Soderstrom Pottery Blog

In Japan, we made many of the pottery tools that we used. The belief is that, by making one's own tools, the potter has a deeper and more intimate connection with the work he or she creates. Of the tools I have made, my pottery wheel is the dearest to me. Many people who know me were not surprised that I wanted to make my own wheel, but were skeptical of what the outcome would be. The wheel that I decided to build is based on an English style potter's wheel like the one used (and made popular) by Bernard Leach. This type of wheel is referred to as a "treadle wheel." It is powered by the potter who rocks a foot bar back and forth. The potter is always in motion, which allows for subtle variations in forms he or she creates. The pots are not machine-made-flawless creations. It is clear that they are of an "organic" origin. This fits well with my aesthetic as well as world view, which I would like to share in future postings.
Getting back to the "nuts and bolts" of my wheel; I enlisted the help of my father in law, Greg, to help me with the construction of the wheel. He met me at the U of M one day, and we took pictures and made drawings of one of the old treadle wheels that Warren Mackenzie had brought to the "U" years ago. I made some changes to the Leach style wheel to fit my "left handed" throwing style that I learned in Japan. I found a metal fabricator to make all of the metal pieces for the wheel, including the stainless steel wheel head. The bearings I used are automotive tie-rod bearings. The wheel is constructed of a mix of woods, including Oak, Maple, Douglas fir, Cedar and Ipe. Each wood was chosen for different reasons, in different applications on the wheel. For example; Ipe was chosen for its resistance to rotting, and maple was chosen for its hardness. Throughout the construction of the wheel, which took place over a long weekend spent on the North Shore, we both wondered if the wheel would work at all. Neither of us had worked on anything like this before, even though Greg is an accomplished wood worker. Much to our surprise, the wheel more than exceeded our expectations. It has performed flawlessly for me over the past few years. It has allowed me to have a deeper connection to the entire pottery forming process. It is now a natural extension to my body, and the rhythmic sound of the treadle moving back and forth provides a meditative soundtrack by which I work.

My Wheel when relatively new

Ben Owen's Grandfather's Treadle wheel that Sarah and I saw in North Carolina

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who was able to come to the "Soderstrom Pottery Holiday Open House." I hope that everyone had at least 15% of the fun that I did. I am already looking forward to our next open house. It was a great way for me to share a little bit of the crazy life that Sarah and I have. Our friend Adam Stern provided 3 different homebrews for the occasion. The smoked beer was a favorite of mine. The studio was packed for a brief wheel throwing demo. After the demo, a few people had fun trying their hand (literally) at my "left handed" treadle wheel. I had so much fun sharing my pottery with everyone who came. We did a Raku firing after dark that produced a lot of excitement and photo opportunities. It was like standing around a 125,000 BTU campfire. It was a chilly night and the heat from the kiln was more than welcome. Several people took photographs and I have included some of them here. I promise that the next open house will be even bigger and better than the last!

People hanging out around the kiln

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Flames from the flue

Me putting on the fire suit

Reaching into the 1800 degree kiln

A glowing Raku pot just before going into the reduction chamber

The smell of burning leaves and pine needles filled the December air