Video of the Week: Deb Schwartzkopf Shows us Her Home Made Bat System

1. Walt noneofyourbusiness April 24, 2012 at 4:09 pm -

   Why not just cast your own bat system for free? All these systems work the same. There’s a replaceable plate, and a chuck. Get some tiles, or cut some squares out of masonite. You’ll need a stack of something that you’re going to throw on. Coat your tile/plate/bat and your wheelhead with the pins in with dish soap. Center the tile/plate/bat on your wheel head. Then wrap a strip of duct tape around the edge of the wheel head so that the tape formes a barrier, and pour 3/4 inch of plaster directly on the wheel head with the bat/plate on the head. When the plaster sets, take the tape off, pop the plaster off the wheel head, and pull the tile/plate and bat pins out. Then drill the hole where the pin is all the way through. Since you’re casting from the bat pins, the distance has to be right. The side that was up, goes down, and the plaster will then be a chuck to hold whatever plates/tiles/bats you’re using. If your plaster isn’t quite flat, just trim it like you’d trim a plate to true it. If you didn’t get the exact center right, it doesn’t really matter unless you’re going to put something back in the plaster chuck. If that’s the case, you just need to register one corner of plate/bat/tile to one corner of the chuck, and it will be recentered perfect every time, since it will be exactly in the same position, because it’s a chuck.
2. Donna Wessels April 15, 2012 at 12:27 pm -

   I guess I’m missing something….She doesn’t demonstrate what she does with the clay she centered and flattened. I would also like to see how she made the bat.
3. scott@musicalhearing.com April 14, 2012 at 7:15 am -

   I made what I believe is a faster and easier to use bat system. I took a Plasti-bat and glued on four strips of wood (made from 1/2 inch maple plywood) to hold 6 inch squares that are also made of 1/2 inch maple plywood. All the plywood is triple coated with polyurethane so that it withstands moisture. The Plasti-bat is absolutely stable: it never gets loose. The whole system works well for me and I can just drop the bat onto my wheel head [with bat pins] without having to center a piece of clay first. I also made a setup for 12″ squares as well for small plates, etc.
4. eddie kelley April 13, 2012 at 6:41 pm -

   i took a masonite bat and cut out a square the same size as a comercial tile. the tiles are cheap, about $0.60 each. other than that its the same as deborah uses.
5. datamed@netdoor.com April 13, 2012 at 4:50 pm -

   Michael, Math is fun! Go here… http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-find-the-center-of-a-circle/
6. nancy koon April 13, 2012 at 4:44 pm -

   This already exists: “The Universal Insert Bat Saves a great amount of shelf space when making pieces with a small “footprint”. The outer bat is 1/2 inch thick Medex and the inserts are 1/4 inch Duron which fit flush with the top of the outer bat. Inserts remove easily yet fit snugly enough that the cavity stays free of clay and slurry. (You may have to lightly sand the inserts on all four sides to achieve and maintain the best fit. The bat materials absorb water water which can cause swelling of the wood.)” I purchased mine through bigceramicstore.com
7. Michael Janson April 13, 2012 at 3:40 pm -

   Unfortunately, it does not show how to actually make the cutout. I gather the diagonal lines determine the center point, but getting the exact center and a tight masonite fit are not so easy. Any tips on that?

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