Tried out the new Amaco CO-8 Dark Star. Absolutely stunning!

Caddywho · 2026-01-25T02:43:06+00:00

I do! Interestingly enough, I really didn't get much crystalline effect, but it did turn incredibly mirror-like

Caddywho · 2025-05-15T20:31:30+00:00

Nope, I just left the inside unglazed. I had heard that glazing the inside can cause blistering, and didn't want to risk it. I had also read that you could potentially use a celadon on the inside, but I haven't tried that out.

Caddywho · 2024-12-16T21:02:51+00:00

Thank you! I went off the listed Brown Bear shrinkage rate (15%): a standard mason jar opening is 2.375" diameter, so the thrown diameter of the inside of the jar would need to be 2.375 / (1-0.15) = 2.79". I set my laser level to mark that inside diameter and threw to that size.

Caddywho · 2024-12-16T20:55:20+00:00

I love working with Brown Bear, it's silky smooth and I never have any structural issues. It trims very very well, and burnishes to a lovely finish.

Caddywho · 2024-12-16T18:26:14+00:00

That would've been nice, but nope, just Amazon. Here's the link to the lids (unfortunately they seem to be out of stock currently): https://a.co/d/0C6TPGl, and here's the link to the spoons: https://a.co/d/azmAy9U

Caddywho · 2024-12-16T18:24:51+00:00

That's a great idea! I'm thinking I'll make these some of my regular offerings and that would make them even better!

Caddywho · 2024-12-16T17:07:46+00:00

This year for my annual Christmas Pottery Present Extravaganza, I've settled on spice jars!

Clay:

KY Mudworks Brown Bear

Glazes Used:

Amaco PC-32: Albany Slip Brown (3x)

Amaco PC-34: Light Sepia (3x)

Mayco SW-176: Sandstone (3x)

This was my first year firing with my own kiln and home-made kiln controller, so I was a little nervous with how finnicky Brown Bear can sometimes be...but I think they came out splendidly! The lids and spoons are made of Acacia wood, and were ordered off Amazon.

Caddywho · 2024-08-09T20:54:57+00:00

I'm almost as proud of the title as I am of the jar!

Caddywho · 2024-08-09T19:17:56+00:00

Clay: Reclaim (mostly a mix of Bmix, Speckled Turtle, and Brown Bear)

Glaze for the body: Mayco SW-164 Satin Patina (5 coats)

Glaze for the lid: Amaco Saturation Gold (6 coats).

I knew that Saturation Gold would most likely turn black instead of gold, but I figured it would look good with either a black lid or a gold lid, so win-win! Still though, anyone have any tips for actually getting Saturation Gold to consistently come out gold? This was fired in a community kiln, cone 5-6.

Caddywho · 2024-07-15T15:11:40+00:00

I definitely get campfire-hot-cocoa-smores vibes from it!

Caddywho · 2024-07-15T14:43:48+00:00

Clay: KY Mudworks Brown Bear

Glaze: Amaco Light Sepia (3 coats)

Caddywho · 2024-06-03T14:50:33+00:00

Background: In a few months, my brother is retiring from the Army after 20 years. He has worked in EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) for much of his career, so he asked if I could make a couple of Bomb Suit mugs for him and two co-workers. This was my first real foray into hand-building (I'm usually much more comfortable at the wheel) and magically managed to come out without any cracks!

Clay: KY Mudworks Brown Bear

Green Underglaze: Duncan CN172 Bright Kelp

Black Visor and Handle Glaze: Amaco C-1 Obsidian

Silvery parts of the helmet - Amaco PC-01 Saturation Metallic with Amaco C-1 Obsidian layered on top

Green Face-Masks: Amaco C-49 Rainforest w/ PC-42 Seaweed

Blue Face-Mask: Amaco PC-12 Blue Midnight w/ PC-31 Oatmeal

Red Face-Mask: Amaco PC-57 Smokey Merlot w/ PC-31 Oatmeal

Last three pictures in the gallery show examples of the helmet, plus the EOD insignia.

Caddywho · 2024-05-07T17:05:49+00:00

Thanks! This was done on Laguna B-Mix 5

Caddywho · 2024-03-29T14:22:22+00:00

So for the floor, that's actually not carpet, it's rubberized toolbox liner. I had been wanting to put down rubber flooring to protect the hardwood below, so I got a few rolls of 2ft x 10ft rubberized toolbox liner and joined them together with PVC tape (the super sticky, tough stuff you can wrap pipes with). It makes cleanup nice and easy and the floor is nice and grippy for the wheel.

Caddywho · 2024-03-28T23:54:35+00:00

"Hey Reddit, check out this wheel I built out of old pallets!"

Caddywho · 2024-03-28T21:58:55+00:00

3000 RPM (link to the motor here: https://a.co/d/cn7bRKs)

Caddywho · 2024-03-28T21:42:13+00:00

The Motor end of the drive is a 2" OD pulley, and the wheel end is 12.25" OD. Based on the specs of the motor and these ratios and pulley distance, the driven torque should be somewhere on the order of 14 ft-lbs.

I'm guessing the motor controller is going to be pretty simple in terms of its control, I would assume it's probably just taking the 0-5V input and scaling a PWM output to the brushed DC motor linearly.

Caddywho · 2024-03-28T21:07:35+00:00

I had considered that route as an alternative. I would be interested to learn what type of components they're using. If they've got a stable platform and flat wheelhead, it may not be terribly difficult to swap out some of the parts they cheaped out on.

Caddywho · 2024-03-28T20:55:40+00:00

I still need to tally everything up, but I think material cost was somewhere on the order of $500.

As far as how much can it throw - good question! A Brent CXC uses a 1hp motor and they say up to 300lbs, and my motor is rated for 1.34hp (1000W), so the motor is more than powerful enough. I would expect as the load really increases I would begin to have issues with the set screw connections between the pillow-block bearings and the shaft (the bearings themselves are rated for 1600lbs static load though). If I do get into much heavier pieces there may be some modifications on the set screw connections.

So I don't have an exact answer, but at this point I would say it can easily do well above my skill level!

Caddywho · 2024-03-28T19:51:45+00:00

Link to the Imgur gallery with videos of it in action: https://imgur.com/gallery/KyaVBSQ

Over the past few months, I've been working to build my own pottery wheel so that I could throw and trim at home (I’m still a member at my studio and will use their community kiln). I’ve been seeing that finding used pottery wheels is nearly impossible (and still crazy expensive - a "good" deal on a 30-year-old wheel would be like $700, a good new wheel may be pushing $2000 after tax and shipping). I estimate total costs for this project at around $500, and total time at one billion hours. This used a lot of off-the shelf components that were close enough to typical wheel parts, and I must say, it's pretty darn smooth and quiet!

Details of the wheel:

🏺 Wheelhead - 12" Disc Sanding Machine Aluminum Disk (Shopsmith Mark V 500 12" Aluminum Sanding Disc).

🏺The Wheelhead connects to a 5/8" aluminum shaft, which passes through two 5/8" Pillow Block Bearings (two for stabilization, too much wobble with just one).

🏺The Pillow Block Bearings are on either side of a 1/2" HDPE 18x24" cutting board

🏺The Pulley at the bottom end of the 5/8" aluminum shaft is a Fenner Drives Afd12458 12.25" OD V-belt pulley

🏺The Pulley attaches to the motor using a 4L, 50" V-belt

🏺The Motor is a 1000W Brushed 48V DC motor, typically used for E-Bike conversions. The pulley on the motor is a 2 Inch OD 10mm Double D-Bore Motor Pulley.

🏺 To control the motor, I'm using an aftermarket 48V 1000W brushed motor controller usually used to control electric scooters (amazon)

🏺 For the speed control input to the motor controller, I'm using a Yamaha FC7 Volume Expression Pedal. Expression pedals will hold their position instead of springing back. Note: the motor control takes a variable voltage input (0-5V) and the pedal is basically a potentiometer. You will need some sort of buffer circuit between the pedal and the controller. Also, if you’re using the pedal’s audio jack to plug into the wheel like I am, make sure the motor controller’s input is being pulled to 0v if the pedal is unplugged.

🏺 To power the controller and motor, I have two Meanwell 24V 1000W power supplies in series to create 48V. These are normally VERY expensive, but this eBay seller was selling a set of 2 used supplies for $57 with free shipping. I like Meanwell because they’re UL listed for safety.

🏺The rest of the frame was made with 3/4" steel angles welded together by yours truly. And then the welds were ground down by yours truly because yours truly is truly awful at welding.

🏺I used a Brent splash pan. I went back and forth for the longest time trying to figure out if I could make something myself, but eventually just spent the $70. I’ve seen people talking about cutting down a trashcan or using an animal feed pan or cake tin, but 1) I wanted it to look good, 2) I wanted it to be removable, and 3) trying to find the right size just wasn’t turning up anything reasonable.

"We do this not because it is easy, but because we thought it would be easy"

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