How to Construct a Pottery Wheel

You can save money by building your own pottery wheel from recycled materials.

Pottery wheels can be expensive to buy, so many people choose to construct their own out of inexpensive, recycled materials frequently available from junkyards and garage sales. At its most basic, a pottery wheel consists of a spinning wheel mounted in a table and powered by a motor.



A disposable pie pan makes a perfect mold for the pottery wheel head when filled with epoxy resin, and this wheel can then be powered with the motor from a secondhand washing machine.

Things You'll Need

• Wringer-type washing machine
• Hacksaw
• Radial arm saw or miter saw
• One 10-foot 2-inch by 6-inch board
• One 8-foot 2-inch by 6-inch board
• 1 lb. 3-inch nails or screws
• Angle iron
• Drill
• Six 3-inch bolts
• 1/2-inch plywood
• 1 1/2-inch hole saw drill bit
• Epoxy resin
• Pie pan
• Tap-and-die set
• HX 7/8-inch split taper H bushing
• Vise
• 1 1/2-inch long 3/16-inch diameter bolt and nut

Instructions

1. Remove the drive motor and transmission from an older, wringer-type washing machine. The spindle will be surrounded by a housing. Cut the top part of the housing away with a hacksaw so that enough of the spindle is exposed to make it possible to mount the pottery wheel on it later.

2. Saw seven pieces of 30-inch-long 2-inch by 6-inch lumber to frame a triangular support table. Use four of the pieces as legs (one double leg at the apex of the triangle and two side legs). Use the other three pieces as braces. Nail or screw two sides of the frame together into an L-shape. Mount the washing machine transmission to the cross braces using angle iron brackets (the cross braces should be at a height that places the top of the spindle at least three inches above the top of the wood frame).

3. Attach the final cross brace to the table legs to complete the triangle. Bolt a transmission mount to that side as well.

4. Saw a triangular tabletop to match the frame out of 1/2-inch plywood. Drill or cut a 1 1/2-inch hole through the plywood where the spindle will poke through. Mount the tabletop over the frame and spindle and nail or screw it into place.

5. Pour epoxy resin into a disposable pie pan (the diameter will depend on what size pots you eventually wish to make, but it should be at least eight inches). Allow the epoxy to harden and cure according to the directions for the brand you are using. Remove the wheel from the pie pan.

6. Drill and tap holes to mount a HX 7/8-inch split taper H bushing on the exact center of the epoxy wheel. Mount the bushing with the provided bolts. Place the bushing and wheel head over the top of the washing machine spindle and clamp the bushing into place with a vise. If desired for extra strength, drill a 3/16-inch hole through both the bushing and the spindle and lock it with a 3/16-inch diameter bolt and nut.

Tips & Warnings

• If desired, place a shallow 16-inch metal water pan (available from farm stores), with a hole drilled through it and a rubber grommet added, on the spindle before the wheel head is mounted, to act as a drip-catcher.

• If you have electrical knowledge, you can wire a cutoff switch into the motor so that it can be turned off and on while you are seated at the pottery wheel.

• Always use proper safety procedures when working with power tools.

References

• Mother Earth News: Mom's Washing Machine Potter's Wheel
• Mother Earth News: Build Your Own Potter's Kick Wheel