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This wheel design grew out of the need for a sim;>le, compact, sturdy,
practical potter's wheel that could be easily made with simple tools by
people with no previous building experience; easily moved (the flywheel
acts as a caster when the wheel is tipped to the front), and which could
be disassembled into a compact package for moving or storage.
The instructions have been made as complete as possible, for the
person with little building know-how. If you have any suggestions for
improving the plans or the instructions, please let us know.
-
COPYRIGHT 1974
Bruce A. M~Dougal, Big Creek Pottery, Davenport, California 95017
May not be reproduced without written permission.
There are two main parts to a momentum wheel: the frame and the
shaft/head/flywheel assembly. The frame is pretty standardized
in this plan, but there are a number of ways to approach making
the flywheel assembly. Each of these will be covered in detail below.
1.
THE FRAME:
The frame is constructed of 2x6 lumber, except for the seat and table
top, which are 2x10 or larger. All of the 2x6 pieces are exactly 30
inches long, or are cut from 30 inch pieces. (See drawing. )
It is important that the cuts be made as accurately and as square as
possible. They are best cut on a radial arm or table saw, but they
may be cut by hand if care is used. If you use a Skill type hand-held
electric saw, you can insure a true cut by holding a carpenter's.
square against the board and bracing the saw against that, or clamp
a piece of wood as a guide. The notches are to accomodate other
pieces of 2x6 as nearly as possible, so be sure to use the size of
your own lumber to measure for the notches! (2x6 lumber is not cut
to 2"x6". It is usually somewhere around 11/2" x 5 1/2"more or
less, depending on the mill where it was cut, how much it shrinks
in drying, etc., so be aware of this.) To cut the end notches, you
can saw in from the end and then from the side. To cut the center
notches, cut in from the side at both ends of the notch and then cut
along the lengthwise line with a wood chisel. Holding the flat side
toward the center of the board, cut along the line on both sides, then
repeat, a little deeper each time, until the piece breaks out. Clean
up the rough spots with a file or knife.
The whole job of assembly is made easier and more accurate if some
clamps are available. A couple of large "C" clamps and a pair of
furniture clamps are a big help. These are not absolutely necessary,
but may be rented if you do not have or can not borrow them. In any
case, check and recheck for accuracy and squareness before cutting,
drilling, or bolting fast.
FIRST: Assemble 4 corners: On four plain pieces, mark spots 4"
in from each end and in the center, 3/4" from the side. (See Drawing.)
With a 1" diameter wood drill, drill holes at these points 3/8" deep
(or just enough to countersink the head of one of the lag bolts and a
washer.) Then drill 3/8" holes through the centers of these on through
the board. Line up the hole side of this board with the edge of another
board as accurately as you can (clamp them if possible) and drill on
through another 3/4" or so into the edge of the second board so you can
start the lag bolts. These holes need to be as straight as possible so
the bolts will go straight in, but not too deep or the bolts will not hold
well. Put a washer on each bolt, tap it with a hammer to seat it, and
2
screw it in tight. Make all four corners the .sam,~ way. (The only holes
that are countersunk are the ones for lag bolts. Carriage bolts do not
require it.) A socket wrench will help to seat these.
SECOND: Assemble sides: Decide which side of the wheel is to be open.
for access. For normal throwing, with the right side to a window, the
left side should be open; but the right side works as well. Or you can
close both sides, in which case you need another 30" piece, and you will
need to climb into the wheel over the top. Mark location of bolt holes on
outside face of all corners, top and bottom, on all four corner pieces.
Use tem.;>late (see drawing) or measure carefully. Make sure the relationship of the parts is as shown (see drawing). For the closed side,
clamp full pieces flush with top and bottom of two corners to make a
square, on the inside of the angle, tight into the corners. Check to see
that all faces are flush and all angles exactly square. Drill holes all the
way through both boards. Put 3/8" carriage bolts through each hole from
the outside. Do not countersink; the square part just under the head of
the bolt is designed to anchor itself in the wood. Use a washer under
the nut on the inside. Tighten one nut at each corner. Check the square
again, then tighten other nut. If you can 't get it square, try to make all
the corners off by the same amount to minimize the error. Repeat for
the other side. This side is to have an opening, so be sure to locate the
7" table support stub in the front of the top, and the 4" seat support stub
in the back. (See plan.) If you think you might want to change the side
that is open, take off the top board from the closed side and use it here
to locate the holes so that it will fit on either side. Drill the stubs from
these holes and they should be interchangeable too.
TmRD: Assemble front and back: Front and back bottom are notched
down in center, and top front is notched up in center. Check square on
each joint and come as close as you can. Furniture clamps help here
for long reach.
FOURTH: Install bottom bearing brace: Turn frame upside down and
square whole frame opening before putting bottom brace in. Clamps
across the diagonal make this possible. Countersink and install 2 lag
bolts at each end of bottom brace 1 1/4" in from each side, 3/4" from
ends.
FIFTH: Install top bearing & brace: Attach top (block) bearing to end
of 12" top bearing brace, using lag bolts. Be sure not to drill too deep
to start the lag bolts, because the end grain of the wood does not hold as
well as across the grain. 3/4" should be plenty. Check the total length
with bearing in place; it should be 13 1/2" from end to center of hole.
If is more, cut off end to make it 13 1/2". Look at the bearing: if it is
the kind that comes with a keeper or lock for the shaft, it will have one
side smooth and on the other side there will be an eccentric (not having
the same center) projection from the inner race around the hole. This
when combined with the separate ring that comes with it provides a way
3
of locking the shaft to the bearing. The interlocking eccentric parts are
turned against one another until they are tight. then the ring is secured
to the shaft with the set screw in its side. Install the top bearing brace
with this side down. Attach the brace to the frame in the notch on the
front top. leaving 1 1/2" overhang in front (or thickness of your wood.
if not 1 1/2"). Use two lag bolts countersunk down into front top cross
member. The overhang is for extra bracing leverage under the table top.
SIXTH: Install bottom bearing: The bottom bearing is a 'thrust' bearing.
or one which is designed to mount on the end of a shaft. It will have a
metal housing or mounting. with holes for bolts. There is a 7" piece of
2x6 that goes between the bottom bearing and the bottom bearing brace.
It is a good idea to drill holes through this block to match the holes in
the bearing before you locate the bearing in. place. The bearing goes in
the middle of this riser block. The bottom bearing may be located by
measurIng in from all sides and locating exactly below the top bearing.
Or. it may be done by levelling the frame on a flat surface and locating
the bottom bearing by using a vertical level on the shaft with both bearings
in place. moving the bottom one around until the level reads true ,from
all sides. Either way seems to work OK. Attach bottom bearing right
through the riser block into the bottom bearing brace with lag bolts. You
should not need washers unless bearing housing is less than 1/2"thick.
SEVENTH: Install flywheel and shaft assembly: (See instructions for
flywheel. following). This installation can be tricky. so get some help
if you can. And be careful of your ungers through all this: if the flywheel
slips you can get pinched badly. The main idea is to roll the flywheel
into the frame and balance it on the bearing. Then slide the shaft through
the top bearing. through the keeper. and into the flywpeel sleeve. If you
can get it to go on through into the bottom bearing. that's fme. Then the
problem is to line up the holes in the sleeve with the liole in the shaft and
slip in the bolt or pin into position. If the hole is not in the center. it
may only fit- in one position. You may want to raise the flywheel to do
this. and it can be pried up with two people using the two footrest pieces
of 2x6 as levers. Then ease the flywheel back down and get the projecting
end of the shaft into the bearing. The shaft should not project more than
1" from the sleeve. or it will rest on the block under the bearing and
prevent the bearing from moving freely. The shaft can be cut off if this
is a problem. or a hole drilled under the bearing. The sleeve should now
rest on the top of the bearing. which supports the weight of the flywheel:
the shaft carries none of the weight. If you can't pry the flywheel up.
or you are working alone. work the shaft into the bottom bearing a little
(not much) then tighten the keeper under the top bearing so it can't Slip
up and out. then turn the frame on its side and work it horizontally.
Reset top keeper after it is righted again. to prevent shaft from slipping
out of bottom bearing when u'sing flywheel as a caster or when tipping
wheel over to clean under it. While it is on its side. you can counterbalance the wheel if you want to. by watching which side quickly swings
to the top and adding weight to that side. It has to be off quite a bit to
be noticed. however. so it may be better to wait and see how it works.
4
2.
The shaft is a piece of 1" diameter cold rolled steel. Another material,
if you can find it, what they call dimensioned shaft material, is a little
more expensive, but has been ground to a specific diameter with a better
chance of fitting the bearings exactly. This is not really critical. The
length works out to 33" on the standard wheel, but since you may want to
adjust the height of the wheelhead to suit yourself, it may be better to
get three feet of shaft and cut it down after the wheel is assembled.
The flywheel assembly can be made in several ways.
covered in turn, with the easiest first:
These will be
pound for pound. By reducing the weight in the middle, the total weight
is reduced, but the momentum is not reduced proportionally. To do this,
the form is prepared as above, but plywood circles are cut to fill in the
center of the form. How large these are, and how many thicknesses,
depends on how milch you want to lighten the total wheel. For example:
a 15" circle of plywood in the middle will leave a 7 1/2" ring of concrete
around the edge. (And being 1/2 the radius of the larger circle, the
smaller one accounts for exactly 1/4 of the total volume/area/weight.)
The 15 t1 circles are cut of plywood to match the thickness of concrete
desired (3 pieces of 3/4" equals 2 1 / 4") and the edge ring must match
their thickness plus the thickness of the large base circle. The large
center hole is cut in each of them and they are stacked on the long end
of the tube on the inside of the form. Instead of using the machine bolt
to attach the steel plate, use carriage bolts, with the heads on the top
of the plywood circles and the nut (use a lock washer) on the bottom.
Be very careful filling and levelling the cement, so there isn It a bump
where the concrete meets the plywood. Also, be sure the plywood
circles fit snugly together before the bolts are put in. If they do not,
the plate could be twisted or the surface thrown off.
It is also possible to put in fewer circles than the full thickness of
the concrete. This would reduce the weight somewhat, but the top
surface would be entirely concrete. If the concrete is too thin, it
may break, however.
B. Reinforced concrete without plywood: This method requires more
materials, but makes a flywheel that is all concrete. If you are making
several wheels, this gives you the option of using the same plywood form
again and again, without having to leave the plywood in the wheel. This
also allows you to compensate a little if the plate and shaft are not at
exactly right angles. The plate ends up in the concrete, and a slight
unevenness has little effect. (See cutaway and set-up drawings, both
marked B.)
Put four machine bolts through from the bottom of the steel plate.
These need to be threaded their whole length to allow the nut to be
tightened against a lock washer on the top side. Tighten securely.
Put a short right-angle bend about 1" from each end in four pieces of
3 / 8" reinforcing rod about 2 5" long. This will give a long "D" shape
with both ends turned down. Arrange these in a tic -tac -toe pattern
with the crossing points the bolts sticking up. Wire or weld the rods
and the bolts together at these points. Any kind of wire will do. Another
piece of rod about eight feet long can be bent in a circle and wired to the
ends of each of the cross rods to form a ring just inside the form all
around. This can be 1/4" rod or less. All of this metal work should
be up off the plate, yet clear the top of the form. The form is put
together as in A above, except in this case, the plate goes on the inside
8
of the form, anc;i the short end of the tube goes through the hole. The
thickness of the finished wheel is figured from the top of the plywood
to the edge of the ring.
Before pouring the concrete, it is necessary to make a place for the form
to rest securely, and be exactly level. It is also necessary to provide an
overhead support for the top of the shaft above the form. With the form in
place and exactly level, the plate is put in place and the shaft inserted in
the tube from the top. The shaft is then levelled vertically in several
directions to insure it is exactly vertical (and square with the form).
Fasten the shaft at the top to hold that position, and pour the concrete as
described above. The plate may not be exactly flat if the weld is off, but
the flywheel will be true anyway. Be sure to tamp the concrete ca"refully
around all the reinforcing, but not so hard that you throw the alignment
off. Cure as above, and after a few days remove flywheel from form by
pulling off the masonite and releasing plywood. You will probably not be
able to salvage the masonite strip, so cut a fresh piece for each casting.
C. Other solutions: The procedures described in A and B above have
actually been used to build wheels at Big Creek, and they work. There
are a number of other alternatives that have been described, or that
come to mind as possibilities, which may be of interest:
One alternative is to make the shaft go directly through the concrete,
and not make use of the sliding tube. It can be welded directly to the
steel plate, if you know where you want the flywheel mounted on the
shaft. The position cannot be changed, and the flywheel is an awkward
thing to pack if you dismantle the wheel, but for a permanent job, it
can be very satisfactory. Our original reason for the sleeve was for
adjusting the flywheel up and down for different people. For an individual building a wheel for him Iherself, the initial dimensioning is
likely to be final, and if carefully done the first time, never need to
be changed. If you want to do it this way, figure out where the top of
the flywheel should go for your comfortable use, subtract the thickness
of the concrete (and the plywood, if you are building A), and have the
plate welded there. Everything else goes the same, except you m'.1st
use the bearing keeper flock on the bottom bearing to hold the shaft in
place vertically. In this version, you can make the flywheel lower by
cutting off the bottom of the shaft, but do it before you cut the top to
locate the wheelhead, or the wheelhead will end up too low!
Another alternative is not to have a plate welded on, but to drill holes
in the shaft in the area of the concrete and push some reinforcing rods
or curtain rods through the holes to anchor in the concrete. (Reinforcing
rods over 3/8" have a pattern which grips the concrete, 1/4" rods don't)
Another alternative, which should work, but which has not been used to
my knowlege, would be to use two pieces of 1" pipe, and two 1" pipe
9
flanges (used for attaching pipe to flat surfaces) bolted through the plywood
circle base. This would not be quite as strong as the steel plate, but would
have the advantage of not requiring any welding at all. If the shaft turned
out to be not exactly at right angles to the base, a shim cut from a tin can
slipped under the flange on the low side should level it. The 1" shaft should
fit well inside the 1" pipe. If it is not a tight fit, the opening can be made
smaller by cutting the pipe with a pipe cutter, which pinches the end in a
little; or, by placing the end of the pipe on a solid surface and tapping on
the corner of the open end with a hammer. Working around the outside with
increasing force, you can actually forge the opening smaller. Getting it
red hot makes this easier, but it can be done cold. Another solution to a
loose fit is to drill and tap (cut threads in) one side of the pipe, and drill
partway into the shaft, then use a bolt to lock the pipe to the shaft. The
fact that it is a little off to one side will not affect anything.
D. Wheel Head: The wheel head is usually from 9" to 12" in diameter,
and has a sleeve which slips down over the top of the shaft, locking in
place with a set screw threaded through the sleeve. Commercial heads
are cast, usually in aluminum, and turned true and smooth on a lathe.
These heads are available from ceramic supply outlets or direct from a
number of manufacturers. Robert Brent dealers sell their 12" head for
about $20. Several are advertised in Ceramics Monthly. Make sure the
head you get has a 1" diameter hole to fit on your shaft. If it is smaller,
you will have to have it bored out, or the end of the shaft turned to fit.
It is possible to make or have made wheel heads in a variety of styles:
E. Bats: If you plan to use bats for throwing, the most effective system
.
is to have the wheelhead fitted with pins, and the bats drilled with holes to
fit securely over the pins. This eliminates the need to use a doughnut of
clay on the wheel head to se.cure the bats (unless your use is infrequent,
in which case this works fine.) The best bats we have found are made from
1/4" tempered masonite, smooth on both sides. These are cut on a band
saw, and can be the same diameter as your wheel head, or larger. -Holes
are drilled in the bats to correspond exactly to the pins and pin location
used. They are sealed with paint or varnish or some sealer to inhibit the
absorbing of water from the clay which causes warping.
--
The pins can be bolts threaded thrqugh tapped holes in the wheel head
from below to a height to match the thickness of the bat (a little less),
and locked in place with nuts from underneath. They can be cylindrical
headed bolts (usually with hexagonal holes in the top to take an allen wrench)
set in holes from the top and secured from underneath with a bolt or thumbscrew. These may need to be filed down so they don't project above the
surface of the bat. In some cases, such as wooden wheel heads, the pins
can be metal pins set in holes in the wheel head.
The pins are usually located on the center line across the wheel head, an
equal distance in from each side. This system allows the bats to fit in
either direction. Another way is to have a center pin to hold the bat and
one edge pin to keep it from turning. The only problem with this is how
one gets the pin in the center. For wheels with pins permanently in place,
it is necessary to always use a bat; but this does not prevent cutting pots
and lifting them off without removing the bat.
Parts List: You will need the following:
19
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
38
33
4
1
'Total cost may run as high as ~no using new materials, depending on
prices. Tt is important to shop at'ound & compare prices on hardware.
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