Eric Olson on tue 11 apr 00
------------------
(snip)
=3Ewhat is the recommended height for a wedging table?
(snip again)
=3Eso what can I do?? stand on a small stool at workshops??
but my major concern is at my studio....I have a lot of clay that has been
sitting for quite a while and I know I need to wedge it before
using it......what I am doing now...is not working too well and it is time
for a wedging table
Beth,
I have had a similar problem, but mine is because I am tall. I was always
stooping over to wedge. Then I built my own table, and took the advice of a
friend who said that the table should be about as tall as your wrist, while
your arm hangs at your side. It worked, and is much more comfortable.
Another solution may be to get a pugmill. I throw a lot of forms using a =
set
amount of clay, so I made wood frames out of 2=22x2=22 boards, and strung =
wire
between them at whatever interval I needed for the pots I am throwing that =
day.
Sort of like a big multi-slice cheese slicer. I can then slice 8 or 10 =
pieces
at a time, ready to put right on the wheel, with no wedging. I still wedge =
if I
am making larger pieces. You have to figure out what size to cut form the =
pug
for each weight required, but this is pretty easy.
Hope this helps.
Eric
mel jacobson on tue 11 apr 00
it is obvious that each body that makes clay if different.
no wheel fits all.
each potter is obliged to make all things
in their studio special to fit themselves.
it is just common sense. it takes a great effort.
when my wife started calligraphy, my bother and i built
her tables, drawing tables, all the perfect height for her.
she likes it a great deal.
one size fits all is bullship.
mel/mn
minnetonka, minnesota, u.s.a
http://www.pclink.com/melpots (website)
John Rodgers on wed 12 apr 00
When I built my moldmaking table I wanted portability, so I made it with removab
legs. Turns out that because of the removable feature, there is also an adjustab
feature as well, mostly for leveling, but it introduces possibilities.
For legs I used 2-1/2 inch black iron pipe threaded on one end. I anchored 2-1/2
pipe flanges at the corners of the table, then screwed the threaded end of the p
into the flanges. For minor uneveness a leg can be screwed out to make it sit st
or level the table. To set the height of the table up or down, different lengths
pipe can be used. I put rubber pipe caps over the ends of the pipe to serve as f
and protect the floor. Works great.
John Rodgers
Birmingham, AL
Eric Olson wrote:
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> ------------------
> (snip)
> >what is the recommended height for a wedging table?
> (snip again)
> >so what can I do?? stand on a small stool at workshops??
> but my major concern is at my studio....I have a lot of clay that has been
> sitting for quite a while and I know I need to wedge it before
> using it......what I am doing now...is not working too well and it is time
> for a wedging table
>
> Beth,
> I have had a similar problem, but mine is because I am tall. I was always
> stooping over to wedge. Then I built my own table, and took the advice of a
> friend who said that the table should be about as tall as your wrist, while
> your arm hangs at your side. It worked, and is much more comfortable.
> Another solution may be to get a pugmill. I throw a lot of forms using a set
> amount of clay, so I made wood frames out of 2"x2" boards, and strung wire
> between them at whatever interval I needed for the pots I am throwing that day
> Sort of like a big multi-slice cheese slicer. I can then slice 8 or 10 pieces
> at a time, ready to put right on the wheel, with no wedging. I still wedge if
> am making larger pieces. You have to figure out what size to cut form the pug
> for each weight required, but this is pretty easy.
> Hope this helps.
>
> Eric
Lee Love on wed 12 apr 00
The platform is sit on to turn the kickwheel, wedge on and just about
everything else is made of cryptomaria (japanese cedar) and is 20.5" tall.
I've never wedged so low before, but your can really get your weight into
the clay at this height. We put a plywood board on the platform before we
wedge.
--
Lee Love
2858-2-2 , Nanai , Mashiko-machi ,Tochigi-ken 321-4106
JAPAN Ikiru@kami.com
Allyson May on tue 6 apr 04
I think this may have been discussed on the list but I have been unable =
to find the answer in my search of the archives. I have just returned =
from the doctor with a diagnosis of tendonitis (both lateral and medial) =
of both elbows. I am really surprised at the amount of pain it =
produces! The doc says that she believes my wedging table may be too =
high and aggravating my elbows. Does anyone know how high or low the =
table should be?
Peace
Allyson May
Stoney Creek Pottery
Bloomington, Indiana
sdr on tue 6 apr 04
<<<<<<.....doc says that she believes my wedging table
may be too high and aggravating my elbows.
Does anyone know how high or low the table should be?>>>>>
In my experience and observation, the best
wedging tables begin just below waist height
and slope AWAY from the wedger at about
a 45º angle. That way your wrists stay straight,
your elbows are stressed much less, and it is
the least damaging way to wedge.
regards
Dannon Rhudy
Craig Dunn Clark on tue 6 apr 04
Allyson, I don't know that there is a formula per se but I was taught
and practice the adage that the "ideal" height for a persons work
surface-wedging table in this case- is when you are standing up straight
with your arms hanging at your sides. The height of the table should
conicide with the height of the knuckles of your slightly clenched fist.
Just stand next to a horizontal surface and mark the spot that is best for
you.
When wedging, or kneading as the case may be, try and keep yourself
above the clay and use your body as much as you are able versus just your
arms and shoulders. Try and make it a "whole Body" type of activity. Don't
try and wedge too much at a time. If the pain continues or is exacerbated
STOP. Things will only get worse.
There are apparantely a goodly number of folks out there who don't wedge
much at all. The clay coming out of the bags has been deaired. You can do
some intial wedging to "align the clay particles" (I don't know if this
actually happerns but it sounds good) by coning the clay up and down on the
wheel head as you center. I believe some folks call this wheel wedging.
If you have a few thousand extra dollars you can get yourself one of
those handy dandy de-airing pug mills and you will never have to wedge
again. THe smaller versions to which I refer fit right on your bench top and
cost about $2500 or so. The larger ones, which process much more clay, begin
at about a thousand dollars more and go up from there. If you are
mechanically inclined and have a nice metal shop at your disposal you can
build your own. Vince Pitelka has a nice set of plans that you can get from
him.
For those of us who for some strange reason actually enjoy the activity
of wedging clay we can only hope to mitigate the deterioration of joints,
tendons, sockets and muscles tissue as the years take their toll. ALways
thought that basic stretching would help but now the sports doctors are
saying that this isn't the case. Good food? Drinking plenty of water?
Moderate excercise? I still believe, though I have no empirical evidence
with which to substantiate this claim other than annecdotal, that swimming
is a very good way to keep things in working order over the long haul.
Moderation and low impact is the key. Don't force anything. Just let things
flow. All movements nice and graceful.
Hope this helps
Craig Dunn Clark
619 East 11 1/2 st
Houston, Texas 77008
(713)861-2083
mudman@hal-pc.org
----- Original Message -----
From: "Allyson May"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 5:50 AM
Subject: Wedging Table Height
I think this may have been discussed on the list but I have been unable to
find the answer in my search of the archives. I have just returned from the
doctor with a diagnosis of tendonitis (both lateral and medial) of both
elbows. I am really surprised at the amount of pain it produces! The doc
says that she believes my wedging table may be too high and aggravating my
elbows. Does anyone know how high or low the table should be?
Peace
Allyson May
Stoney Creek Pottery
Bloomington, Indiana
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Cl Litman on tue 6 apr 04
I was told to have the height equal to where your knuckles fall when you
stand with your fist at your side. Also to tilt it back a bit away from
you.
Cheryl Litman - Somerset, NJ
cheryllitman@juno.com
On Tue, 6 Apr 2004 05:50:39 -0500 Allyson May writes:
> I think this may have been discussed on the list but I have been
> unable =
> to find the answer in my search of the archives. I have just
> returned =
> from the doctor with a diagnosis of tendonitis (both lateral and
> medial) =
> of both elbows. I am really surprised at the amount of pain it =
> produces! The doc says that she believes my wedging table may be
> too =
> high and aggravating my elbows. Does anyone know how high or low
> the =
> table should be?
> Peace
> Allyson May
> Stoney Creek Pottery
> Bloomington, Indiana
John Jensen on tue 6 apr 04
Craig's advice seems generally good. I'd like to add a bit of my
perspective:
I got the suggestion from a Daniel Rhodes book, that the height of the
wedging table should be at such a height that your knuckles will brush
the surface from you hanging arms. I've tried that and in my experience
that is a height which is a strain on my back. I like the wedging
surface to be about six inches higher. When the table is lower, I do
adjust by bending my knees a lot and try to keep my back straight. I
can put one leg under the table to get my center of gravity as close to
the works as possible; then rock back and forth as I wedge, using my
body weight but keeping my back vertical.
One suggestion I've read is to incline your wedging surface about ten
degrees away from you, to relieve the angle on the wrists.
My wrists are very sensitive to abuse and the one thing that really
makes a big difference is to make sure the clay is soft. If you are
getting it out of bags, that can be a big problem because to make it
soft you have to do a lot of wedgeing. By mixing up the hard clay with
soft recycle you can spend some worthwhile time with little strain on
the wrists and when you get to the actual kneading part you have very
soft clay to work with.
I used to love wedging for some bizarre reason; but since my wrists
have shown vulnerability, it is just an area I have to deal with as
carefully as possible. Whatever I have to do to keep the clay soft is
what I do.
I bought a pugmill six years ago and has been a salvation to me...well
worth the $2000 or so dollars. But at the school where I teach we have
no pugmill and I have to do a certain amount of clay wedging there.
All it takes is one bag of too hard clay to put my wrists in pain for
a week. Easy does it and the turtle beats the rabbit.
John Jensen, Mudbug Pottery
mudbug@toadhouse.com , http://www.toadhouse.com
pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on tue 6 apr 04
Hi Alyson,
My guess...
...about the height at which the knuckles of your hand would
be...(not of your
fingers, but of your hand).
Phil
elve
----- Original Message -----
From: "Allyson May"
I think this may have been discussed on the list but I have
been unable to find the answer in my search of the archives.
I have just returned from the doctor with a diagnosis of
tendonitis (both lateral and medial) of both elbows. I am
really surprised at the amount of pain it produces! The doc
says that she believes my wedging table may be too high and
aggravating my elbows. Does anyone know how high or low the
table should be?
Peace
Allyson May
Stoney Creek Pottery
Bloomington, Indiana
Michael Wendt on tue 6 apr 04
Allyson ,
Do you knead like bread or do you actually wedge by
cutting the pieces, stacking them and slamming them
onto the table?
Yesterday, Stephanie Stephenson quoted some information
from the whiteware institute about clay uniformity and
its role in the problems of cracking and warping.
Wire wedging by stacking and slamming 30 doublings
creates over 1 billion layers and is very easy on the arms,
wrists and hands. That is how I have done it for over
39 years and things rarely crack or warp either.
Now I think I know why.
Regards,
Michael Wendt
Wendt Pottery
2729 Clearwater Ave
Lewiston, ID 83501
wendtpot@lewiston.com
www.wendtpottery.com
You wrote:
! The doc says that she believes my wedging table may be too high and
aggravating my elbows. Does anyone know how high or low the table should
be?
Peace
Allyson May
Vince Pitelka on tue 6 apr 04
Allyson -
When you are standing next to your wedging table, with your arm hanging
relaxed at your side and your fingers curling in a relaxed closed-hand
position, your knuckles should just touch the top of your wedging table.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
Sandy Henderson on wed 7 apr 04
Dear Dannon,
I am ignorant but very intrigued by the idea of a sloping wedging table --=
but a 45
degree angle seems extreme. Won't the clay roll down and out of your reach=
?
Sandy Henderson
> Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2004 07:25:08 -0500
> From: sdr
> Subject: Re: Wedging Table Height
>
. . .
> In my experience and observation, the best
> wedging tables begin just below waist height
> and slope AWAY from the wedger at about
> a 45=BA angle. That way your wrists stay straight,
> your elbows are stressed much less, and it is
> the least damaging way to wedge.
>
> regards
>
> Dannon Rhudy
Ivor and Olive Lewis on wed 7 apr 04
Dear Allyson May
The classic equation is that the height of the surface of a wedging
table above floor level should be equal to or slightly less than the
distance from your bent fingers to the ground when your arms are by
your side as you stand erect.
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis. Redhill, South Australia
mjd2361 on wed 7 apr 04
Allyson,
I just built a huge wedging table mounted on cinderblocks... only to
find out later it should be at wrist or finger height!!! (It is about
waist high; I was copying the table at my old studio that must have
been to high for me, too.) I decided that lowering the table is
impossible right now (200+ lbs of plaster!). Because I don't want any
wrist trouble to start, I thought of a cheap, quick fix: On the floor
under the table, I keep one half-thickness cinder block and one full-
size cinder block. Now, depending on how much clay I'm wedging, I can
stand on a little platform! I stand on the floor for 1-2 lb wedgings;
up to about 5 lbs, the small block, and If I have 5+ lbs, I can stand
on the full size cinder block and use my body weight. I used de-aired
clay; someone posted that it doesn't need to be wedged, BUT... when
was clay "out of the bag" just right to use? It is always too wet to
start. The purpose of wedging de-aired clay is to distribute the
moisture into the clay and into the plaster until it is dry enough
for your purposes.
Also, to prevent injury, I never do the same thing day in, day out. I
will wedge a bunch of clay and wrap it; throw one day, make tiles the
next, hand-build, wedge some more, mix glazes, yell at suppliers...
there is always TONS to do in a studio and I think sticking to one
repetitive task day after day is a recipe for physical trouble!
Good luck!!!
Melissa Jeswald Dec
Melissa's Clay Designs
So Cold My Crocuses Croaked in MA
Lee Love on wed 7 apr 04
Allyson,
I wedge at my wheel platform, which is very low (lower than my
29" inseam.) I think it helps you use gravity to wedge on a lower
surface. But with tendonitis, I would recommend using as soft a clay
as you can manage to throw. Soft clay is kind to the body. If you
don't have a pug mill, you can wrap your clay in a wet towl and then
put it back in the bag and seal it. Usually, overnight is long enough.
Good luck,
lee in Mashiko
surf with lee http://hachiko.com
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