We are finally back at work.We have finally got off our lazy bottoms and are back at work on the wheel – albeit only after a long morning pause while we made cutting wires and I carved us each a name stamp.

I started by making a few chucks. These are clay tools used to support pots while they are being trimmed and need to be made first so that they dry out to be stiff enough to support the pots when they are trimmed. I have learnt to keep my chucks damp, wrapped up in plastic and dunked in water after each use, so that they last for several years, kept constantly in a firm but damp state.
Janine started her day by making door knobs for the cupboards in the gallery room.

The batch of clay that we made a month ago is working OK. It’s a little soft, but easy on the wrists because of it. 
I started out using the hand-me-down wooden ‘Leach’ kick wheel, which has always been my favourite style of wheel. but this one is completely worn out. it creaks in all the joints – like me, and needs new bearings, as someone filled the entire tray with water till it over flowed down the inside and poured through the top bearing , filling it with clay dust. I’ve tried twice to get the wheel head off, so that i can replace the bearing, but it stubbornly refuses to budge. I have owned 6 of these wheels in my career, all 2nd hand, and have replace bearings in some of them. I have found that there have been 3 different methods of attaching the wheel head over time. They appeared to have changed the design to make manufacturing cheaper. The earlier models had  the wheel head screwed on with a large format thread cut onto the shaft and wheel head, the second method involved a ’T’ section fitting with a pin through the head and shaft, and the last one was just a simple ‘Morse’ taper that relied on friction.

I’ve tried tapping up and twisting sideways, but this one is very stubborn. The frame was so loose and wobbly that i went down to the ‘spare parts’ pile and found some heavy gauge gal strapping and made a series of diagonal bracings for the creaky wooden frame. That stiffened it up, but it still growls.I gave up on it for the time being, as today was all about throwing some pots. I migrated over to the Shimpo wheel that was a gift from Len Smith. What a wonder this wheel is! completely silent and totally smooth. this is my new wheel of choice now.I need to make a proper stool that is the right height for me. So many jobs still to do!

I have become so used to using beautiful clay straight from the Venco vacuum pug mill, that i had forgotten how long it takes to prepare clay from scratch by spiral kneading. It takes ages to get all the air out! But at least the new timber wedging bench is just the right height.