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To begin any pottery project you have to condition your clay before taking it to the wheel.
thi is called Wedging, its a dull tedious and labour intensive undertaking.
if the clay is too wet, you have to knead the clay onto an absorbant surface to work out the excess water. This project builds a table for this purpose. a wood fram surrounding a 3 inch thick hard plaster top. with a convient clay storage shelf under neath.
thi is called Wedging, its a dull tedious and labour intensive undertaking.
if the clay is too wet, you have to knead the clay onto an absorbant surface to work out the excess water. This project builds a table for this purpose. a wood fram surrounding a 3 inch thick hard plaster top. with a convient clay storage shelf under neath.
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Signing UpStep 1Building the top frames
Step Number one, building the top and leg frames.
you need three of these.
you need three of these.
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A. 30 lbs of hydro stone is not nearly enough to pour to a depth of 3 inches. 50 lbs is not enough (calculators online for volume of hydro stone). I went with 50 (because I purchased based on 30 rec. before doing the math. Do agree hydro stone IS the way to go. Either expect much less than 3 inch depth or go with 100lbs (around here sold in 50lb increments).
B. Be careful if you use plastic sheet. I was in a rush, didn't pay attention and got wrinkles in plastic sheet (with transferred to table top. Fixed with skim coat and sanding, but a real waste of time from needless extra step).
C. If going to big box retail to purchase lumber rather than using scrap lumber, consider 2x8 or 2x6 for one top box rather than 2 boxes from 2x4. Also, big boxes don't sell 4x4 around here - 2x4 bolted together work nicely and don't take long at all to put together.
D. Chicken wire and staple gun create a fast internal support structure and won't add much to project cost.
Overall pleased with outcome and looking forward to using my new table. Thanks for the plans!
once you pour the plaster, use a 2x4 to smooth the plaster before it sets...
it dosnt nee dto be terribly level,just solid.. though wose comes to worse, you can bolt it to the wall....
I have a couple of recommendations to make it an ace. First, more information on the proper kind of plaster and the specific mix ratios would be really valuable. And then, minor, but important, it has a lot of typos. Please forgive me if I'm showing too much of my English major background. The quality of the steps and content are high, but they will sparkle after a good proof-read.
time presses and christmas sales are upon us..
please note that this was put together at 3am, on a request from another instructable reader...
the plaster I used was Hydrostone, which is a plaster used for making ceramic molds and is sold by the 35 or 50 lb bag. mixing instuructions are on the bag, though the less water you use the stronger the plaster.
I generally mix the plaster until I get a mix a little thinner than sour cream.
I use slow set plaster, as plaster of paris this thick sets up in about 5 min.. Hydrostone takes about 10 hours..
you can get hydrostone pre-mixed in buckets if you can find a local dealer..
otherwise get the dry bags..
http://plaster.com/HYDROSTONE.html
you can also delux this table, by adding a upright to hold a angle wire for cutting caly while you are wedging it out, i dont , only becasue I carry a wire in my apron pockets..
my next project will be finishing up plans for the kids wheel, then I'll be building a sawdust Kiln, and then prob the pug mill or roller table...
one thing at a time...
L
L
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