Now that we've finally admitted to our wheel let's talk about some basic wheel terminology and safety. First on safety make sure you always adhere to the safety warnings precaution covered in the wheel manual. I'll give you a quick overview but keep in mind common sense goes a long way when dealing with this, this equipment materials. First, let's talk about our wheel. What we have here is our work table up front, right here would be our splash pan. These do pop off for easy cleaning, and different brands of wheels made different but essentially all the parts are basically the same.

Once we look beyond the splash pan and the splash pan is to catch trimmings and water during the throwing process. For the most part, I won't be using it so you have a clear view of my hands but the splash screen can help keep Your studio your classroom clean. So we have our workbench here we have our wheel head. Within our wheel head, we have bad pins, not all wheels will have bad pins. Some come with them some after purchase on the side, depending on where you at, you can throw directly on the wheel head if you choose, it can make removing the vessels a little trickier. And for some of our advanced techniques, you will want to use a bat.

Well I'm set up right now for a bat using the bat pins, which are these bolts right here. This year flat disc is a bad as a commercial batch and we'll talk about different styles of bats in the next section. This sets right on top of the bat pins. So as you throw your where you finish, you don't have to pick it up and handle it while it's still wet. You can just pop off the bat, set it on the table, put a new bat on it continue working. If you look over here on the right we have our control panel.

This is where the power Switch is and reverse and forward. Then also we have our control pedal right here. And the control pedal is similar to the pedal in your car. To further down you go, the faster it'll go. rarely, if ever Are you going to need to go full speed about medium speed is a good speed. All right, if you go too fast, it increases the centrifugal force pulling on that clay around the wheel and it can force your vessels to flare out to get out of control, things like that.

So a nice medium speed is a good speed. Now you notice I do have my wheel put up on bricks to give me a little additional height. I'm over six foot so that it helps save my back a little bit, lifting my will up into this workable position. So that is something to consider yourself. What I'm using here is a pretty standard electric wheel. There are a number of different variety of real wheels from kick and trettel to standing wheels.

If you have bags issues a standing wheel could be a good option and a lot of Potter's are going that way, and it's a little bit better on your back. But what we're looking at right here, this electric wheel is the norm for most classrooms in home studios. And it has everything you need. It has the convenience of being electrical power, so you're not kicking it and it has plenty of power and strength. Now speaking of this power and strength, we should talk about some safety real quick. These motors are very powerful.

So if you have long hair, make sure you pull it back in in behind your you know in a piggy tail. You don't want any long necklaces, loose, loose clothing, loose jewelry, nothing that can get caught in the clay or the wheel head and that can pull on you. Okay, right now my wheel is spinning in a counterclockwise motion. And this is the rotation that your wheel should be spinning for a right handed person. If you are left handed person, your wheels should be spinning clockwise. And this is important because our hand positions are going to vary.

You don't want the wheel spinning for a lefty if you're writing because we're gonna be working against the momentum of the wheel and things like this. And again, these wheels are powerful you want to be working with the momentum of the wheel. As we move through these positions and techniques, I will be instructing you as if you are a right handed person. So if you are left handed just please reverse the hand positions that I am talking about. Others just some common safety things to be aware of. Be aware of tripping hazards, water spillage because we are dealing with electricity and there is plugs floating around we are going to be dealing with water splashing around, things like that.

One of the biggest dangers in a ceramics studio is inhalation hazards from the dust and materials that we're working with. So as you are forming your pieces if things become dirty, make sure you clean them up as we move through this body position is very Important I try to teach a very economical approach to throwing on the wheel in a very body friendly approach. One of the big things is, I'm never going to tell you to force the clay I don't want you to force the clay. I don't want you to manhandle the clay. We're going to teach you how to use your natural bodyweight, your natural body mass and your center of gravity, your hips. This is where all your power is going to come from.

If you're trying to manhandle the clay, you may win the battle but the clay is going to win the war. You know, give yourself a couple years it's going to start wearing on your shoulder is going to hurt your lower back. So you want to be smart about your approach learning good technique now when sure a longevity in your ceramic career. Some key points for that is again propping up the wheel. Try to keep your back straight. Your knees when you're throwing should be lower than your hips to limit that pressure being put on that lower back.

Sometimes Potter's it may be a good idea to put a pillow behind you or rolled up towel to help tilt you forward. And again, that's going to move your momentum forward again, using your natural Body Mass, all these things can be very helpful. Don't forget to take routine breaks, walk around the studio, don't sit at the wheel for 10 hours straight, break it up, walk around, maybe do a little hand building or you know, do a little glazing then come back and throw a little bit more stretch once in a while and be aware of your body position. Sometimes we get so absorbed into what we're making. We're just like we're, you know, we're in the flow, we're filling the groove, and we're pulling that up or we're bailing out our form, you know, that we forget to breathe, we forget the position we're in and all of a sudden, we're all twisted and kinked up here, and then you walk away at the end of the day and you know, your back is killing you can hardly bend over.

Be aware of your body position. Don't forget to breathe, take breaks walk around. It can also be helpful to keep your knees level your feet level on the ground. You see I have a couple where bore stacked up here on my left side to help counter the foot pedal on my right to keep my feet level and even Those are a couple general basic safety tips. There are more listed in the text portion of the book. And I think that should get us started we're about ready to start forming