Most likely, every lover of clay products at least once wondered whether it is possible to make a potter’s wheel with their own hands. The pottery wheel is one of the most ancient mechanisms that were invented by people, and the pottery is one of the very first craftsmen.
Let's figure out what the pottery machine is made of and how to make a pottery wheel with your own hands. It is a bed on which an axis with a flywheel is vertically mounted at the bottom, and on the top is a desktop. You need to work on the potter’s wheel while sitting on a chair, and the level of the table depends on the height of the person who will work. One thing is important - the table should be approximately at the level of the lower back. The flywheel should be located at close range, because you will need to reach it with your foot. It can be done on either side, depending on which foot will work more conveniently.
The main part of the machine can be made using wood. Take boards about 25 or 50 mm thick. Everything needs to be connected with spikes with glue, because the design must be strong enough.
The hardest part is the axle with bearings and the flywheel. To make an axis, you need to choose a block made of hardwood (section 35 by 30 mm). For the manufacture of a tapered bearing, you will have to find a metal lathe . A two-piece bearing is machined on the machine. The first part is a tube with an outer cone, mounted on an axis, and the second part is a pipe with an inner cone, mounted on a bed. The material will be stainless steel. As for the outer cone, vinylplast or ftoroplast is suitable here.
Before you assemble the entire machine, you will need to lubricate the bearings, you can do this with technical petroleum jelly or some other thick grease.
It remains to make the desktop itself and the flywheel. Without them, we can’t make a potter’s wheel with our own hands. A table is made from a board, for example, from a piece of thick plywood about fifteen centimeters. It is necessary to cut a circle from it, with a diameter of 20-25 cm. Exactly in the center of the circle, make a sausage about five cm high. There should be a hole that is equal to the diameter of the axis. The desktop is mounted as tightly as possible on the upper edge of the axis, it will stay there due to friction.
It should be said about the flywheel, because it must be massive. It is necessary that one push was enough for two or three dozen revolutions. If the flywheel is light, it will be hard to work, because you have to push it often enough. We make a flywheel from two layers of boards, which we glue in the form of a cross. In the center we make a hole for the axis. The diameter of the flywheel will be approximately 8 cm. Remember, it is necessary to connect the flywheel to the axis before installing the upper disk.
All details of the potter’s wheel need to be processed two or even three times, it is best to do this with hot drying oil. The fact is that pottery is a rather whimsical process, because water is constantly needed and splashes fly everywhere. You can also paint oil paints a couple of times. The table can be covered with plastic or some other waterproof material.
As you can see, you can assemble the potter’s wheel with your own hands, with enough effort.
In today's toy market, you can find an alternative children's pottery wheel.
With it, children can develop a love of work, beauty and creativity. In the kit there is a set of colors with which you can immediately paint your creation.