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June 19, 2009

The Pancaker

by Keith Phillips Read Comments (0)

	Eight years ago, shortly after our son was born, my mother-in-law was visiting and stayed with us through Christmas. My brother lived near us at the time, and gave my mother-in-law a vintage pancaker from the 50’s. You filled it with batter, held it over a hot skillet and depressed the plunger for a few seconds to open the plug at the bottom and let the batter flow into the skillet. The result: perfect pancakes with no mess. The pancaker she received came in the original 1950’s box-everything about it was cool. I probably made pancakes every day during her visit. My pancaker is basically a tall basket or bowl that has a pedestal attached to the bottom to keep the stopper from touching the counter. The plunger rod and nuts ideally should be made from stainless steel, however this is usually hard to come by, so a brass rod works just as well. The right-sized spring may also be hard to come by, but farm supply stores usually have a great selection. A spring from a retractable pen might work in a pinch. Finally, the #6-32 die probably has to be purchased as part of a tap and die set. This will be used to thread the rod once you have it measured and cut to size. Materials 3-4 pounds of clay 2 ft. of 1/8 in. brass or stainless steel rod 7/32 x 13/4 in. 020 compression spring 2 #6-32 hex nuts 2 #8 washers 5-minute epoxy #6-32 die (available at home centers)
	Throwing the sections Start by throwing a tall bowl with 21/2-3 lbs. of clay. The shape or style is up to you (it doesn’t have to be round!). Be sure the rim is a little thicker than normal. The weight of the basket-type handle can spread the bowl during firing, and a sturdy rim helps counter that. Though the overall shape is up to you, the bottom of the pot should be about 1/4-3/8 in. thick. The plug will be cut out of the bottom later and making it a little thicker makes this plug stronger. I usually taper the bottom of the form in slightly, making a graceful transition to the pedestal foot that’s attached later.
	Next, throw the pedestal. This needs to be a bottomless form. It is thrown upside down, with the bottom tapered to match the diameter of the bottom of the bowl.
	Finally, throw a little knob. I find it easier to throw small items off the hump, since the form I’m throwing is raised up on a mound of clay rather than close to the wheelhead, I can easily get to the underside and shape it. When you’re finished, just slice it off the mound using a wire tool.
	Trim the bottom of the bowl. You don’t need a proper foot since it will sit on the pedestal. Before taking it off the wheel, cut out the plug from the bottom. First take a 1/4 in. drill bit and drill a hole in the exact middle of the bowl.
	Then take your needle tool and cut a 11/4 inch diameter circle out of the bottom. This piece becomes the plug, so take care when cutting it out to keep it intact. Hold the needle tool at an angle and not straight up and down when making this cut. This creates an inward taper on the plug, so that it can easily be pushed open, but makes a seal when closed. It will be impossible to make the pancaker water tight, but batter is thicker and won’t seep out. Just make sure the plug matches the hole as closely as possible.
	Joining the parts Now score and slip the pedestal and the bottom of the bowl, then attach the two together.
	Roll out a small coil about an inch thick and then gently flatten it so it gets a little wider, while keeping it about a half-inch thick. Form it into a bridge, then slip and attach it to the inside bottom of the bowl so that it spans the hole. This is a second guide for the plunger rod, and will help make the stopper line up and the plunger operate smoothly.
	Drill a 1/4 inch hole in the second guide, being sure to drill straight, lining it up with the hole in the plug. There is little play in between these two, so be sure this hole and the plug hole are exactly in the center of the bowl.
	Roll out another coil for the handle, then pull and taper both ends like a handle for a mug. Don’t pull too thin, you want it to hold its shape and not slump when fired. Make the mid-section near the top of the arch pretty thick as well, since you’ll be drilling the guide hole for the rod through that section. When the handle has stiffened enough to work with it, firmly attach it to the bowl. You want a strong attachment here as this is the area where cracks are most likely to form. If there’s any place you develop cracks, it will probably be here. So dry slowly and be gentle. When the handle has set, but before it’s bone dry, drill your hole exactly in the center. You can have more play here, and you might want to step up one size on your drill bit. You can always use a washer later if your hole is too big for your spring. Still, be very careful drilling the hole, be sure it lines up with the second guide hole in the strap of clay at the bottom. Also don’t press too hard when drilling, you want the bit to “cut” the clay, not push through it.
	The easiest hole to drill is in your knob. Don’t go all the way through, you just need about half an inch for your rod to glue into. Slowly dry the pancaker and then bisque and glaze. When glazing, wax as you normally would. Fire the plug separate from the pancaker, as there’s no way to secure it into the bottom. By firing it separately, you can also glaze the area that will eventually make contact with the bowl.
This article appeared in the May/June 2009 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated To purchase this back issue, call 1-800-340-6532. Get great content like this every month: Subscribe today!
	Creating the mechanism Use a die to thread the rod, so that a nut will gracefully screw on to it. Since you are using a 1/8-inch thick rod you will want to get a #6-32 die. This makes a thread for a fine-thread #6 machine nut. Holding the rod with pliers, carefully start twisting the die onto the rod like you would if threading a nut, being sure to keep it straight. Once it is started, just keep rotating the die and it will carve the threads. You only need to thread about a 1/4- to 1/2-inch section of the rod. Unscrew the die and you should have a nice threaded end.
	Slide the stopper on with the bevel side up, then add a washer and nut.
	Insert the rod into the bottom of the pancaker, through the bottom guide and finally into the hole in the handle.
	Pull the rod all the way up to seat the plug then set the pancaker aside.
	The next step involves measuring the rod to figure out the final length of your stopper mechanism. Push a spring and spare length of rod into the knob and make a mark on the rod where the end of the spring comes to when it’s NOT under compression. Measure that distance, and then subtract about half an inch. This will create enough tension to keep the plug seated securely so that it covers the opening. For example, my overall measurement came to 13/4 in., so my measurement for the next step was 11/4 in. Pull the rod all the way up so the stopper seals the bowl.
	Now take the measurement from the previous step and add it to the rod. Start at the very top of the handle, measure up toward the end of the rod, and mark this point. This is where you want to cut the rod. This should be a perfect length so the stopper is firmly under pressure, sealing the pancaker, but also leaving enough room so that the knob can be pressed down about a half inch, opening the stopper and releasing the batter. Disassemble everything and cut the rod with a hacksaw. Using the die, thread the end of the rod to make a nice “grip” for the glue.
	Assembling the pancaker Take one end of the rod and slide the spring on, daub a fair amount of five-minute epoxy onto the end and glue it into the knob. Make sure there is enough epoxy to hold everything in place when it sets. Also, make sure the rod is sticking straight out of the knob while the epoxy sets. Note: Even though it says five minutes, wait twenty before assembling your pancaker. Slide a washer against the spring and then insert the rod into the handle.
	Slide the assembly down through the second guide and then flip the pancaker over and re-assemble the stopper. Slide the clay plug on, then slide a washer onto the rod so it rests against the clay plug and then thread on the nut against the washer. When the assembly is finished, just heat the skillet, fill your pancaker with batter and you’re ready to go. Keith Phillips is a full-time artist and potter in Fletcher, North Carolina. To see more of his work, go to http://khphillips.etsy.com or visit his blog at http://blog.mudstuffing.com or contact him via email at keith@mudstuffing.com.