Well Who knew?
The Shimpo Aspire Tabletop Pottery Wheel.
This little wheel weighs 25 pounds, goes on a tabletop, and is supposed to center 20 lbs. Yeah right. Looks like a toy doesn’t it?
Well I tried it out and here it is. No toy.
I don’t remember how much clay I used, but the pot stands 13 1/4″ tall. Not bad. Like any Shimpo I’ve used, (and despite the fact that this one is belt driven vs direct drive) it handles clay without breaking a sweat. Very quiet as well. I like the fact that despite all that strength, its very light and I can easily pick it up, stick under my arm, and go. I’ve tried a Soldner tabletop model (made by Bluebird) and it was great.. sturdy and strong, but very heavy.
Anyways, I was impressed not only by its ability, but by its exceedingly reasonable price.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:44 am
I almost bought this wheel but worried about the small diameter pan and wheel head. I ended up with the Shimpo VL Lite which I can pick up and load into the back of my truck by myself. Maybe not quite as portable as that one, but pretty darn portable! Thanks for the review! I might get one of these as we add students and need more wheels.
May 28th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
That’s pretty impressive! If I ever decided to offer mobile throwing classes this would be perfect…
May 28th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
One thing I neglected to mention, ff you throw with a lot of water (and I don’t know if you do or not), you are probably better off with the VL Lite Model. The splashpan has some issues: no drain hole and a small capacity. You would have to be quite attentive to sponging it out, *especially* when teaching,
April 18th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
[...] flopping around the studio, dividing throwing time between an electric kickwheel and that little Shimpo Aspire tabletop wheel I’ve mentioned in other posts. My friend Marilyn Farrell (from New [...]