New(er) toy

New(er) roulette wheel

I had to add the (er) onto "new" because I actually got this back in June, but am only now getting around to having a chance to play with it! I have obtained a collection of roulette wheels cast from original eighteenth and nineteenth century patterned roulettes. I cannot describe the amount of excitement I have for these! My first one which has been mounted was cast from a Philadelphia, I believe nineteenth-century, tool. It has such an intricate pattern and so many possibilities! Here is a close-up of the roulette:

Close-up of patterned roulette wheel

I tried making small cups to test out this little toy, I dried a few in front of the fan before rolling the roulette, which worked decently well, but still had some tackiness and the wheel took some getting used to.

Two trials

I tried the mug below in making a small bulge in order to press the wheel onto, but that did not go over very well. I should have taken a photo of the rather messy result!

My best result was from ribbing the side of the piece with a metal rib, spraying the roulette with PAM cooking spray and then pressing my finger on the inside as I slowly rolled the wheel as the pottery wheel turned.

Close-up of pattern

I think these new toys may be an impetus for building a pottery lathe in the spring! I think that will make things easier, and much more exciting! I hope to get the other roulettes mounted soon in order to share the other patterns!