Build Your Own Potter's Kick Wheel

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Casting the Flywheel and Securing It to the Shaft

For the Pulley Wheel Method:

Locate the exact center of the 24-by-24-inch plywood or birch piece. With a pencil and piece of string used as a compass inscribe a 23-inch circle. Cut it out and in the center of the disc drill a 1-inch diameter hole. Again, make this hole as nearly perpendicular as you possibly can.

If you have access to an arc welder the next step will be easier: Two inches from the bottom of the shaft, weld on the pulley, as perpendicular as possible. The more nearly perpendicular, the more nearly true your wheel will run. If you don't have an arc welder or access to one, use epoxy two-part glue and let it harden at least 24 hours.

The plywood disc is then secured to the shaft and pulley wheel with the four 2-inch V-bolts as shown in Fig. 8 (see Image Gallery). The legs of the V-bolts go through the spokes of the pulley wheel, through the disc and are secured with lock washers and nuts. Use the lock washers, as there will soon be cement cast around the nuts and you won't be able to tighten them once the cement is there.

Now comes the tricky part of casting the flywheel. First, drill four 5/8-inch holes in the disc, one in each quadrant. Secure some tar paper and make a mold about 7 inches tall around the disc. You'll probably have to tack it into the edge of the disc. Cut four 12-inch long sections of 5/8-inch dowel and place them in the already-drilled holes in the disc.

Before you pour the cement, you might set up a jig to hold the shaft and disc assembly plumb. This applies to either method (pulley wheel or pipe flange) of fastening the cement flywheel to the shaft. Make sure the assembly is rigidly supported, mix the cement and pour about 4 to 5 inches of the mix into the mold. The dowel sticks will soon be replaced by 5-inch bolts.

Make sure the cement is poured evenly and that no side is higher than another. Also, the cement should be poured closely around the shaft in the center so that the shaft can't wobble. Slide the top pulley wheel down over the shaft and imbed it — right up to the top of the pulley section — in the cement. As the mix dries, tighten this top pulley's set screw into the vertical shaft and epoxy the set screw. Once the cement is dry and cured you can also epoxy the pulley wheel to the cement for added strength.

As the cement begins to harden, move the dowels up and down to free them. As it gets harder yet — and finally sets up — replace the sticks with 5-by-1/2-inch bolts.

Let the cement cure before attempting to move it. This will take a day or two. Don't try to rush it.

For the Flange Method:

If you can't get pulley wheels you can use pipe flanges to secure the flywheel to the shaft.

It's more than likely you'll have to file out the threads on the inside of the flanges. Then, in the same way you secured the bottom pulley wheel, weld or epoxy two pipe flanges (one nestled inside the other) 2 inches from the bottom end of the shaft. Again, make sure the flanges are as nearly perpendicular to the shaft as possible. See Fig. 8 in the Image Gallery.

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