Standing to throw

[Roberta12]

I had hip replacement surgery almost 4 weeks ago.  The surgery went extremely well.  I sat down to try and throw last week, a few small pots.  The next day I was in agony.  The implant is fine, no blood clots. Apparently the muscles were not ready for that.  I irritated the muscles and nerves in that leg and I can envision it being awhile before I can sit to throw.  I found @neilestrickpic of his wheel raised.  My wheel is a Brent. The extension legs are $300.  I really think we can build something that would work for a lot less money.  Any other suggestions??  Time for a change I guess!

Roberta

[Pres]

Plastic pipe, put end caps on them for the legs. Drill holes for bolts in the pipes, use a bolt and nut to make block to height. You can fancy this up by adding multiple holes to make it more adjustable and even add another row of holes to make a cross of two bolts, add a plywood plug on top.

 

best,

Pres

[Min]

Glad your surgery went well!

My Bailey has the hollow pipe legs, we had an old table with round legs and used those. Added a piece of redi-rod with a knob on the top end and a tab bolted to the side of the foot pedal so I can use it with my hand. I would suggest getting a good quality anti fatigue mat to stand on if you throw for hours. 

 

[neilestrick]

Lots of people just use cinder blocks. Might need shimming to get it exactly where you want.

[Dick White]

And, when throwing standing up, position the wheel so that when you are standing, your back is braced against something solid, like a wall or a support post. You will need to put some seat cushion foam on the wall to make pressing back against it more comfortable.

[Callie Beller Diesel]

+1 for cinder blocks.

 

[neilestrick]

My wood wheel stand works great and it's nice because it's made to the exact height that I want and I can easily take it off the stand if I need to. I found when I built it that it required a lot of bracing to get the wiggles out of it. There is metal strapping at most of the joints to stiffen it up.

[Min]

2 hours ago, Dick White said:

And, when throwing standing up, position the wheel so that when you are standing, your back is braced against something solid, like a wall or a support post. You will need to put some seat cushion foam on the wall to make pressing back against it more comfortable.

Not saying this isn't a wise thing to do but in the 10 -15 years I've been throwing while standing I haven't felt the need for it. 

[Roberta12]

12 hours ago, neilestrick said:

My wood wheel stand works great and it's nice because it's made to the exact height that I want and I can easily take it off the stand if I need to. I found when I built it that it required a lot of bracing to get the wiggles out of it. There is metal strapping at most of the joints to stiffen it up.

That's another question I had.  Will it wiggle??  I want it to be stable.  Do you stand or have it tall enough for a stool to sit on?  @Min @neilestrick ?  The anti fatigue mat is a great idea.  I have those in the shop where I glaze.  Makes a big difference.   @Callie Beller Diesel   Do you think the cinder blocks would be stable enough???

[neilestrick]

Just now, Roberta12 said:

That's another question I had.  Will it wiggle??  I want it to be stable.  Do you stand or have it tall enough for a stool to sit on?  @Min @neilestrick ?  The anti fatigue mat is a great idea.  I have those in the shop where I glaze.  Makes a big difference.   @Callie Beller Diesel   Do you think the cinder blocks would be stable enough???

I stand, no wall behind me to lean on. It won't wiggle if you've got it built solid enough. I didn't do any fancy joinery, so metal braces at all the joints were needed to stiffen it up.

[dhPotter]

@Roberta12 Yes the cinder blocks are sturdy - I have 1 under each leg of my Brent C. Also have a half block, 4 inches instead of 8 inches under my Left foot with a 2 inch paver under the Right foot which also has the foot pedal. I had hip replacement on my Right side 5 years ago - one of the best surgeries I ever had. I have one of those Speed Ball potters chairs that I replaced the pneumatic tube with a bar stool height tube. When sitting at the wheel my legs are almost straight. 

[oldlady]

roberta,  so sorry to hear of your pain,   i also suggest schedule 40 plumbing pipe.   there should be a size just bigger than the outside dimension of your wheel legs.   a half inch bolt through the plastic pipe should hold your wheel's weight with no problems.   the only tool you will need for the job is a drill and a vise to hold the pipe steady while you drill those holes straight through. 

i would put the bolt in at least 8 inches down so it will be more stable.   if the dimension of your wheel leg is very much smaller than the diameter of the new pipe, be sure to stuff the space with shims, wedges of wood for stability.

[JohnnyK]

11 minutes ago, oldlady said:

 if the dimension of your wheel leg is very much smaller than the diameter of the new pipe, be sure to stuff the space with shims, wedges of wood for stability.

Something else you could do here for stability is wrap the legs with plastic, then squirt some of that expandable foam into the voids around the legs. When it firms up, the foam will make the legs rigid and the plastic wrap will allow you to remove the extension, if necessary...

[Min]

On 5/3/2021 at 6:54 AM, Roberta12 said:

That's another question I had.  Will it wiggle??  I want it to be stable.  Do you stand or have it tall enough for a stool to sit on?  @Min @neilestrick ?  The anti fatigue mat is a great idea.  I have those in the shop where I glaze.  Makes a big difference.   @Callie Beller Diesel   Do you think the cinder blocks would be stable enough???

Think part of the equation is how tall the extension legs / pipes are if you go the route of lengthening the pipe legs on your Brent. I'm little, I only had to add 14" to the height to make it the right height for me standing. I don't lean on a stool, I stand, wheel head is roughly at my belly button height. (think it's at a different height for different sized / taller people) The wood table legs I used are firmly attached inside the pipe legs, it doesn't wiggle. I can see if you needed really long leg extensions that it might wiggle, there have been some great suggestions for reinforcing so far. A couple more ideas would be to add a base or use muffler pipe and get the muffler shop to flare the two legs at the front of the wheel outwards like the Brent leg extensions, wider base will be more stable.  Rough drawing below of how I would do a base, cutout at the front of the wheel so there is room for your feet, I'ld make it out of plywood and cut circles where the leg extensions fit into, if it's wedged in there it can't wiggle. If you go the leg extension route you could try it without the base, see if it works then add the base if not.

 

[Bam2015]

Min, I like your hand control.

dhPotter, can you please share a picture of your set up? I have been throwing standing up recently and find it throws my back off balance and is uncomfortable. It's not my wheel, it's at a studio where I am taking a class, so I don't have any options for changing the set up. But, as someone who has a very long history of back problems, I find that this set up without accommodations for my uneven posture just doesn't work for me.

Is anyone else willing to share picture of their set up? 

[Min]

 

2 hours ago, Bam2015 said:

Min, I like your hand control.

@Bam2015, thank you! It does work well and costs next to nothing to make. Is the wheel where you take a class adjustable for different height people? There is a really good article from John Glic, "To Sciatica and Back" that covers ergonomics and back supports. Perhaps there is something in the article that could help.  

[dhPotter]

@Bam2015 As you can see my floor, and everything else, is not as clean as Min

When I sit down the top of the seat is even with the top of the splash pan. I like this position because my hips and knees are nearly in a stand up position. I can lean my shoulders and upper body over the clay for centering. When leaning over the wheel and looking down at the wheel my eyes are looking about 1 inch past the wheel's center.

 

[Bam2015]

Thank you for the link to the interesting article Min. I chose to try out the standing wheel at the studio. I am taking a class there and there are only two more. I have my own wheel at home, I just need to find the Goldilocks position for myself. 

dhPotter, thank you for sharing a picture of your setup. 

Betty