An 8th grade student at Chualar School had mentioned the idea of building a pottery wheel. The idea was to have access to more art activities. The idea caught the imagination of a few youth in neighboring Gonzales and Watsonville and so they decided to give it a try.
Soldering fresh wires to the motorThe motor has wires, now it needs a frame to hold it tightLearning to cut metal with a hack sawFiling down the edges of a freshly cut piece of metal to make them nice and smoothThe frame is solid, we need some other piecesA trip to the hardware store for some partsCreated a wood model first before making the frame with metalWelding the metal frameThe metal frame looks about right, cleaning up the welds with a wire brushWelding the entire frame needs a real pro, luckily one of the days used to work as a welder and has skillsAshley learning how to safely use a power drillPedro teaches us how to weld properlyIt’s starting to look like an actual frameEveryone, however young, can help play a role in manufacturingChrissy shows the kids how to make a wooden box to cover the motor, wires, and frameThe frame fits inside perfectlyThe box is readyBefore being painted the frame travels to Watsonville to be ground down by Paul. The idea is to remove sharp points and edges that can cut a fingerBack to Prunedale, the box is being finished to make it water resistantDrilling pieces that will hold gears and pulleysBolting the motor on to the frameThe frame and motor are done. It actually works when you flip the power on!The frame is painted and a disk is attached.The kids take the pottery wheel to show the Principal, Mr V.Mr V is pretty good, he actually knows how to use the pottery wheel and gives suggestions for how the design can be improved in version 2Back at home, neighborhood kids are invited to use the pottery wheel. Each kid gets 15 minutes and they can keep what they make.Even little kids are welcome to try 🙂
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