The World of Tikkun

Also [it was a busy day] drove to Keramicon in Kfar Mlal ["Mlal" seems to be an abbreviation for something,but no-one I have asked so far knows what it stands for,or even where it is] to take in my new but clapped-out Shimpo Whisper for repairs:I left with a new and bigger [motor] model,having tried out several wheels in their showroom. I think that the small model is not really for professional work [neither is the new tiny Brent,called the IE,which I also checked out at Keramicon]- so if you're setting up a studio,I think you're going to need a 6000 shekel wheel instead of a 4000 shekel wheel. Unless you buy the new Israeli wheel [like the 2 we bought for Tel Hai this year] which,once they make the foot-pedal a bit more substantial,seems like a good choice and costs,I believe,a touch less than 4000.
I've been working on my new Shimpo [catchily-named RK3E] this morning,and it seems to work fine- blissfully silent and no torque problems. It even has a little light so you can see when you've left the wheel turned on [v.useful,missing on the little Shimpo]. Amusingly,the different rotation directions are labelled 'forward' [clockwise] and 'reverse' [anti] - Japanese style. In the West [and Middle East] forward [usual direction of rotation] is anticlockwise...My only less-than-positive remarks so far: the tray is not as good as the Brent,which is itself not wonderful [the Israeli wheel,very sensibly,uses the Brent tray] and the Shimpo has a couple of bolt-holes drilled through the table in case you want to attach a ball-mill or even [I think they said] a jigger arm [are they serious?] which,if you are among the 99.999% of owners who don't intend to attach ineffective additional machinery to your precious wheel,need to be closed up with bolts to stop water and clay flowing in and wrecking the circuitry.Whoever designed that should be taken out and deflocculated.
If you do need to ball-mill some material,or want a good laugh,you might take a look at the rig I set up in a November 2006 blog [see archives].
Yaakov at Keramicon readily agreed to the wheel exchange,which I thought was very decent of him-good service is always worth a mention.If you want this wheel,you'll have to wait 'til the next lot arrive in January.