Bat Problems -- Loose holes

[Rick Wise]

Minor problem but irritating nonetheless.  Perhaps someone has a solution?

My plastic Speedball bats seem to get a wobble in them after a few years of use.  I think the problem is the holes get "stretched"  so that they have some "play" in them and dont fit snug on the pins.  As a result, the bat shimmeys on the wheelhead while I try to center clay.  Anyone else have this problem?  Any solutions other than "new bats"?

[neilestrick]

Are they the bats with one smooth side and one side that's a grid? That's a tough one. If you enlarge your bat pin in some permanent way, then your good bats won't fit on them. You could try filling the holes with plastic epoxy and re-drilling them, but I bet the epoxy won't hold for long. You could also try putting a small piece of wet paper towel or tissue on the bat pin to fill the gap. For regular plastic bats that are solid (no grid), you can just drill new holes. I'd start investing in solid plastic bats when you replace those, if you like plastic. I've got a few dozen Northstar bats in my classroom that have been in use for 15 years and they're still good.

[liambesaw]

You can put clay bag plastic over the pins before you put on the bat, I have a brand new Masonite bat that I have to do that with, and I agree it's annoying when it starts knocking

[Magnolia Mud Research]

When I first started throwing why back when,  I cut a piece of an open-weave non-adhesive non-slip drawer liner (often used in kitchen drawers) that covered my wheel head and place all my bats over the liner.  No more bat moving around.  

Later on, when I could not find my open-weave non-adhesive non-slip drawer liner  I just applied four wads of clay at the edge of the bat as if the bat were a pot being trimmed.  No more bat moving around and clay was always available to 'stop' the bat wobble.  

Later on when I realized that variations if the rims and symmetry of the bowls, bottles, and other forms were more atheistically pleasing than those with even and precisely thrown rims and sides, I quit trying to "fix" the bat and just focused on making a good pot with the tools available.  Some of my best pots are made on loose bats.   

LT

 

[CactusPots]

You can get a few more miles out of your bats by changing the bat pins to metric.  The pins still fit the wheel head and the allen heads are just slightly larger.  A good hardware store can hook you up.

[Rick Wise]

Many thanks to you all for the ideas!

[Benzine]

@Pres , I believe, has mentioned that he's used small diameter rubber hose, inside the existing bat pin hole.

[Rick Wise]

On 5/9/2019 at 9:01 AM, CactusPots said:

You can get a few more miles out of your bats by changing the bat pins to metric.  The pins still fit the wheel head and the allen heads are just slightly larger.  A good hardware store can hook you up.

CactusPots -- what is the metric size I would be looking for?

[Bill Kielb]

31 minutes ago, Rick Wise said:

CactusPots -- what is the metric size I would be looking for?

I think it’s an M8. Take one of your pins with you, easier to check side by side. Better to make sure the shank fits the hole in your wheel and this will help you pick a comfortable length as well.

[Hulk]

I use the cheap plastic calipers (the expensive metal ones stay in the drawer, mostly) for holes, screws, bolts, etc. almost daily, and more often than not have them in my pocket when shopping hardware/home stores.

Thanks to my Dad on that.

Also handy for lidded jars, checking depth, etc., per Bill Van Gilder, make in standard sizes, eh? I've a drawer full of spare lids a'ready...

 

Three bucks

[JohnnyK]

20 hours ago, Bill Kielb said:

I think it’s an M8. Take one of your pins with you, easier to check side by side. Better to make sure the shank fits the hole in your wheel and this will help you pick a comfortable length as well.

I think it would be better to bring the bat with you to see if the pin fits, then there will be no question about the fit and could save multiple trips to the store...

[Benzine]

I should also note, that I used some of those Speedball bats, in my classroom, for a few years.  I liked that they were plastic, and were not supposed to warp, which was a selling point with teenagers involved in the process...  However, after a couple years, I ran into both issues, that the original poster did.  The pin holes widened out, when actually led to some of them flying off the wheel, many times hitting the water bucket.  They also did warp leading to the final form not being completely level.  Also, it made things feel off center, even when they weren't.  This made it difficult to teach the students to get a feel for the clay, when it always felt a bit off. 

I ended up buying new wood-ish bats from my clay supplier.  Other than growing some mold, they have worked well so far.