Hannah Greenblott Posted January 16, 2020 Report Share Posted January 16, 2020 It’s super irritating. I have a shimpo aspire wheel. I just got new bats. Maybe the bats aren’t completely set on the pins, but if i press on the bat too hard or I press on the edge of the bat, you can hear that wobble sound. It sounds like the bat is hitting the wheel. It’s hard to explain, but it causes things to not be centered and I don’t really know how to fix this?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hulk Posted January 16, 2020 Report Share Posted January 16, 2020 Aye that! All symptoms disappear when you center up some clay on the bare wheel head - no bats (careful the pins don't catch your hands there...)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted January 16, 2020 Report Share Posted January 16, 2020 If you've got those bats that are made for the Aspire that have the grid on the backside, I wouldn't be surprised if they wobble. It's common for that type of bat. The Speedball bats do it too. It may or may not be an issue once you get some clay on the wheel. Have you tried throwing on them? Rae Reich and Bill Kielb 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlady Posted January 16, 2020 Report Share Posted January 16, 2020 one other thing to check is the pins themselves. i had a problem years ago because the hole in the wheelhead was just a little bigger than the shaft of the bat pin. i used a new bat to find the correct spacing and just unscrewed the bat pin enough to slide it over to the correct place. tightened it up HARD and have never had another problem with it. Rae Reich and Bill Kielb 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lolorobison Posted January 1, 2022 Report Share Posted January 1, 2022 Cool! I found this group after searching for, "Correct Shimpo Aspire wheel wobble?" Lol. Apologies for joining the conversation way late in the game, but thought I would share my experience with Shimpo's Aspire. I purchased mine about 1.5 years ago. Right out of the box, the wheel head wobbled. You could see and hear it. I was pretty distressed, because it wasn't inexpensive - far more affordable than my two Skutt wheels, but still a luxury. I purchased about a dozen Aspire bats, and every one of them wobbled. I took the Aspire to my local ceramics retailer, even though I didn't purchase it from them. I wish I had. The service guy was going to charge me $60 per hour to take a look at it. After about two hours and comparing mine to those he had on the sales floor, we discovered that all the Aspires in the shop had a similar wobble that they'd never noticed. He measured the pinholes' distance and they, indeed, a couple of centimeters off, i.e., not equidistant. I exchanged emails with Vijay at Nidec-Shimpo because the online shipper I purchased it from couldn't assist me with product defects. After going back and forth for quite some time, Vijay finally agreed to send me a newly calibrated and drilled wheel head and belt. Unfortunately, I encountered the same problem. Last summer, I took it outside (I ordered specifically to take on the road with me and throw outside on my back deck) and it is virtually impossible to throw on it. I can center my clay, but because of the wobble, pulling and trimming are impossible. Unfortunately, I didn't submit my warranty documents in a timely fashion. I'm not giving up trying to figure out a way to correct the problem so I can get some use out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted January 2, 2022 Report Share Posted January 2, 2022 (Correct Shimpo Aspire wheel wobble)(we discovered that all the Aspires in the shop had a similar wobble that they'd never noticed.) I hate to be the one to say it but its seems that these low budget wheels seem to all have issues-The above post really points this out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted January 2, 2022 Report Share Posted January 2, 2022 Not to doubt but I have thrown on several aspires without issue. I have also met Vijay in person several times now over several years. If this is an improperly drilled pin issue then it is pretty easy to verify by measurement and solve. The aspire to me is not the equivalent of the no name economy wheels found on the web. It would be helpful to see a short video of the wobble to understand it and possibly supply a simple suggested solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mane Posted June 16, 2023 Report Share Posted June 16, 2023 On 1/1/2022 at 10:54 AM, lolorobison said: I'm not giving up trying to figure out a way to correct the problem so I can get some use out of it. I'm on the same boat as you. Way out of warranty, just measure my pin holes and one is 13.89mm from the edge and the other is 13.42mm from the edge. When I spin the wheel without a bat it spins symmetrically, but any bat on it wobbles side to side. The whole time I thought it was an issue with the table I was setting it up, or just my skills at throwing while standing. Ugh, so frustrating. Did you ever figure out a way to fix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Kielb Posted June 16, 2023 Report Share Posted June 16, 2023 29 minutes ago, Mane said: Did you ever figure out a way to fix? This post is pretty old so you may want to direct message them. .33mm is about 13 thousandths, I think for that you could loosen them in the holes and move them slightly before tightening them. If not perfect I think you can get them in the single digit thousandths. You might want to loosen, put your best batt on top, center it perfectly as possible and tighten them up. Assuming the accuracy of the measurements, I think it likely could be centered within a few thousandths of an inch. This should not affect throwing though, very few batts are cur this precisely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hulk Posted June 16, 2023 Report Share Posted June 16, 2023 (edited) If the wheel head is not running out (vertical)*, I'm seeing two problems: a) there's even odds on being off when removing, then remounting the batt with an in-progress piece on the batt; b) that the edge of the batt runs out in the horizontal, which can be distracting, very distracting; if you're using the edge of the batt to index off of in any way, that option is out. I've been using square batts for several years; the whirling corners don't bother me now - I'm used to them. Hence, when using plaster batts on a clay pad, I'm not as finicky about getting the batt exactly centered, for I don't watch the oscillating edge, nor do I index off the batt's edge. Does that make sense? Another way of looking at it - can you draw a circle on the batt, whilst it is spinning, where the circle is round and the ends come together perfectly? (Use a small brush, loaded with water, or a pencil, or ? - bring it in contact with the bat in one spot, let the spin do the work) From there, draw over the same circle, again, still same? *As long as the top of the wheel head doesn't move up and down whilst spinning (and the center of the wheel head is rock steady), then throwing should not be impeded. Given, wheel head edge (and/or batt) movement in the horizontal can be very distracting, however, if you're not using that edge - just don't look at it! Movement in the vertical can be a challenge, imo, another topic. Edited June 16, 2023 by Hulk either edge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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