Gordon Ward on fri 19 aug 05
No, I'm not talking about throwing while intoxicated.
Many of you have tried altering your wheel height, but I thought it
worth another mention.
I just raised one of our wheels so that the wheel head is 39" above the
floor - about navel height on me. We had tried 34" and that seems good
too, except for trimming - too much hunching over. 39" looked awfully
high, but I just tried it, throwing some 1 1/2 lb. bowls, then 8 lbs. -
no problem and my back absolutely loves it. I think you use your
abs more since you can't brace against knees, etc. That's good for
your back too.
You might be surprised what a trip throwing high is...
Gordon
P.S. Put the foot pedal on a hand accessible surface and forget
adjusting the speed with your foot. If you have a Shimpo RK, you
already have a built in hand control.
David Hendley on fri 19 aug 05
Actually, Gordon, the best way to throw high is to lean against something
rather than stand. It's much more relaxing for your legs, you don't use
your muscles as much, and you still have the use of one foot to control
your speed.
You can just situate your wheel so you can lean against a shelf or wall,
or you can build a special padded "lean-to".
To see John Glick's set-up look at this 1987 article from Studio Potter:
http://www.studiopotter.org/articles/?art=art0008
David Hendley
I don't know nothin' but the blues, cobalt that is.
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
----- Original Message -----
> I just raised one of our wheels so that the wheel head is 39" above the
> floor - about navel height on me. We had tried 34" and that seems good
> too, except for trimming - too much hunching over. 39" looked awfully
> high, but I just tried it, throwing some 1 1/2 lb. bowls, then 8 lbs. -
> no problem and my back absolutely loves it. I think you use your
> abs more since you can't brace against knees, etc. That's good for
> your back too.
>
> You might be surprised what a trip throwing high is...
>
> Gordon
>
> P.S. Put the foot pedal on a hand accessible surface and forget
> adjusting the speed with your foot. If you have a Shimpo RK, you
> already have a built in hand control.
John Jensen on sat 20 aug 05
David always has good advice, so I'd take his seriously. I also throw
standing up and have done so for quite a few years. I built my set up so
that I would have a place to lean, but I found I never used it. I tend to
lean in to the work to center and stand sort of neutral when doing other
operations. Maybe I just never gave the backrest enough of a chance, but I
never missed it. Maybe I'm not "laid-back" enough.
John Jensen, Mudbug Pottery
John Jensen@mudbugpottery.com
http://www.toadhouse.com www://www.mudbugpottery.com
-----Original Message-----
From: David Hendley
Subject: Re: throwing high
Actually, Gordon, the best way to throw high is to lean against something
rather than stand. It's much more relaxing for your legs, you don't use
your muscles as much, and you still have the use of one foot to control
your speed.
You can just situate your wheel so you can lean against a shelf or wall,
or you can build a special padded "lean-to".
To see John Glick's set-up look at this 1987 article from Studio Potter:
http://www.studiopotter.org/articles/?art=art0008
David Hendley
I don't know nothin' but the blues, cobalt that is.
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
Gordon Ward on sat 20 aug 05
Hi David,
Thanks for your response. I will hazard a guess that you use the "John
Glick Method".
I've experimented a bit. I remembered that Studio Potter article by
John Glick and have tried using the foot control while leaning and
throwing, but I found that I prefer to stand with my back aligned, and
my weight more evenly distributed between both legs. I can feel free
to take any stance that seems appropriate to what I am doing, whether
it be for centering, pulling up, finishing the rim, or taking a step
back to have a look. I admit that I never built a brace like John
Glick's. Perhaps I will give it a shot. I have a friend who uses
something like his set-up and is quite happy with it. Maybe I can try
his some time. I can imagine that pushing off of a solid back brace
could have some advantages in certain stages.
As far as the speed control goes, I find I don't really need too many
speed changes. Usually about 3 on a small to medium sized piece. I
initially discovered this in 1975 from throwing on a friend's wheel
built from a standard transmission and washing machine motor, like the
one Vince described in one of his columns. I really like taking that
extra half second and making a conscious decision as to what is the
perfect speed for a particular throwing step. I have noticed that the
tendency with the foot pedal, especially for beginners, is to go too
fast, and the decision for proper speed is secondary when it probably
should be primary. I find it very freeing to first make the speed
decision, then concentrate on throwing. In fact if you teach throwing,
standing or not, a student should start by controlling speed by hand.
They will learn about wheel head speed much faster.
If you can kick the foot pedal habit, you won't be so dependent upon a
back brace. It's really worth a try if you haven't. You may end up
with the best of both worlds, making the use of a brace just an option,
not a necessity.
Gordon
On Aug 19, 2005, at 4:57 PM, David Hendley wrote:
> Actually, Gordon, the best way to throw high is to lean against
> something
> rather than stand. It's much more relaxing for your legs, you don't use
> your muscles as much, and you still have the use of one foot to control
> your speed.
>
> You can just situate your wheel so you can lean against a shelf or
> wall,
> or you can build a special padded "lean-to".
> To see John Glick's set-up look at this 1987 article from Studio
> Potter:
> http://www.studiopotter.org/articles/?art=art0008
>
> David Hendley
> I don't know nothin' but the blues, cobalt that is.
> david@farmpots.com
> http://www.farmpots.com
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