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motorized banding wheel

updated thu 3 feb 05

 

David Hendley on mon 31 jan 05


Unless you are making some pretty big pots, I think you could use a
toy potter's wheel as a motorized banding wheel.
There have been a couple of these manufactured. The one I have
(from Goodwill, for $3) has a 10 inch (I think) diameter plastic
wheelhead. It is truly variable speed, but it is not really usable as
a potter's wheel because there is almost no torque at slow speeds.
But that is OK for a banding wheel. The speed is adjusted by a
knob on the body.

I also think you could use an old record player - it would not be
variable speed, but you have a lot of choices with 16, 33, 45, and
78 RPM. Old portable ones are plenty heavy, in cloth-covered
plywood cabinets which could be screwed to your floor.

Both of these might require some sort of baffle or cover to protect
the motor from over-spray.
Of course, you could build something better, but these are ready-made
and would cost next-to-nothing, and might be a good way to see
how you really liked using a motorized banding wheel.
A rotisserie motor form a gas grill turns too slow for a banding
wheel, unless you added pulleys to increase the speed.

David Hendley
Working hard to make sure there is no mug left behind
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com




----- Original Message -----
> I have begun spraying almost all of my glazes. Built the spray booth (vent
fan, lights, filters the full works) and it works great. But I get tired of
spinning the banding wheel by hand while spraying. I'm considering making
some kind of motorized banding wheel so my hand won't get tired and I would
have a more consistent speed.
>

Gene Arnold on mon 31 jan 05


I have begun spraying almost all of my glazes. Built the spray booth =
(vent fan, lights, filters the full works) and it works great. But I get =
tired of spinning the banding wheel by hand while spraying. I'm =
considering making some kind of motorized banding wheel so my hand won't =
get tired and I would have a more consistent speed.

I have thought of using an old rotisserie motor form a gas grill, but =
would like to use something with a variable speed motor.

Have any of you built a motorized banding wheel for your spray booth if =
so what kind of drive motor did you use???

The floor of my spray booth is 3/4 plywood, so drilling a hole and =
mounting the drive motor under the booth and letting the drive shaft =
come up through the bottom would be no problem.


Gene & Latonna
mudduck@mudduckpottery.com
www.mudduckpottery.com

joe shaw on mon 31 jan 05


We know a slip caster who built one using an old sewing machine
motor. Works great, variable speeds.

Rita Shaw


>Have any of you built a motorized banding wheel for your spray booth
>if so what kind of drive motor did you use???
>
>The floor of my spray booth is 3/4 plywood, so drilling a hole and
>mounting the drive motor under the booth and letting the drive shaft
>come up through the bottom would be no problem.
>
>
>Gene & Latonna
>mudduck@mudduckpottery.com
>www.mudduckpottery.com

Vince Pitelka on mon 31 jan 05


Gene and/or Latonna wrote:
"I have begun spraying almost all of my glazes. Built the spray booth (vent
fan, lights, filters the full works) and it works great. But I get tired of
spinning the banding wheel by hand while spraying. I'm considering making
some kind of motorized banding wheel so my hand won't get tired and I would
have a more consistent speed."

Gene -
You don't need much power for what you are doing, so one simple solution
would be to use a sewing machine motor with the foot-pedal rheostat. Mount
two 1/2" pillow-block bearings a vertical wood bracket under your spray
booth, with a 1/2" shaft coming up through a hole into the spray booth. Go
to an industrial supplier and get a small chain sprocket, say 3" or 4" in
diameter. Drill some 1/4" holes just inside the rim of the sprocket, turn
it upside down centered on a plywood or MDF disk and mark the holes, drill
and countersink the holes in the disk, and use flat-head machine screws to
bolt the disk to the sprocket. Mount it to the top of the half-inch shaft.
At the lower end of the shaft, mount a big pulley, and then mount the sewing
machine motor on a hinged bracket, with a spring to maintain belt tension.
Use a big O-ring as a drive belt.

The construction of this device will involve a lot of work. How much do you
value your labor? I just wrote a two-column series on banding wheels (yes,
there is that much to say about banding wheels) for my Tooltimes column in
Claytimes Magazine, and for those needing a variable-speed motorized banding
wheel, I recommend the Creative Industries "Artista" potter's wheel. It
only costs $350, and it is a little beauty. It is a real potter's wheel,
but is a tabletop model, very compact. And if you wish, you can get a leg
set for it.
Good luck -
- 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/

Catherine Yassin on tue 1 feb 05


In a message dated 1/31/2005 4:29:07 PM Central Standard Time,
mudduck@ADVI.NET writes:
I have begun spraying almost all of my glazes. Built the spray booth (vent
fan, lights, filters the full works) and it works great. But I get tired of
spinning the banding wheel by hand while spraying. I'm considering making some
kind of motorized banding wheel so my hand won't get tired and I would have a
more consistent speed.

I don't know if anyone suggested this already, but Roger Allen from the
Chicken Farm Art Center uses an old record player. You know... one of those things
before the CD's. He removes the center spindle thing. The speeds are
adjustable, 45's and the other kind, lol.

-Cat Yassin
San Antonio

baxleypottery@netzero.net on wed 2 feb 05


Toys "R" Us sells a rather cheap plastic "potters wheel" for kids. It is small and motorized. It even has rings on the wheel head to help center. I think it is about $24.00.

I use a Shimpo banding wheel and it spins a very long time with out touching it. It was about $80.00 at www.brackers.com. I had a cheap $10.00 one, and it would not spin unless it kept my had on it. The Shimpo banding wheel made all of the differance for me! If you are using a cheap banding wheel, I suggest skipping the motorized part and try a high end banding wheel like Shimpo or Laguna.

Good Luck!
Michael Baxley
Kansas City

Mildred Herot on wed 2 feb 05


Hi: My husband built a spray booth for me and used an old record player as
a turntable. It works well but does not have a variable speed. Frankly,
the speed it does have is fine for me and I have been using it for several
years......Mildred Herot
----- Original Message -----
From: "Catherine Yassin"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2005 5:44 PM
Subject: Re: motorized banding wheel


> In a message dated 1/31/2005 4:29:07 PM Central Standard Time,
> mudduck@ADVI.NET writes:
> I have begun spraying almost all of my glazes. Built the spray booth (vent
> fan, lights, filters the full works) and it works great. But I get tired
> of
> spinning the banding wheel by hand while spraying. I'm considering making
> some
> kind of motorized banding wheel so my hand won't get tired and I would
> have a
> more consistent speed.
>
> I don't know if anyone suggested this already, but Roger Allen from the
> Chicken Farm Art Center uses an old record player. You know... one of
> those things
> before the CD's. He removes the center spindle thing. The speeds are
> adjustable, 45's and the other kind, lol.
>
> -Cat Yassin
> San Antonio
>
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