier to work around...slides into a corner of the studio. I use the slab roller as a slab roller about 1-3 days a month, and for the few times a year I use it, I consider it a completely sound investment. I make these little dishes from slabs which are press molded into a plaster mold; before the roller it would take me about an hour to make 50 blanks, with the slab roller it takes me about half or less of that time; It paid for itself quite rapidly, even though the mech from Bailey was close to $1k. My current studio is on the smaller size than what my new studio will be, but is bigger than what most of you are stating. If I had a smaller studio, and wanted to have a slab roller, Id put it on heavy duty locking casters so I could roll it to a wall when not in use as a slab roller, and it would become just a work/storage table. I put small 1" non locking castors on one end of my slab roller, thinking that the other end without castors would keep it from shifting around the studio as its worked on; while it doesnt move around, I dont think it would anyways even if I had casters on both ends. It does make it very easy to pick up the one end and "drive" it around the studio when need be. I think if I only made slabs a couple times per year, then Id stick with my slats and rolling pins, but it is SOO much nicer to have an actual slab roller when you're making a bunch of slabs.

@liambesaw Not sure what you mean by DC motor? Runs off of alternating 110 current. I know I also need to flip the wheel over and lubricate the main bearings; Ive got a nice "....squeek....squeek....squeek..." at low speeds. Sounds like a small bird in my wheel....highly annoying.

I have a early 2000's pacifica gt 800; variable speeds and torque are my two big criteria; followed by smoothness at low speeds/change from speed-speed, lastly by quietness. I have a reversible option on my wheel, but very, very very rarely use it; Im right hand dominant so I guess that's not a big one for me. The vast majority of pots that have been thrown on this wheel are under 5# which it handles relatively well; my belts are getting worn, so if I hog down on 3# I can feel them slipping, but with new belts it handled centering 30#+ with no real issues. I dont know if its the number of miles on my wheel or what, but at low speeds I am starting to notice a little choppiness in my wheel speed when changing from one RPM to another. Could just need a tune up.