New Skutt wheel - lots of questions and issues?

[perkybus]

Hi everyone,

I am very new to pottery and after a few classes I splurged and bought a Skutt Revolution Wheel with the ssx motor. I have been running it for a couple of hours now and it is ridiculously loud (!) and I'm getting a weird knock as I open up my clay. I am left handed so I thought the noise was because of that but it is noisy in both directions. So, two questions: 1. Are Skutt wheels known to be loud? I mean it sounds like I am playing with my sons electric rc car in my studio! and 2. If you own a Skutt wheel, is there a trick to mounting the wheel head so it doesn't knock? It feels like as I get closer to the outer edge with any downward pressure I am getting this knock. Anyone else have these problems?

Apologies if these are obvious newbie questions about these wheels. I'm pretty disappointed with the purchase but maybe it is my skill level.

[Roberta12]

That sounds terrible!  I do not have a Skutt.  But I have used them.  I did not find them to be noisier than Brent or other wheels.  Since it is new and under warranty, Call Skutt.  ASAP.  That is a big purchase and it could be something simple or they may need to repair or replace something.  You said you are new to pottery.  Welcome to our forum.  I have had forum voices in my head for several years! 

Something I have learned to do is directly contact the company.  The Wheel company, the kiln company, the clay company, the glaze company, the dry material supplier, the extruder company, whatever it is.  In general they are very helpful and want to see you succeed and become a repeat customer.  

Roberta

[Pres]

@perkybus, Please do not take this as being snarky, but have you made certain to remove all of the packing materials from the wheel, especially from under the wheel head to the deck? Sometimes a small piece of Styrofoam or other material can get missed and cause a racket from hitting the underside of the wheel.  Just a thought.

best,

Pres 

[perkybus]

Thanks for the replies. Thanks Pres for the heads up but yes I checked everything. The knock doesn't show up until I am about 4 inches from center and pushing down and starts to increase in frequency as I move farther away from center. Also, no matter how hard I try to mount the wheel, I still get a little up and down play in it. A slight up and down wiggle. I wrote Skutt this morning. I read somewhere on here that Skutt immediately replaced a members wheel head because of issues (don't remember if they were similar issues). I'm wondering if mine was drilled slightly off.

[Hulk]

Skutt phone support has been excellent (in my experience); have your serial and model numbers ready.

The wheel head should be solid (zero play) and run absolutely vertically true (less than a .001" of run out).

If you've already tried removing the wheel head and reseating it, maybe try that again in the other position (180 degree turn). Carefully clean and inspect the shaft - the tapered contact portion and the pin; inspect the wheel head's tapered contact and slots; relube with anti-sieze; mount in the direction opposite (per the directions in the manual, "...opposite direction the wheel will be spinning..." ); compare how much the wheel head rotates until lock against the slot (the manual indicates "...about a quarter turn...") is achieved.
Likely you've already done all that.

Please do post back an update 'bus!

My Skutt wheel does run a bit louder than some others, but not by much.
I bought it "used," however, it hadn't actually been used; it quieted down a bit after logging some hours.

[neilestrick]

Are you running the wheel counter-clockwise? Some of mine run really loud when in reverse.

In general they do tend to quiet down after they have a few hours on them, but using a commutator stick on the motor will quiet them down faster (assuming they're still using the same type of motors I have on mine). Post a video of the wheel so we can hear it.

Removing the wheelhead and turning it 180 degrees will usually make it sit more solid. Check that there's not a big glob of anti-sieze lube in there making it sit uneven.

[perkybus]

Thanks @neilestrick The noise is manageable and it does seem to be quieting down somewhat after a few hours today on it. That knocking though...

I regreased (anti-seize) the wheel as per what Hulk suggested and it runs smoother but still has the pronounced knock. The knock definitely increases the farther I open up the clay and the heavier the weight of the clay the sooner the knocking starts to happen. I did notice the wheel has no play when wiggling it up and down on the axis OPPOSITE the bat pins but if I wiggle it on the same axis as the bat pins it wiggles up and down almost to an 1/8th of an inch (and yes the wheel is fully mounted and engaged).

I took a video that I am desperately want to share with everyone here but it is way too large. What format do you use for video in this forum? I only see jpegs and pngs as accepted file types.

[perkybus]

Well, Skutt is sending me a new wheelhead.  Hopefully that will resolve the thumping. I've got about 1/8 inch up and down wiggle in the wheel and I went to throw three pounds on it yesterday (only had 1.5 lbs on there before) and it was almost impossible because of the thump. I can get the thumping to stop though if I push down on the outer edge of the wheel while using my other hand to open up the clay (ha!).

GREAT support service from Skutt. They think the wheelhead was machined slightly off and immediately set out to help me resolve it. I'm excited to get it resolved because the machine itself is quite impressive.

[Ago]

Hi, I was following this post. Any update? 

[perkybus]

Yes, Skutt sent me a new wheelhead. The one I had was drilled wrong. Definitely a noticeable difference in the fit to the wheelhead shaft.