Tag Archives: potter’s wheel

The Day(s) I Became an Electrician

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One of my Brent potter’s wheels had suddenly started to not work correctly.  No matter what I tuned, it would either not stop turning when the pedal was all the way off or if I got it to stop spinning, when in the high position it would turn only fast enough to trim pots.  Not ideal for students learning to throw.

I called up Brent and told them of my case.  Luckily for me, the wheel is still under warranty.  The sent me some new parts.  I was expected to fix this myself.  As you can see from the pictures their part had these blue caps that mine did not have.

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I wrote back and told the service person.  She told me I would have to strip the wires and attach them, but assured me no soldering was necessary.  I then cut the blue caps and stripped both sets of wires so they leads were long enough for me to twist together and cover up.  Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy.  There wasn’t a lot of wire there to work with.

But I was successful and was able to fix my wheel.

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Things are now spinning properly and only when I want it to.

Gruene Butter

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What is Gruene Butter?  (And for those of you not from Texas, it’s pronounced “green”, not “gru-en”.  Gruene Butter is a type of clay I can buy from the clay distributor I use, Armadillo Clay in Austin.  It’s a high-fire stoneware.  I purchased it to use for throwing.

Back story is that I had read a friend’s technical reader for her college classes and saw that she requires her students to buy both low-fire and high-fire clay.  As I read more, I discovered that she has them use the high-fire for throwing.  I emailed her and inquired as to why this is.  She told me that the high-fire is stronger and less porous.  So, that if the pieces are intended to be used hot hot liquids and be washed in the dishwasher, high fire is the way to go.  Learn something new every day.

Well, I tested it out today and let me tell you….I loved it!!!  It was sooooo nice to throw with!   It was easy to manipulate.  It was smooth.  It was awesome.  I think my kids are going to love it. Image