See the pottery wheel
Scott created from a couple of free treadmills.
http://createniks.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/diy-potters-wheel/
Scott has since mounted the speed controller under the table and
enclosed all of the electronics. An outstanding job!
Scott says:
I made my wheel head out of PVC.
The PVC is a great wheel material. It is very durable and the
surface is just soft enough that it does not tear your hands up when
you have excess grog. I fortunately have the material around but
it can be acquired easily. Usually you need to buy a 4'X8' sheet
but the plastic shops often have odd pieces laying around that you can
get for a small amount of money. I think the 1" thick
material is the best to use. All you need to do is take the
material to a cutting shop and have a disk cut. Laser or water
cutting will run you about $20.
The wheel will not require balancing.
The RPM's are low enough and the diameter is small enough that if the
cut is close to round then there will not be a problem with premature
bearing wear. Now, buy a flange that will mount to your
drive shaft. Drill and tape or drill and taper the head then
mount the flange. You can apply reference marks, rings, in
the wheel simply by turning the wheel on and using a sharp item to
gouge the surface until the ring is deep enough to last.
You can also make the head out of a piece
of wood. Just cut it into a disk with a jig saw then apply
a resin as a durable coating. There are many resins available at
your local hardware store.
Thanks
Scott.
Plastics and
PVC:
You might try Tap
Plastics. You may have a retail store in your home town.
They often have a bin of scrap pieces to look through.
Pulleys, sheaves and
belts:
Try Grainger.
They have all kinds of stuff. You'll need to work out your ratios
and such for the pulleys (based on the motor and speed controller you
choose).
Speed controller/Foot
pedal:
There is not a lot out there that is immediately adaptable to potter
wheels, so you'll need to do some engineering . SSC
Controls sells a foot pedal that you can use as your speed control
interface. You'll need that along with a DC motor speed control
(DC motor drive) to actually control the rotational speed of the DC
motor. Verify compatibility with your motor when selecting these
items.
Motors:
There are all kinds of motors available but finding the right motor at a
decent price can be difficult. DC (direct current) motors are recommended
because they adapt themselves to variable speed applications
best.
General note:
The internet is a great resource to finding motors, controllers,
etc. Use your favorite search engine (Google)
with some of the terms used above, or try eBay
for parts.
You have a suggestion? Cool. Send
it to us and we'll look at adding it to the page.
