: Benzine - Viewing Profile

Greetings all. I have a potter's wheel in my classroom, that I've been wanting to get rid of all year. It takes up space, and is getting on in age, so it doesn't work as well as the others. I tried to have it put in district storage, but there simply is no space there. So it has sat around the room, messing with the flow of the classroom, and possibly fouling up the feng shui. I am in the process of trying to sell it, and just put the money back in the department, but I need to let, the administration know what, if anything, it is worth. I have no illusions about making a lot of money off of it, but if I can make some, then it's money I didn't have before.

The wheel is an Amaco kick wheel, similar to what is below, only not so shiny and new. The drain valve is pretty locked up, and the bearings seem to be fairly worn, but other than that it works well. As I'm no expert on a wheel's value, especially one that has quite a bit of age on it (I'm fairly certain they brought the wheel in, and built the room around it), so I thought I'd ask the Ceramic Arts Daily Forum Hive Mind....or is it Collective? Thanks all!

So, after a long search, I finally acquired a potter's wheel. It's nothing too fancy, as you can probably tell from the photo, it's a Brent ie. Not super powerful, by any means, but I feel it will suit my needs just fine, for the foreseeable future.
The seller, had very few hours on it, and the thing is practically new. I still need to buy a splashpan, yes Jim a splashpan, as the one I am using now, I borrowed from the Brent kickwheel I have in my classroom. They won't miss it during the summer right?

So I've finally got the key item for my studio, to go with the kiln I've had for the past several years, though it's still not hooked up yet.

The wheel does sit low, so I'll be looking into solutions for raising it. In the meantime, my wife and I just got a new couch in our office, so the old one got demoted, to my studio. That room also happens to be the safest place, in the event of a strong storm, so we put it there, to have some comfort, in case we need to hunker down a while. Coincidentally, it happens to be the perfect height for the wheel. So I guess I can throw in style, until I get a stool and some booties for the wheel lined up.

First off, sorry for the topic title, I couldn't RESIST.......

So, I've got a couple questions, regarding the use of different types of resists, for glazing. First off, I like wax resist. It goes on easy and works fairly well. However, one of the problems I've had, is that it's tough to clean any of the brushes I use with it. Nothing ever really seems to get all the wax out of the bristles. This is why, I only allow my students, to use a designated brush, for the wax resist. So what's a good way to clean brushes, and keep them clean, when using wax resist. Second, whenever I use the resist, which more often than not has me pouring a second color over the first, the resist areas have areas of beaded glaze that stick there. Try as I might, I can never get all of them wiped off, without disturbing the non-resist areas. So when I fire the pieces, I'll have some glaze that falls off onto the shelves. Any good way to avoid this?

Finally, I have used latex resist in the past, but the type I used gradually clumped in the bottle, until I just had to toss it. Is this something that can be avoided, or is there a brand, where this is less of an issue? In a pinch, I recently used a maskoid watercolor resist, which worked well. However, I did have to use a lot of it, and it's a little too pricey to use that often.

Thanks for your help folks.

In my search for a wheel, I've been checking the Public Surplus website daily. The have recently added several auctions, with a lot of items; wheels, kilns, miscellaneous equipment, and even some clay.
So good hunting. If I was in the area, I'd be all over some of that.

I am still currently in the process of, slowly, getting my studio set up, in my basement. As my wheel search is ongoing, I thought I'd focus on the piece of equipment, I actually have. The kiln was given to me, years ago, by one of my student teaching, cooperating teachers. It was, in turn, given to them, by a college.

As far as I know, it is in working order, but I have never plugged it in.

The kiln is a Skutt model # 231-18. The elements look OK, no sagging, or anything of the sort. Some of the brick is slightly damaged, and the kiln sitter is missing the "Seats" for the cones, but other than that, it looks to be in good shape.

So I have a couple questions. One, should I bother cementing the broken pieces of the bricks back in? They were saved, and given to me with the kiln. Second, should I take the cover(s) off the control panel and clean it out? The kiln just sat, in a couple garages and sheds for several years, so there is a good layer of dust in there. Third, the current plug end is huge, my Dad calls it "The Plunger", it has a four inch diameter. There is no harm in replacing that for a smaller version correct? Lastly, I noticed that some of the connector prongs, between two of the rings is visible, when they are stacked together. This concerns me a bit. Assuming I have the kiln stacked well, what would be the reason for this?

I had some other questions, but they escape me at the moment.

Thanks for you help.