Metal Flakes in Pugged Clay

Those little black specks in the clay are the culprit!  For months we have been fighting "contaminated" clay coming out of the pugmill... the first few times, I thought we must have had a stray tool find its way into the clay recycle garbage can but, after a few more times and just as many complete and through cleaning of the entire inside of the pugmill, I knew that could not be it.  The entire clay recycling program was put on hold for a few months while the studio moved to the new location.  After some time had passed at the new location and we had settled in, I decided to take the pugger apart for further investigation...

To the left is the picture of what the inside of the pugmill looked like, it is a close up so you can see all of the pitting to the metal.

The nice guys at Peter Pugger diagnosed this awful case of metal acne as "oxidation".  Well, humm, I thought, who would have guessed that after all of these months and safe guards put into place so foreign objects would not get into the pugger, it was all coming from the metal nozzle inside the pugmill.

 

Peter Pugger sandblasted then brushed on two coatings of Devcon Brushable ceramic epoxy coating making a lovely Tahoe blue color.  I did not get a picture of the fresh pugged clay, we used it all up already!

Harbor Freight Wheel

A month or so ago someone purchased a potters wheel from Harbor Freight, she gave a nice review of it on PotteryBasics 101. 

Sure there were a few things about it which were of concern but, with the 20% coupon code I had, the wheel was less than $275 out the door!  Can't beat that price.

After using the wheel for a few weeks, I sadly returned it.  Harbor Freight has a great return policy.

Below are the pro's and con's I found with the wheel. 

Pro- price, fairly quiet, comfortable to sit at

Con's- single splash pan does not come off or have a drain hold, wheel head does not come off which makes it tough to clean the splash pan, the foot pedal does not have "cruise control" it also felt awkward and was touchy to decrease speed.  The biggest single issue for me was that the top speed was not very fast for centering.  The wheel was able to handle centering 15 lbs no problem, it was just very slow.

With all that said, I do think it could be a great starter wheel for someone.  Mind you, my use for the wheel is mainly for students; beginner to advanced.  I currently have two Creative Industries Class Boss, an older Brent C, Pacifica GT800, an artista and Baily wheels.  I think the difference in footpedal alone would have been enough to drive everyone crazy.

Right now for the money and my useage needs, I feel the Creative Industry Clay Boss a better choice.

Stay tuned for a future review of the Clay Boss.

What did you do this weekend?

I hope you had as much this weekend as I did!  After morning showshoe iwth my friend and our dogs, I spent most of my weekend playing at the studio. 

Saturday I threw 25 bowls (50 lbs of clay)

Sunday I trimmed, signed and put the bowls out to dry.  Also started a new beginner wheel throwing class with a great group of people.  I love the small, intimate and personal nature of the classes.  This class has 5 new, budding potters!

Have the courage to try something new this year!