How we got here...

In the past few months I have been accumulating the items I need to transform my dank basement into a beautiful and inspiring ceramic studio. I have purchased a used kiln and a very old used electric pottery wheel off of Craigslist; both currently reside in my garage. Both items came from the spouse of a dead potter. Go figure.

THE WHEEL:Used electric wheels are hard to come by and they go fast when they pop up. The good ones are usually about $500, but this one was only $75. As I said, its pretty old. You can just make out the very faded label on the side of the built in splash pan that says Skutt and Sons. The company now known just as Skutt started out as Skutt and Sons in the 1950s. I think this wheel is a "model b". It is not made anymore but I cannot figure out how old it might be. The foot pedal is attached to the base by a ROPE. Yep, a rope. The way it is supposed to work is, when you press down on the foot pedal, the rope is pulled taut and turns on the motor of the wheel. It actually does have some capacity for variable speed - the more you pull the rope the faster the wheel goes. This is all in theory. I have used the wheel twice and I do it sitting on the steps in my garage with the wheel on the floor. I just place the foot pedal far enough away from the wheel so the rope is taut. The pedal weighs about 10 pounds, so it mostly stays in place. When I want the wheel to go faster, I push the pedal further away with my foot and it slowly slides back a bit, so the wheel is always sort of slowing down. I can't complain for $75 though. The wheel turns. The second time I used it, the motor made some grinding noises when I tried to push the wheel speed. Hmmm.

The wheel: note the rope.

THE KILN
The kiln is a newer model Skutt KM1018, purchased from a widow in Providence whose late wife actually only used the kiln for china painting. It's in great condition - almost new. It weighs like 300 lbs and I almost killed myself trying to get it into the back of my Honda Pilot with just this little old man to help me. I paid considerably more for the kiln, but still about half of the list price. It came with kiln shelves, but no posts. I know absolutely nothing about running a kiln.
I have been able to try out the wheel, but the kiln is another story. I will need an electrician to install the plug for it once it is in its final location (the basement). Before I can even think about how on earth to get a 300 lb kiln down the basement steps, I have to put some kind of sealing paint on the cement floor. Before I can seal the floor, I need to clean the floor and move everything out....You see where this is going.