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grinding/polishing flat bottom of porcelain foot ring

updated sun 23 oct 05

 

Michael Wendt on tue 18 oct 05


Tony,
We have a 6" x 48" belt sander with a 12" disk and I got a bunch of silicon
carbide belts from the Supergrit Abrasives web site for about $5.00 each.
You can polish the bottom to perfection with one of these and even remove
glaze drips.
Regards,
Michael Wendt
Wendt Pottery
2729 Clearwater Ave
Lewiston, Idaho 83501
USA
wendtpot@lewiston.com
www.wendtpottery.com

claybair on tue 18 oct 05


Tony,
I use a bench grinder stone in my Giffin grip for my stoneware pieces.
I don't see why you couldn't use one of the Norton grinding wheels for the
porcelain.
I have space issues so I came up with this idea and it works great!
Depending on the size of the foot you can place the entire surface on the
stone.
I also wet the stone so there is less dust flying.

Gayle Bair
Bainbridge Island, WA
Tucson, AZ
http://claybair.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of Rick Hamelin
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 11:30 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Grinding/polishing flat bottom of porcelain foot ring


Hi Tony,
I have sold several large grinding wheels to a few folks here on ClayArt. I
use them to smooth grind my shelves. These Norton Stones were made for
grinding marble and cut quite nicely. $30 a piece is what I get for them,
plus UPS.
Rick



I am wondering if someone has found the ultimate bottom of pot/foot ring
grinding device that will grind it flat without chipping away the edges. I
have a bench grinder and diamond disk on my 4" grinder and they work but I
need something that works better. Parts of the foot will pluck or chip away
sometimes and so if anyone has ideas, I'm all ears.



Tony Ferguson






Tony Ferguson
...where the sky meets the lake...
Duluth, Minnesota
Artist, Educator, Web Meister
fergyart@yahoo.com
fergy@cpinternet.com
(218) 727-6339
http://www.aquariusartgallery.com
http://www.tonyferguson.net

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Victoria E. Hamilton on tue 18 oct 05


Tony,

Have you tried emory cloth? Do as much with the diamond disk as you can and
then finish it off with emory cloth. Also, I think it may depend on the mix
of your porcelain body.

Vicki Hamilton
Millennia Antica Pottery
Seattle, WA

-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Tony Ferguson
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 08:18
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Grinding/polishing flat bottom of porcelain foot ring

Hi,



I am wondering if someone has found the ultimate bottom of pot/foot ring
grinding device that will grind it flat without chipping away the edges. I
have a bench grinder and diamond disk on my 4" grinder and they work but I
need something that works better. Parts of the foot will pluck or chip away
sometimes and so if anyone has ideas, I'm all ears.



Tony Ferguson






Tony Ferguson
...where the sky meets the lake...
Duluth, Minnesota
Artist, Educator, Web Meister
fergyart@yahoo.com
fergy@cpinternet.com
(218) 727-6339
http://www.aquariusartgallery.com
http://www.tonyferguson.net

---------------------------------
Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.

____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org

You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.

Tony Ferguson on wed 19 oct 05


Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I think the lapidary device, as I am dealing with not only glaze, including crystal matts glazes, but ash glaze drips appears to be maybe what I need. I might check into the a few of the other less expensive devices suggested first, however. Thanks everyone!!



Tony Ferguson





Tony Ferguson
...where the sky meets the lake...
Duluth, Minnesota
Artist, Educator, Web Meister
fergyart@yahoo.com
fergy@cpinternet.com
(218) 727-6339
http://www.aquariusartgallery.com
http://www.tonyferguson.net

---------------------------------
Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.

Donna J.S. Causland on wed 19 oct 05


Hi Tony,
I use a hand held die grinder with a diamond bit in addition to the bench
grinder.
Donna

>
>
> I am wondering if someone has found the ultimate bottom of pot/foot ring
> grinding device that will grind it flat without chipping away the edges.
> I have a bench grinder and diamond disk on my 4" grinder and they work but
> I need something that works better. Parts of the foot will pluck or chip
> away sometimes and so if anyone has ideas, I'm all ears.
>
>
>
> Tony Ferguson

Ron Roy on wed 19 oct 05


If you use a flap wheel be sure to do it outside and wear a mask - I can't
think of a better way to get fine silica (and maybe cristobalite) into your
lungs.

I do mine on the wheel using a knife sharpening stone (the softer kind with
a handle) and keep the stone and the pot wet. This works particularly well
with rounded foot ring bottoms as the stone wears down and will fit the
contour of the foot.

No dust is always my choice now.

RR


Ron Roy
RR#4
15084 Little Lake Road
Brighton, Ontario
Canada
K0K 1H0
Phone: 613-475-9544
Fax: 613-475-3513

pdp1@EARTHLINK.NET on thu 20 oct 05


Hi Vince, all,


Prolly a sheet Copper or annealed Brass disc on the Potter's Wheel Head,
with the powdered Carborundum-Water slurry, would work similarly well...and
even be somewhat De-Luxe in it's way.

Too, a flat disc of some kind, or a smooth flat Bat, to which Silicon
Carbide Abrasive Paper ( "wet-'n'-dry") had been glued, some toothy grit of
it anyway, with the Bat or disc of course fitted to one's Wheel Head, then
with Soapy Water dribbled on it, and run at some medium speed, would also do
fairly well...

In fact, if it were me, I'd probably do that, and have the disc large enough
so two sheets would cover it. Maybe 14 or 16 inches, say. Otherwise, the
sheets being 8-1/2 X 11, would either make for a little bump...bump...on the
two short sides of the otherwise periphery, or make for an 8-1/2 inch
diameter disc...

I used to think of making these as a product, but I did not expect there to
be very much interest...given they would be so easy for one to make for
one's self.


"3-M Super 77" is a pretty good aerosol adhesive for something like that,
and comes loose with Turpentine for re-dos.


Phil
el v

----- Original Message -----
From: "Vince Pitelka"

> As far as I know, the ultimate piece of equipment for this is a horizontal
> lapping grinder, as is used by commercial glass shops that do window and
> auto glass. This machine has a slow-turning horizontal cast-iron disk
about
> 24" in diameter, with a water feed from above in the center. You sprinkle
> carborundum grit on the wheel and hold your piece against it with a very
> gentle flow of water. The good ones have a reservoir around the outside
> (kind of like the splash pan on a potter's wheel), with a recirculating
> water pump. That way, you just dip up the carborundum that runs off the
> edge and re-deposit it in the center. The carborundum does eventually
break
> down and must be replaced, but that is a small cost.
> Good luck -
> - Vince
>
> Vince Pitelka
> Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
> Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111

William & Susan Schran User on thu 20 oct 05


On 10/19/05 10:09 AM, "Tony Ferguson" wrote:

> I might check into the a few of the other less expensive devices suggested
> first, however. Thanks everyone!!

I'm sure Tony, that you are well aware of the possible health hazards of dry
grinding both clay and glazes.

For those less aware of these issues, proper eye and lung protection are a
must. In fact I would go as far to say, one should avoid doing any dry
grinding inside without a proper ventilation system.

As I posted earlier, I use a portable flat-lap machine to grind the bottom
of my crystalline glazed work. Lots of grinding is necessary with this
process. With two diamond grinding/polishing disks (that will last a long
time) the set up cost about $500, well worth my lungs!

I do all the rough grinding with a 6" bench grinder fitted with a silicon
carbide grinding wheel. All of this grinding is done outside, but I wear eye
protection and a proper respirator.

I used to use silicon carbide disks that had a peel and stick backing
attached to a plastic bat. I would grind/smooth the bottoms, spraying water
on the disk at intervals. This would work, but took some time, as the wheel
would only spin at 200-250rpm.

The flat lap spins at over 1000rpm and has a gravity feed water source.
Fast grinding and no dust! The machine is portable, so I can store it away
on a shelf when not needed.


--
William "Bill" Schran
Fredericksburg, Virginia

Des & Jan Howard on thu 20 oct 05


Tony
An orbital sander clamped upside-down in the spray booth,
80# grit (sand, emery, aluminium ox, whatever is currently cheapest at
our discount hardware shop) paper,
replace every few pots, heat bend a piece of poly pipe & fit to dust bag
outlet to direct the dust to back of booth.
Hold pot on sander for a couple of seconds, then roll edge around.
Des


--
Des & Jan Howard
Lue Pottery
LUE NSW 2850
Australia
Ph/Fax 02 6373 6419
http://www.luepottery.hwy.com.au

Alyssa Ettinger on sat 22 oct 05


tony, i do all this kind of larger chipping/smoothing work with a dremel
drill. 800,000 tips/heads to chose from.

for small pieces, without anything to grind off, i have this little white
stick thing, pumice-like, that smoothes the feet.

alyssa

www.alyssaettinger.com