Wheel with lugs on it

Anne: I found your post amazing, as I have never seen or used a wheel without bat pins (what you called "lugs"), and I have thrown on some truly ancient wheels. Didn't know it could be done! Can you give me more of a description of what you termed "clay chucks" and how they hold a bat to the wheelhead? I would like to experiment with it.

You might consider yet another option to removing the pins. Measure the thickness of your existing bats, and then the height of the pin from the top of the wheelhead to the top of the pin (pin installed, of course in the wheelhead). You might be able to file or have the bat pins cut or ground down to a height just below the top of the bat (so that the bat pin doesn't stick out of the bat.) If you have different thicknesses of bats, you should probably select one of the thinner ones, so that the pins height when installed will then fit any of them without a problem. You mentioned that the pins thread into the wheel head. If you use both very thick and very thin bats, you might want to replace the bat pins with pieces of threaded rod, so that the height of the pins can easily be adjusted up or down to accomodate the bat you plan to use. (Some potters throw with both thick bats for large stoneware vessels, and very thin bats for lighter delicate porcelain pieces.) A metal saw can cut a slot across the top of the new threaded pin so that adjustment is then a simple matter with a screwdriver.

The "precise machining" you mentioned is an easy matter. Center the bat on the wheel (as close as you can get it, you might want to use bits of clay under to stabilize it) with the pins installed. Rotate the wheel until you are satisfied with the centering of the bat. Then stop the wheel, and with a small hammer, tap directly over each of the pins. In a plastic, masonite or wood bat, this will leave an impression you can use to drill the proper size hole with. Or use the method below:

If it is a metal bat, cement or plaster, center as above, but use enough clay so that the bat sits slightly above the pins, which you have previously coated the top of with red crayon or lipstick. Pressing down on the bat will transfer the color to the bat bottom and you can proceed from there to drill the holes you need.

I use this procedure every time I need to make new bats. I mostly use marine plywood that I cut out myself. That being a common material here, I can usually find scraps at the local boatyards for free, and free is good :>)

Hope that helps, Wayne in Key West

i agree with Wayne. the last time i saw a wheel head without at least the holes to accomodate the lugs was in my high school ceramics class (a while ago!). my guess is that, if you choose not to use the lugs then the holds will not impede throwing; if so, a silicone filler would be good in case you change you mind in the future and want to use the lugs.

i know a lot of people swear by more traditional bat systems, e.g., plaster stuck with some water/clay, but i find that the "lug system" with my masonite bats saves me a ton of time.

good luck.

eric

I'm not Anne, but you can throw a "pancake" of clay right on the wheelhead and seat your bat on that. There's no need to fill in holes whether or not you use a bat, but if you want, you can fill them in with a bit of clay.

Deb R.

Thanks for the detailed assistance on the bats.

The "pancake" that Deborah refers to is what I mean by the chuck, a flat "plate" of clay thrown initially to hold the bat to the wheel head. Pinless wheel heads in teaching/non-production studios appear to be the norm in Australia/New Zealand.

Thanks Anne

Now I'm gonna be the one asking advice. Of what material is the bat you are using with the clay chuck? I tried it with one of my plastic bats, and zing! off it went (scared the "clay" out of Lumpita the cat, too :>) The clay pancake stayed on, though. Rather amusing... How sloppy should the clay be, throwing consistency or drier? Or maybe this would be best done with wood bats? Wayne

The pancake has to have a couple of "ruts" in it made with a finger. After positioning the bat in the centre on the clay you stop the wheel and give it a thump in the middle. The air trapped in the rings creates a suction that will hold the bat on. Alternatively you just throw a bottomless ring which has the same effect but uses less clay. The clay is of normal throwing consistency. I have only used wooden bats.

Anne

Anne: I thank you, and Lumpita the cat thanks you. No more flying bats :>) I am loathe to give up my plastic bats, though. I'm going to try your method as an excuse not to have to drill more holes in the next set of wood bats. (When my wood bats start to delaminate, I put them aside. When I have enough, I use them for a wood firing.)

Wayne in Key West

"Anne Mossman" primos.com.au> wrote in news:ET6Sa.3633$ snipped-for-privacy@news-server.bigpond.net.au:

The advantage of having pins in your wheelhead is that bats and the attached pot can be taken on and off the wheel for further work and additions or trimming at anytime.The bat is automatically centred again

The disadvantages of laying down a pancake of clay are

Most of the time it is impossible to get the pancake absolutley flat and the bat is on an angle from horizontal

It is nearly impossible to replace the bat back on the wheelhead to do extra work or trim at the same centre as it was before.

The bat can leave the clay pancake while the pot is being thrown.

If your bats are a bit wet they won't stick to the clay

Talisman Wheels in New Zealand also produce a large hollow wheel head where the bat drops down into it and is held by projections around the side

Regards

JW

I'd rib the surface of the clay "pancake" first. The bats I use are all masonite.

Deb R.