How to make a potter's wheel with an electric drive. Potter's wheel from a washing machine

People's Master of Belarus Dmitry Viktorovich POLESCHUK traveled to many cities and villages with his “festival” pottery machine - very mobile due to the disassembly of the main wooden parts. The potter's clay products have delighted many with their beauty and functionality.

It has long been an axiom in our country that it is not the gods who fire the pots, which means that it is quite possible to make the pottery machine itself with your own hands.

Potter's wheel

It consists of a frame with a table (which also serves as a bench), an axis, a flywheel, and a working disk. The sizes of the components are arbitrary, but they certainly need to be adjusted to your height. The main thing is that the working disk should be at the level of the lower back (when you are in a sitting position) and not very high, so that your arms do not get tired.

We knock the flywheel out of thick boards, which we then fold in two layers(photo 1). The axis of the square section is narrowed upward(photo 2), at the level of the desktop we make a circular section. Top and bottom - metal pins(photo 3).

We cut out a part in the table that is held on pins during operation.(photo 4)and serves to hold the axle. Important: do not forget to make semicircular holes for the axis in the table and the cut part. We place the axle with the flywheel on a bushing in the frame(photo 5)and press it at the top so that it can rotate. For reliability, we wrap the cutting part to the table with a rope. Next, we put the working disk on the metal pin(photo 6).

You can sit down on a bench and start “sculpting” by turning the “pedals”, that is, the flywheel, which it is advisable to weigh down with cobblestones!

Pottery

For work, it is better to take clay purified from impurities (vacuumed).

To make a bun (photo 7)didn't run away from you initial stage, with some force we throw it into the center of the disk - this is the installation and centering of the lump. Squeezing with hands(photo 8).

For better gliding, spray clay water and turn the bun into a smoothed dome(photo 9). We press the clay from above with our thumbs, and from the sides with our palms. At the same time, the mass is additionally crushed and completely unnecessary air bubbles disappear.

When rotating the disk, press your thumb into the intended center of the dome, marking the bottom.

Then we raise the cylinder to the height of the future product(photo 10, 11). We remember to lubricate the inside with water, but without making the clay soggy. Using the fingers of your left hand, we press through the inner cavity, and with your right hand, we hold the shape while rotating.

We have reached the desired height, and then the pot is formed in several stages. Lightly press out the rounded sides from the inside, holding them from the outside. Using a quadrangular wooden knife called a "shinal"(photo 12), “grow” the neck of the vessel(photo 13).

We separate the finished product from the disk with a thin rope or wire(photo 14).

We dry it for 2-3 days, and then fire it in a pottery kiln (today this service is provided by some art workshops, educational establishments and so on. — approx. ed.).

If the “formation” of the vessel has taken place, then you can also become a specialist in pottery, says Dmitry Poleshchuk. All that remains is to learn how to make lids for vessels and master more complex forms of craftsmanshipThe clay must be plastic, capable of taking any shape and retaining it after burning. I use two types of clay: continental and quarry. When mixed in a 1:2 ratio, they form the desired homogeneous mass, which has the properties of a strong pottery and fire-resistant properties.

Continental clay is mined in wells with a diameter of 1-1.5 meters. The adit is lined with willow to avoid soil shedding. You have to dig deep. The clay of the original deposit usually lies at a depth of 10-15 meters.

Continental clay is formed where rocks have been washed away by water. Therefore, it is pure, without impurities, white or almost white, fire-resistant. It is precisely this layer of clay (1 meter or more thick) at a depth of 12 meters that lies in my grandfather’s mines. Its development led to the fact that the sleeves of home-made mines stretched horizontally from the well for many tens of meters.

Chasyarska clay (Donetsk region) is the best for pottery production.

Quarry clay can be found in Yaruga, along the slopes of river banks. This is the so-called sedimentary clay. It is not so pure, with various additives that give it different colors, and less fire-resistant. The main thing is to pay attention to the plasticity of the clay, i.e. its ability to change shape without tears or cracks. It can be oil (or plastic) and song (or low-plastic). Oily - difficult to soak, dries slowly, forms a sticky mass. Lenten clay, on the contrary, is easy to soak, dries quickly, and forms a mass that is not very suitable for squeakers.

Based on my own experience, I will say: once excavated, the clay is of little use for work. It is also not plastic enough; it often has various impurities (small pebbles), which lead to the destruction of products, as they expand during firing, while the clay itself contracts. I’ll tell you below how to choose junk from clay. Feldspar, quartz, lime (they will be used to make glaze) also cannot be used immediately: they must be cleaned of impurities, sub-nitrates, sifted and washed. This is labor-intensive, monotonous work, but it is necessary so that later there will be less waste. The clay mass itself must also be homogeneous, otherwise, during burning, part of it will react differently to temperature. And this often results in distortions, cracks and tears. That is why the initial raw materials need to be refined. The clay must be soaked overnight in a special pit or bath. These clay mixtures are shaded to the bottom with a stick so that the formed holes are filled with water. And in the morning we begin to prepare the clay for work.

We select soaked clay from the bath onto the plank platform. If there is no platform, then it can be replaced with a sheet of rows. We take as much clay as we need for the job. We put it in a large cone-shaped pile. Then the wooden Dovbnya gradually breaks the cone. When the clay has risen and its thickness is approximately 5-10 centimeters, the operation should be repeated, i.e. form again the same mass as it was before. It breaks it into a layer, which should already be a little thicker than the previous one (i.e. 10-15 centimeters). This beating of clay lasts until all the clay is quivering and that same high cone appears in front of you again.

To prevent the clay from sticking to Dovbnya, it must be cycled. But it is most effective to moisten Dovbnya more often. And so that the clay would NOT stick to the platform, my grandfather crushed it with ashes, which was enough in the forge. (Photo - manual method too much choice)

In the clay that we just knocked down, it is possible that chips, leaves, roots, worms, and limestone stones are being caught. In order for the mass to be suitable for work, it is necessary to separate this trash from it as thoroughly as possible.

This is what the planer is used for. They need to plan the whole pile of clay into small chips, while selecting out the impurities. Then the planed and selected clay is rolled into a large bullet and moisturizes it. We select the amount necessary for work in order to begin expelling air bubbles from the clay mass, and cover the remaining clay with wet rows or rags, take it to a cool corner of the workshop or put it in the bath. (Photo-viganization of air bubbles using the rocking method)

Air is released, which will then interfere with working on the potter's wheel, in two ways - swinging and knocking out. Small clay pieces (the same as those used by the housewife who prepares the dough for dumplings) are rolled on a circle. At the same time, air escapes from the clay mass and it becomes solid.

Let me explain the knockout method. If you need a little more clay than to make one small product, then it is convenient to mix it on the table. To do this, take a piece of clay dough and forcefully throw it onto the workbenches from the height of an arm extended above your head. Then it is formed into a loaf and cut into two parts with string or brass wire.

After this, the top piece is placed on the table with the cut side up, and the bottom piece, without turning over, is thrown with force onto the previous top one. A cut is made again at a right angle to the table, one of the pieces is also thrown with the cut side up, and the second one is thrown onto it, also cut side up. So the operation is repeated about twenty times.

I would like to end this section with a story about how premium clay is prepared, precisely the clay that is used for high-quality pottery.

My grandfather laid out the clay he brought on the ground in beds and left it in this form for a year or several years (the longer, the better). This natural way of processing by potters is called Lituvannyam. For products of the highest quality, the poured clay is further subjected to torment, purulence and kneading.

To get rid of the clay, pound it in a large bowl of water and let it settle so that coarse, heavy impurities settle. Transfer the cream and clay into another tub and let it settle again. Then to the third and fourth. In the last reservoir, the clay particles are the lightest, smallest and purest, they are allowed to settle, the water is released, and the finest, purest clay of the highest grade remains at the bottom, it is placed in the cellar, where it festers for several weeks: it becomes covered with dark spots, emits an unpleasant odor . After purging, the clay becomes plastic and homogeneous, suitable for the most delicate work. Since the top layers dry faster, knead the clay on a special bench before use. There is a fairly diverse technology for preparing clay. While we are learning, clay can be laid on the lithuvannya. And for the first work, a homogeneous mass is quite suitable, which can be obtained by soaking and mixing continents and quarry clays, which have been mixed several times with a manual clay grinder.

There is an old method of knocking air bubbles out of clay balls. Clay, kneaded on a hand clay ball, rolled into a ball and cut with a string into the required pieces for work. A separate lump is taken in the left hand. Palm right hand they slam it, knocking out the air. And with your left hand, continuously spin the ball, holding it in a hanging position. This work is tedious, and therefore the lump must be cut so that it is easy to lift. But its size also depends on the pottery product for which it is intended. For training and until your hands are stronger, I advise you to prepare balls (breasts) weighing about 500-600 grams. (From the book by V. Ristsov “At the Potter’s Wheel”)

At the end of last year, an exhibition of English ceramist J. Powell took place in Moscow. Vases, jugs, sconces, floor lamps, chandeliers, family coats of arms amazed connoisseurs with their sophistication, beauty, high artistic taste and subtle knowledge of the material. The unusual technique was especially noted. As we learned, Powell does not work on a special machine, but uses embossed materials, for example, gauze, fine rope mesh, or even coarse burlap. Therefore, we invite you to get to know her.

Let's start with clay. You can find it directly at summer cottage or in a nearby career.

Take a 0.5 liter piece of clay. Add a little water to it and stir until it absorbs all the moisture and begins to stick to your hands. Having prepared the stiff dough, roll it into a ball with a diameter of 50 mm and a flat cake with a diameter of 100 mm. Then dry in the shade for two to three days. If cracks appear on the ball or cake during this time, it means that the clay is too oily and requires the addition of fine river sand. But there are no cracks, and a ball thrown from a height of 1 m onto a hard surface does not crumble - the clay is normal. Skinny clay does not crack when dried, and a product made from it will not acquire the proper strength; In such clay it is necessary to mix more fatty clay. Add sand or clay in several stages, each time checking the quality of the resulting mass.

Further work with clay raw materials is carried out as Powell himself does. Take a sheet of thick plywood or plastic with dimensions of 500 x 375 mm. Cover it with a piece of fabric measuring 950 x 620 mm.

Place two wooden slats on it, 350 mm long and 10x10 mm in cross-section, as shown in Figure 1. Place a piece of clay between them and use a wooden rolling pin to roll it into a pancake 10 mm thick (Figure 2). Let us immediately note that as a result of this operation, the lower surface of the clay pancake will acquire the texture of fabric. Next, use a sharp knife to carefully cut out the workpiece, as shown in Figure 3. Roll the scraps into a ball and put them in an enamel pan or plastic bag so that they dry out less. Take the fabric with the workpiece by the corners (Fig. 4), tie them with knots and hang them on the frame (Fig. 5). In this position, the clay blank will take on a concave shape. Leave it for two to three days so that the clay dries a little and hardens. Having taken out the workpiece, trim the edges with a sharp knife, as shown in Figure 6. All that remains is to install it on the legs. Prepare three conical supports from clay dough in advance. Apply deep marks to the mating surfaces with the tip of a knife, moisten them with water and press the parts tightly together (Fig. 7 and 8).

Products of more complex shapes can be easily made on a four-wall wooden box without a lid (Fig. 9) and the same box, but with a lid (Fig. 11), in which slots are provided different types(Fig. 12). The further steps required to obtain the blanks are not difficult to understand by looking at the remaining drawings.

Not everything may work out on the first try. But here you have several products that suit you with their design and beauty of execution. What's next?

Firing - difficult process which will give the product the necessary strength. It is carried out in three stages: warming up, firing itself and gradual, controlled cooling. At the first stage, the process can be carried out in an ordinary kitchen stove at 250 ° C. In this case, the clay crystals are destroyed and the entire mass turns into an amorphous state. At a higher temperature (the process is carried out in muffle furnace at 850° C) the mass sinteres to form a durable shard.

After firing, the products are cooled. This process is very long and responsible. A freshly fired product does not tolerate sudden changes in temperature and access to cold air. Let us allow this, and cracks will instantly form. The temperature should be reduced slowly, depending on the wall thickness of the product and the quality of the raw materials. Therefore, the cooling mode is determined experimentally. But usually ceramists reduce the temperature at the rate of 50° per hour. After firing, the product acquires a bright red color. This color can be considered the final color. But it is better, according to Powell, to paint the product on the outside or inside in a different color, for example, black, blue or white. It is easier to paint with bright nitro enamels.

Printing inks are produced in paint rollers. Initially, by passing the paint through rollers, the paint is first mixed with the solvent using a spatula by hand, and to obtain a homogeneous mixture, it is passed through the rollers twice.
The paint used for painting using the printing method, with the required viscosity, must be easily removed from the iron board or shaft and transfer perfectly from the paper to the products being painted, without bleeding onto them. At the same time, it does not have to dry very quickly and give a clear and high-quality contour.

For underglaze printing, paints of approximately the following composition (in%) are used:
Glycerin 19
Molasses 23
Dry paint 58

For overglaze printing:
Drying oil 42.35
Dry paint 57.65

When painting ceramic products using the printing method, the master engraver, according to a given design, cuts out an exact copy of the design on a metal drum or board. The depth of the cut lines of the design on the drum or board depends on the intensity of the paint in the corresponding places on the original. The design on the metal is cut out using a special cutter (gravel tip).

Paint is applied to the board using wooden spatulas, and on drums using special devices. Excess paint is removed.
A special thin, slightly moistened paper is applied to the board with paint applied to it, on top of which a layer of newspaper type paper 5-6 mm thick is placed, and on top is a tarpaulin pad, after which the board is passed between rollers or placed under a press.

The paper with the design imprinted on it is immersed in the water in which it is located until softened.

After the paper is saturated with water, the design and paper are applied to a dry product and wiped with a felt roller; the paint adheres well to the surface of the product, and the paper is easily separated from the design. To enrich the design applied by printing, additional coloring is done with paints or gold.

Unlike screen printing, tampon printing began to develop intensively only with the advent of the ability to make printing clichés from high-quality silicone rubber. Tampon printing is a method of transferring an image from a printing plate (cliché) to a printed hard surface using an elastic-elastic tampon.

Pad printing technology is based on transferring ink using a cliche through an elastic silicone pad that follows the curvature of the surface. Due to the low wettability coefficient inherent in silicone, the tampon “repels” many liquids, including paint, and when the tampon comes into contact with other objects, it easily transfers paint to these objects.

Tampon printing allows you to apply an image to almost any type of hard surface (smooth, corrugated materials that do not absorb paint) - plastic, glass, wood, metal. Typically, using pad printing, logos or images are applied to small souvenir products: pens, lighters, key rings, watches, calculators, mugs, ashtrays, key holders, bottle openers, plastic stands or similar products made of plastic, leather and polyethylene, as well as bottle caps, lids of jars, disposable tableware, perfume packaging, various office supplies (mechanical pencils, rulers, knives, business card holders and much more), audio and video cassettes, CDs, instrument cases, perfume packaging.

Pad printing allows you to print in several colors, including CMYK, however, just like in silk-screen printing, color matching is very problematic. The image size is limited by the size of the pad and the cliche. When applying images to products made of metal, glass and ceramics, two- and three-component paints are used to give additional stability, as well as additional heat treatment

Pros: identity of all products in the run, possibility of using Pantone, low cost per print for large runs, printing on curved surfaces

Cons: pre-press process - cliché, adjustment; as a rule, the size of the printed area is small; high cost for small runs

Surfaces for application: glass, plastic, ceramics, wood, metal.
Pages: 64

Series or Issue: Ceramics Lessons
The stunningly illustrated book is a step-by-step course in the school of hand-sculpting.
Crazy good photos as well as detailed comments on them make it possible to determine the suitability of clay for modeling, teach how to effectively prepare and process it, give the ability to go step by step through all the stages of preparing clay dough in order to begin molding all kinds of products: vases, sculptures and abstract forms .
The book is intended for both specialists and wide circle ceramics lovers.

With the help of these instructions you can make your own potter's wheel with adjustable rotation speed.

Making a pottery wheel with your own hands

Step 1. Prepare what you need

So, let's begin. Here is a list of what I used:

10mm drill

A handful of self-tapping screws

Pedal from an old sewing machine

Old drill

Multiple terminals for wiring

Silicone sealant

Carriage bolt and nuts

Rotating tray (I bought mine for 240 rubles)

Extension

Step 2. Drill a hole

This is a very simple procedure as most 5 liter buckets have a raised mark in the center. It is in this place that you need to drill a hole using a 10mm drill bit. Then make a 15mm hole in the bottom quarter of the bucket for the wires.

1. Center

Step 3. Now let's work with the drill

It is at this stage that mistakes can be made. The first thing you need to do is check whether the current and voltage are the same in the two devices that will be the basis of our product. The easiest way to check this is by reading the information on the product tags. Why is this so important? If your pedal is rated for lower amperage, it will overheat and may smoke or even catch fire.

In my case, it works from 25 amperes, and the drill from 2. So there is nothing to worry about.

1. Look how shiny it is.

Step 4. Remaking the plug

First, mark the two center wires with electrical tape. We will connect these wires together later.

1. These two wires are connected internally

Cut off the plug that was connected to sewing machine. As a result, you should have a pedal in one hand and a plug in the other.

Thread all the wires through the hole you drilled into the side of the bucket.

Remember those two wires you labeled? Twist them together and secure with a wiring terminal.

To prevent accidents, I processed the connection silicone sealant. Connect the remaining two wires to the outlet of a waterproof extension cord.

Fix one wire on the copper contact, and the second on the silver one. What to do with the green contact? In my case, it remained unused, since grounding was not provided in the device.

Warning:

Remember that I am not an electrician. The wiring will be placed inside a bucket, where moisture can get in, so it is better to take additional precautions: carefully insulate all splices and connect the ground. I wanted to connect a ground fault system switch, but I was not sure that the device would work correctly with it. But I have an outlet at home with such a switch, and it is to this that I connect my pottery wheel.

Let's continue. It's time to do some testing and make sure everything works correctly. Connect the pedal to the outlet and the drill to the new plug. Pull the drill trigger and apply gentle pressure to the pedal. If nothing happens, check all connections and try again.

Step 5. Making a circle

It's time to take apart my turntable. The tray I used had a raised mark in the center.

The center can also be determined by the location of the rod at the bottom. Drill a hole in the turntable lid.

1. Don't lose this part.

Insert the carriage bolt into the hole so that its head is on top of the cover.

Turning the cover over, you will notice that there is a small gap between the bolt shaft and the surface; it is better to fill it with silicone sealant.

Now you will need two 6mm nuts. Screw one of them onto the bolt and tighten until the head of the bolt is slightly recessed into the tray lid.

And then I ran into a problem: my old drilling device did not have a reverse, which meant that when rotating the nut would loosen. There are several solutions to this problem.

1. use another device.
2. use a bolt and nut with a left-hand thread.
3. figure out how to fix the nut.

I chose the third option. Using a chisel and hammer, I slightly deformed the first tightened nut, then tightened another one, deformed it again, and filled everything with silicone to be sure.

Step 6. Putting all the parts together

At this stage you will have to be creative. You will need to center the drill and attach it to the bottom of the bucket at the desired angle. I was lucky because the kit included a mounting bracket, which made installation much easier. To achieve alignment of the tool with the 6 mm hole that I drilled at the beginning of the work, I used a wedge made from a wooden beam with a section of 50 * 100 mm and several self-tapping screws.

1. Useful find.

Apply a generous amount of silicone to the bottom of the turntable and place it on top of the bucket so that the bolt fits squarely into the drill chuck. Tighten the chuck.

Connect the drill to the pedal plug. Press the trigger all the way and lock it in this position.

Step 7: It's time to have some fun

The device is ready and you can test it in action. After the silicone has dried, unplug the potter's wheel and spray it with water to check for leaks. If water gets inside, you need to seal the cracks with silicone.

Congratulations, you have made a great pottery wheel, now you can try it in action.

Test results.

I used my product for a while. I note that it works excellently, but I can give you some tips for upgrading:

1. It is better to provide a speed limiter in the pedal (this can be a thin strip placed under its cover). Without a limiter, the rotation speed will be too high, which is why the results will not be very good. nice pots, and sometimes the clay completely flies off.

2. I sculpted a complex product, while my device worked continuously for 2 hours. After turning it off, I noticed that the drill got very hot. So now I put a few under the bucket wooden beams. This ensures better air circulation and cooling.

3. You can use a more powerful tool as a basis. Mine works fine, but if you put a lot of clay on the wheel, you can hear that it has a hard time handling the load.

Oct 8, 2017 abraxams

With the help of these instructions you can make your own potter's wheel with adjustable rotation speed.

Making a pottery wheel with your own hands

Step 1. Prepare what you need

So, let's begin. Here is a list of what I used:

10mm drill

A handful of self-tapping screws

Pedal from an old sewing machine

Old drill

Multiple terminals for wiring

Silicone sealant

Carriage bolt and nuts

Rotating tray (I bought mine for 240 rubles)

Extension

Step 2. Drill a hole

This is a very simple procedure as most 5 liter buckets have a raised mark in the center. It is in this place that you need to drill a hole using a 10mm drill bit. Then make a 15mm hole in the bottom quarter of the bucket for the wires.

1. Center

Step 3. Now let's work with the drill

It is at this stage that mistakes can be made. The first thing you need to do is check whether the current and voltage are the same in the two devices that will be the basis of our product. The easiest way to check this is by reading the information on the product tags. Why is this so important? If your pedal is rated for lower amperage, it will overheat and may smoke or even catch fire.

In my case, it works from 25 amperes, and the drill from 2. So there is nothing to worry about.

1. Look how shiny it is.

Step 4. Remaking the plug

First, mark the two center wires with electrical tape. We will connect these wires together later.

1. These two wires are connected internally

Cut off the plug that connected to the sewing machine. As a result, you should have a pedal in one hand and a plug in the other.

Thread all the wires through the hole you drilled into the side of the bucket.

Remember those two wires you labeled? Twist them together and secure with a wiring terminal.

To prevent accidents, I treated the connection with silicone sealant. Connect the remaining two wires to the outlet of a waterproof extension cord.

Fix one wire on the copper contact, and the second on the silver one. What to do with the green contact? In my case, it remained unused, since grounding was not provided in the device.

Warning:

Remember that I am not an electrician. The wiring will be placed inside a bucket, where moisture can get in, so it is better to take additional precautions: carefully insulate all splices and connect the ground. I wanted to connect a ground fault system switch, but I was not sure that the device would work correctly with it. But I have an outlet at home with such a switch, and it is to this that I connect my pottery wheel.

Let's continue. It's time to do some testing and make sure everything works correctly. Connect the pedal to the outlet and the drill to the new plug. Pull the drill trigger and apply gentle pressure to the pedal. If nothing happens, check all connections and try again.

Step 5. Making a circle

It's time to take apart my turntable. The tray I used had a raised mark in the center.

The center can also be determined by the location of the rod at the bottom. Drill a hole in the turntable lid.

1. Don't lose this part.

Insert the carriage bolt into the hole so that its head is on top of the cover.

Turning the cover over, you will notice that there is a small gap between the bolt shaft and the surface; it is better to fill it with silicone sealant.

Now you will need two 6mm nuts. Screw one of them onto the bolt and tighten until the head of the bolt is slightly recessed into the tray lid.

And then I ran into a problem: my old drilling device did not have a reverse, which meant that when rotating the nut would loosen. There are several solutions to this problem.

1. use another device.
2. use a bolt and nut with a left-hand thread.
3. figure out how to fix the nut.

I chose the third option. Using a chisel and hammer, I slightly deformed the first tightened nut, then tightened another one, deformed it again, and filled everything with silicone to be sure.

Step 6. Putting all the parts together

At this stage you will have to be creative. You will need to center the drill and attach it to the bottom of the bucket at the desired angle. I was lucky because the kit included a mounting bracket, which made installation much easier. To achieve alignment of the tool with the 6 mm hole that I drilled at the beginning of the work, I used a wedge made from a wooden beam with a section of 50 * 100 mm and several self-tapping screws.

1. Useful find.

Apply a generous amount of silicone to the bottom of the turntable and place it on top of the bucket so that the bolt fits squarely into the drill chuck. Tighten the chuck.

Connect the drill to the pedal plug. Press the trigger all the way and lock it in this position.

Step 7: It's time to have some fun

The device is ready and you can test it in action. After the silicone has dried, unplug the potter's wheel and spray it with water to check for leaks. If water gets inside, you need to seal the cracks with silicone.

Congratulations, you have made a great pottery wheel, now you can try it in action.

Test results.

I used my product for a while. I note that it works excellently, but I can give you some tips for upgrading:

1. It is better to provide a speed limiter in the pedal (this can be a thin strip placed under its cover). Without a limiter, the rotation speed will be too high, which causes not very good pots, and sometimes the clay will fly off completely.

2. I sculpted a complex product, while my device worked continuously for 2 hours. After turning it off, I noticed that the drill got very hot. So now I place some pieces of wood under the bucket. This ensures better air circulation and cooling.

3. You can use a more powerful tool as a basis. Mine works fine, but if you put a lot of clay on the wheel, you can hear that it has a hard time handling the load.

Oct 8, 2017 abraxams

The principle of operation of a pottery wheel is simple: the circle rotates, the clay placed on it takes on a perfectly round shape. But despite the simplicity of this principle, there are different designs potter's wheels. Let's look at three of them: a simple foot-powered pottery wheel, a Bernard Leach pottery wheel, and a power pottery wheel.

Simple pottery wheel with foot drive

This design is very simple and has been known since ancient times. At the bottom there is a heavy flywheel, which is spun by the master’s foot. Maintaining inertia, the flywheel rotates the shaft connected to the potter's wheel. All these parts are attached to the frame, which in the old days was often a seat-bench.

Potter's wheel by Bernard Leach

This pottery wheel design is more thoughtful and convenient, but it is somewhat more complex than the previous one. It was developed by the English potter Bernard Leach. This pottery wheel went into production in 1962 and was popular among craftsmen.

The structure of this pottery wheel is as follows. The sturdy frame traditionally houses the potter's seat, as in other designs. But the next detail is already arousing interest. The rotating upper disk (on which the product is fixed) is immersed in a special tray. This tray is airtight and collects water and clay well, which would otherwise inevitably clog working space. Drainage hoses are connected to the tray to remove excess contents. This device helps the master keep the workshop clean.

But the greatest convenience of this pottery wheel lies in the features of the foot drive. The potter no longer needs to push the flywheel itself. Here you need to press the pedal with your foot, and it already sets in motion the crank shaft on which the flywheel is attached. The pedal is in the form of a lever and is suspended on a chain. Its position can be adjusted and adjusted to the specific height of the master. The pedal is connected to the crank shaft via a connecting rod.

It should be noted that the weight of the flywheel is regulated by ballast poured into the wheel through special holes. The greater the weight, the longer the circle rotates, but the harder it is to spin it. Therefore, the ability to adjust the weight of the flywheel is very important. The weight of the flywheel here can be selected for specific tasks.

Electric potter's wheel

Modern pottery wheels are often driven by an electric motor. This is convenient and allows the potter to concentrate more on the work rather than on turning the flywheel. You can make such devices yourself, or purchase factory models. The electric drive of pottery wheels can be with a simple belt drive, or with a gearbox that allows you to regulate the rotation speed. There are also pottery wheels in which an electric motor drives the flywheel according to the principle of the foot-driven pottery wheels described above. The most compact design is considered to be direct drive - the potter's wheel disk is connected directly to the motor.

For example, the Japanese-made Shimpo RK-3E pottery wheel was constructed using this technology. With a disc diameter of 350 mm, this machine is capable of delivering up to 250 rpm. The rotation speed is controlled by the pedal. It is also possible to change the direction of rotation of the disk - clockwise or counterclockwise. This pottery wheel has a brushless, non-magnetic motor that provides high torque at high and low speeds. According to the descriptions, electronic circuit This pottery wheel allows you to work at low speed and high load without reducing speed.

As you can see, there are many designs of pottery wheels, although they can be divided into the three main categories described above. However, the principle of their operation is the same - to ensure the turning of bodies of a round, geometrically correct shape using a rotating circle. Different models of pottery wheels only provide different degrees of comfort for the master. But the main success factor here, of course, is the potter’s hands, capable of creating real masterpieces from clay.

At the beginning of the year I decided to make an electric potter's wheel with my own hands. My beloved girlfriend is a ceramicist, first of all I make it for her. I've been wanting to do something interesting for a long time. I haven’t done anything like this for a long time, so I decided to do it. I don’t do it all the time - from time to time, then thinking over and over the principles of design, details... their fastening and functionality. I’ll say right away, el. The circle is quite expensive. Our domestic “Gosh” costs about 15 thousand, and cool Japanese and American circles cost about 40-50 thousand rubles.
The first main part is the electric motor. This turned out to be a big problem. It all depends on the speed of rotation. The potter's wheel should spin in the range of 50 - 300 rpm. For engines this is very low speed. Okay, you need a motor direct current, with a low number of revolutions (up to 1000/min.). Then this number of revolutions per minute can be reduced using gearboxes or a belt drive. Why DC motor? The answer is simple - its power at low speeds practically does not drop. Engines alternating current at low speeds you can stop it with your hand; to achieve the same power it needs to spin up and accelerate. But this is already at 2-3 thousand rpm.... How to reduce them? What mechanical gears should I use? Not easy. This can be done electrically, using a pedal to regulate the frequency of the current... but this is a very expensive solution in terms of equipment. At first, when I didn’t know this, I wanted to adapt this asynchronous motor from washing machine"Little one."

But this is a crazy machine... about 2 thousand revolutions per second. In general, I moved away from this idea in time. As a result of much thought, I settled on the Skill 6222 AB electric screwdriver.

Unlike an electric drill, an electric screwdriver practically does not lose power at low speeds and is much quieter, and in some ways even sounds beautiful. It is equipped with a good DC motor. Power consumption - 450 W. No-load speed - 0 - 300 / 850 rpm. Maximum torque - 27 Nm. You can hardly stop it with your hand at the weakest speeds, and then the hand twists. You can hold the drill without any problems. The rotation speed is regulated by pressing the trigger; subsequently, this will be the basis for regulating the rotation speed of the circle through a foot pedal, which will control the trigger placed outside the screwdriver.
Next a big problem- coaxial rotation of the circle.. it must be strictly centered, it should not dangle or play. How to do it? At first there was an idea to somehow secure a rotating shaft on which the faceplate of the pottery wheel would sit on 2 support bearings. But firstly, this is quite labor-intensive, and secondly, for a long time the thought did not leave me that this could be done much more rationally. I started looking for something similar assembled, and found this monster on the iron market:

This is a saw for sharpening shovel handles. But it is heavy, which means it is inert; the screwdriver will quickly bend. And then I came across a pump (water pump) from some nameless foreign car. This was what we needed! Innate alignment, and even in a protective housing and even with a flange for the faceplate!

The second most important spare part has been found! Next was the search for the necessary pulleys (rollers for the belt drive) and belt. Here are some spare parts:

Components of the faceplate of the circle (disc from the circular saw and stainless steel plate on which the clay will be placed):

Electric screwdriver with pulley, belt, pump, driven pulley, belt 900 mm long.

A bucket (a protected casing for an electric motor), a basin - in order to collect excess water and clay during work. The pump will stick out in the hole in the basin.

And here is the design concept, made to real dimensions in our favorite modo. They helped me a lot in designing and thinking through what goes where:

There is still one more important spare part missing, connecting the pump to the driven pulley (which is black). I will order this one from the guys from the factory where I used to work as a designer, they will file it down). This is what it should look like:

And here is the already assembled electric motor with a pulley and fastening equipment (the rims are the fasteners that secure the pipes to the wall of the house, the rest is pieces of iron assembled from the bottom).

The next task: to make a pedal that presses the remote trigger, providing for the possibility of smoothly changing the speed mechanically (by pressing the pedal).
I'll write about the progress here. Thanks for reading and watching all of this! =)