Believe it or not, a wheel can be a good addition to even an elementary school program. If your district has the money,
I highly recommend it. Elementary age kids are the best for learning how to use a pottery wheel. They are still
young enough to not have inhibitions and predispositions about what they can or can’t do. Don’t worry if you are
not great with the wheel. You don’t have to be an accomplished thrower to teach throwing. If you are concerned about
your abilities in terms of demonstrating for your students, consider asking another teacher in the district or a local
artist to come in and demonstrate one day. Your local supplier might even have someone on staff who would like to
demonstrate. Failing all of that, there are some excellent videos on throwing which can serve a dual purpose of being
an easy lesson for a substitute teacher. Further, consider that you will not be the teacher in this school for its
entire lifetime. The next teacher may have throwing skills and would like to teach a unit on the wheel. It’s always
easier to purchase equipment on a bid for multiple items than later down the road as a single item. Not only is
there more money for equipment available when a school is being built, but your district will get better prices on
items by buying multiple items.
If you’re planning for a junior high or high school, wheel(s) are probably a foregone conclusion. Firstly, I would
recommend electric wheels. Kickwheels can be dangerous with that heavy fly wheel and a couple of ornery junior high
boys (or even high school ones!), plus they’re bulky and will take up a lot more space in your classroom, and they’re
very heavy, so once they’re in place, plan on them staying there (no redesigning the layout of your room in a few
years!). So the remaining questions become which brand, which model and how many. You might want to look at the
sample requests for quantities. Brand and model are the most difficult to decide. There are so many wheel
manufacturers out there now, and all of them have different features and claims about their products. As a starting
point, you can visit manufacturer’s websites (listed alphabetically, not by my preference:
Bailey,
Brent,
Creative Industries,
Lockerbie(website currently down, link to return when website is back up),
Pacifica (mfg by Laguna),
Shimpo,
Thomas-Stuart
You should direct further questions about recommendation to your local supplier. Hopefully, you have developed a good
relationship with them and they will know you and the students in your district, and thus can make good recommendations
specific to your needs. back to top
Stools
You’ll want a stool for every wheel. The most common is the Brent Stool. They run about $45.00
retail price. Creative Industries also has
some nice stools if your district has some extra money, they range
from $85.00-$175.00. Some wheel brands have seats designed specifically to attach to their wheels, such as the
Pacifica Seat, or the Brent Seat back to top
Bats
I would recommend a variety of styles because different students, like potters, will have more success with one style
than with another. The options are:
AMACO Plasti-Bats: These are the black discs that come in 8”, 10”, 12”, 14”, 16”, 18” & 20”. They are nice
because one side is smooth and the other side has a little texture, which is particularly nice for working with
porcelain.
Creative Industries Bats: These are the brown, injection-molded plastic bats that come in 12”, 14”, and
7 1/2” X 7 1/2” square. I particularly like the square ones because they don’t take up a lot of space and are
great for making smaller diameter pieces.
Masonite Bats: We sell North Star’s masonite bats. They come in 13” & 15” They are inexpensive, so you can get
a lot more. However, masonite will wear out before plastic, so you might end up even on cost overall. You can
extend the life of a masonite bat by soaking it in Thompson’s water seal. The easiest way to do this is to get
a round trash can lid, turn it upside down, pour the ater seal in and then one by one, lay your bats in the lid.
They will bubble as they seal. When the bubble stop, the bats are sealed and ready to dry.
Plaster Bats: We carry the Hydrobats, which are a combination of Hydro-stone gypsum cement (which is a fancy
way of saying that plaster and concrete have been mixed to create a substance with the properties of both
substances). However, Hydrobats are expensive. You can make your own plaster bats with the
Pure & Simple Bat Molds You can then have an entire
lesson plan on working with plaster and make some plaster bats! back to top
Bat Storage Carts
You will definitely want one of these. Bats should always be stored vertically to reduce warpage (although 8” and
10” Plastibats, & Creative Industries square bats are probably ok to lay flat) The Brent Batmobile stores 60 - 90
bats. (Dimensions: 42"h x 35"w x 14"d) I also like using the Brent Kiln Shelf Cart for Bat storage. It has
separators that are cool for using between different bat brands or different sizes. back to top
