Thank you for posting a detailed description of your pottery wheel. I especially appreciate the links to where you purchased the flange and the pillow bearings. Could you describe the flange bearing a little more. The picture of the flange in the link appears as if the flange has no bottom. This seems odd to me. Before I start building I want to understand the design and how the kick wheel is supported. If the flange has no bottom how does the shaft not dig into the wooden base.
There isn’t any bottom in this bearing. What I did was set a steel ball into the bottom of the hole drilled down into the wood for the shaft to rest on (and slathered it with grease), ensuring the least amount of friction. Also, though, the plywood left underneath the flywheel rests on top of the bearing. Hopefully the weight is split between the flywheel resting on the bearings and the shaft resting on the steel ball.
Thank you for posting a detailed description of your pottery wheel. I especially appreciate the links to where you purchased the flange and the pillow bearings. Could you describe the flange bearing a little more. The picture of the flange in the link appears as if the flange has no bottom. This seems odd to me. Before I start building I want to understand the design and how the kick wheel is supported. If the flange has no bottom how does the shaft not dig into the wooden base.
Thanks for you help,
Bob
There isn’t any bottom in this bearing. What I did was set a steel ball into the bottom of the hole drilled down into the wood for the shaft to rest on (and slathered it with grease), ensuring the least amount of friction. Also, though, the plywood left underneath the flywheel rests on top of the bearing. Hopefully the weight is split between the flywheel resting on the bearings and the shaft resting on the steel ball.