For anyone considering a purchase, you should know it is not a steel wheelhead. It is a plastic composite wheelhead with tiny sharp grooves molded over a steel frame.(in order to use less metal, i assume to reduce costs) You CANNOT throw directly on this wheel (it rips up your hands) You do have to use bats and a bat gripper really helps stop the bat clanking problem.. I did not realize this when I made my purchase. And I am on my second wheel replacement at this very moment trying to fix it again, as it has a sort of wobble/vibration that has never been resolved. Might be a bent stem, or faulty bearing- but mind you this is the SECOND one they sent with the same issue. I wouldn't wish someone else to go through this with a wheel losing 5 years of time they could have thrown better work. . It has a great splash pan, the motor is good, the pedal response it good, but all the plastic parts that should be metal under the underside cover are not refined enough to satisfy someone who is looking to have a refined product to make art on. With the hood off, the wheel head pully rolls up and down like a bicycle that has been through a crash with a bent wheel. It's been very disappointing to work on for that reason. Excellent splashpan, however, and I wish they sold aftermarket pans for people to use on other brands of wheels with tiny pans. I will miss this pan when I move on to a different wheel brand.
Thank you for posting this for anyone wanting a more detailed review. I definitely agree that this is a mediocre wheel. My dream wheel would be a brent for its sturdiness and longevity. I have worked on 3 variations of wheels extensively and for anyone looking into speedball or shimpo, and needs a wheel for more than learning, go with a brent or skutt
@@thepotteredenYour welcome...that hand damaging plastic wheelhead was quite a surprise when it arrived, and doesn't seem like it gets described well in the advertisements to new purchasers. I'm trying to decide right now on an upgrade between a brent CXC or a skutt revolution(removable splashpan type) and leg extensions to try standing (back problems). Perhaps the hardest decision I've had to make in a long time. ;) No one wheel seems to have it all.
@@lakechild9669 to be honest with you, my wheel head isnt hand damaging. Its very smooth with the small circular grooves to help with centering, but ive always thrown with bats anyways and never actually thrown directly on that wheel head. But no, it isn’t described well to the consumer. I have never worked on/with a skutt but i know from other professionals that theyre very nice. I personally like the brents because in my years of teaching, i have never personally had a brent fail. My speedball has already failed and i had to replace the motor after i put out this video. I plan on doing a more serious review of this wheel in the future. The other wheel i dislike is shimpo. Lots of issues with sticky foot petals.
@@thepottereden Good info, thanks. I want a standing skutt, but I think the wellhead might be set farther from the body, making the back issues worse having to lean forward more, even standing.. It might be a brent cxc winning here in the end, although it doesn't have the big pan I'd love. Shimpo quiet seems appealing compared to brent electric hum but something about it seems cheap, so your input on the pedal is helpful. Thanks.:)
@@lakechild9669 absolutely! I taught in schools where those wheels got daily use and were pushed to the limit and the brent was strong and steady! You could always build a platform for your wheel! I have thought about doing that myself! As far as back issues go, i used to have bad back issues from throwing all day every day but i re-evaluated my posture and its been better since! I am not arching my back as much, i sit on a pillow, and i lean in with my hips doing all the work instead of my back, and it fixed the problem! Hopefully thats helpful for you! Best of luck with your new wheel! Its a huge investment and i pray it pays off for you!
ooo! Good tip on the bat pins! I actually took them off last time I detailed my wheel, soaked them to get all the clay off and had my husband attach them instead of myself so they'd be on there tighter. I haven't had any problems after throwing close to 100 pieces but I will try that blue loctite next time I have an issue! the speedball site said the wheel head is steel and if you take a look at the underside on my wheel head, it is metal.
@@thepottereden Where did you find on the site that says its a metal wheel head? I just bought a used clay boss and I almost didn't because of the plastic wheel head. I haven't seen any referents to a metal head and I looked to see if I could upgrade to one for the clay boss or the Big boss and everywhere I found them they were called plastic. You said yours was a 2015 model mine is either older or newer it is for sure plastic. Anyway thanks for the reply. Another youtube potter said the wheel head on the clay boss is metal also. Glad you got the pin thing figured out.
This is the statement I keep running into "14" wheel head with sturdy steel structure and long lasting polypropolene composite surface" meaning that the shaft, bearings and fasteners were steel but the wheel head on mine is plastic. Thanks for sharing your video. Your video helped me decide to buy the wheel.
Youre totally right! I either miss read or misunderstood! And thank you im glad it was helpful! Ill make another review of it a little further down the line about long term wear and tear from a production potter
does anyone else have issues with the bats wobbling? i have tried four different bats all form different suppliers and all of them are incredibly wobbly. what should I do to solve this problem? sounds like its not possible to throw on the mystery wheel head
I have had to just get pliers (2 pair) and hold the bat pins on top and bottom and crack as hard as i can to get them to stay. Also, when they get loose, take them off and clean all the clay off and clean the clay off the wheel really good and then tighten with the pliers. That should really help!
I'm a little disappointed in the review because you seem to take the 100lb center capacity as gospel. You were probably centering 3lbs and it was already groaning. While I don't think we need to see somebody killing themselves trying to center 100lbs, it would have been interesting to see you stack bags or boxes on clay on the wheel. Is the get up and go still there with 25 or 50lbs of clay. Would the groans become screams of agony? You should be able to tighten the batpins with pliers on the wing nuts and whatever specialty wrench fits in the top of the batpins. Doesn't look like an allenwrench like a lot of pins are but something has to fit. You seem like a fun person keep on throwin!
Yes, i really should’ve probably tested that but my kiln isnt big enough to fit anything of that size so it totally slipped my mind. This was an episode of something i like to call “punny pottery”. Its a series on my channel where i make pottery related comedy. Theres a youtuber who reviews and talks about cars, Doug DeMuro. I made this punny pottery in light of him. Im going to be making another wheel review pretty soon. I got this wheel used in early 2020 and im just finding out that its even older than what the woman i bought if from said. Having to replace the motor and saw that the motor has a referb sticker on it. Oy. Its a mess. The trouble with the bat pins is that they loosen with waters and time so they don’t stay put no matter what i do. Been saving up for a new Brent out skutt! Not sure when I’ll be able to get a new wheel though. Thanks! Check out my other videos! I try to be as thorough as possible
@@thepottereden Yeah I realize it was a take off even if I don't know the car reviewer. But you did give some good info about the wheel that somebody looking at ClayBoss might be interested in. I was talking about placing a 25lb bag of clay on the wheel and seeing how it works not necessarily making anything that big. Just the weight still in the bag would give somebody a good idea of how an old clay boss has held up. I probably would have been comparing it to IKEA. Cheap but functional.
