This is the story that I’ve heard about how we have a few Cardew Wheels in New Zealand. In the 1960s Peter Stichbury travelled to Abuja in Africa to work with Michael Cardew and when he returned home to NZ, brought back the plans for the Leach Treadle wheel and the Cardew Special wheel.

The Leach Treadle wheel was then made by Seaboard Joinery in Auckland and sold to potters throughout New Zealand and was also bought by the Education Department as part of the pottery equipment distributed to schools in the 1970s. I have 3 of these types of wheels and they are the most delightful tools to make pots on.

I knew Peter Stichbury for many years and remember visiting his studio as a teenager. The Cardew wheel was one of Peter’s main tools used to make his pots and I’ve been keen to have my own Cardew wheel for ages.

They are rare, maybe only a dozen were made and I’m very lucky a friend managed to find one and sell it to me. I have spent a little bit of time painting the woodwork and adjusting the mechanism. These wheels (also built by Seaboard Joinery) utilised wheels from Bren Gun carriages that were surplus World War II equipment – these became the heavy flywheel.

The wheel is spun by a motor driving a belt that rubs against the flywheel, spinning it up to a maximum speed, then you take your foot off the pedal, the motor switches off and the wheel slows down due to the drag of your hands on the clay. For small pots, once up to speed, you’re already centred and dropping the hole, so then the entire throwing and ribbing process is done as the wheel speed slowly drops, the final drag of the wire under the pot also stops the wheel rotation. So the best way to describe such a wheel is a partly motorised momentum wheel and they are a delight to use, different from the treadle, but still have the same body position and a lovely gentle feel when making pots.

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First up was another retaining wall behind the studio, which helps level the ground higher up the section and also makes walking around the back of the studio a lot easier. It’s the smallest retaining wall I’ve built on the section, but the most complicated with angles.

Next up was a staircase leading from the studio deck up to the new platform, way safer than the slippery grass slope. Fitting it in with the wall was a bit of a puzzle, still not quite finished but I’m waiting to see how the ground settles.

Then our little gallery needed attention, firstly a good clean, so all the pots and shelving was removed. Then a repaint of the walls as the ‘whitewash’ paint job was looking tired, a ceiling touch up and finally the floor was sanded and stained black and two coats of Danish Oil applied. The furniture also had a makeover (apart from the shelves that utalise an old ladder) some old rimu was cleaned, oiled and became the uprights, then some of the old shelving was cut down or joined together to make two new shelving units. More is planned as time allows.

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The heat also probably helped make it a quicker firing at under 12 hours. The clay mix was also on the final formulation so when the pots came out looking good it was a relief that all the testing was paying off.

So, our little gallery is now full of pots and open for business – check out our hours on the home page.

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Our second Woodfiring Workshop – Beyond the Basics also served as a training firing for two Waikato potters who will be helping in the future with firings in the Phoenix kiln at the Waikato Society of Potters. We all had pots in the kiln, but the emphasis on this firing was for the students to understand and undertake all the rolls with loading and firing a wood kiln; from picking pots, designing the stack, wadding, placement, wicketing-up, starting the fire, stoking to the log and adjusting the kiln dampers, ember air and stoking door, shutting the kiln down. As there was only two students there was also few distractions and lots of time to understand the whole firing.

The only hiccup was the country plunging into a COVID lockdown on the night before the kiln was due to be unloaded. However that didn’t stop me unloading the kiln as coincidentally, exhibition entries for two major competitions were due the same week and I needed to see if any of my work would be good enough to enter. There are some kiln maintenance tasks still to complete once the Waikato gets back to normal and the students can come and collect their work.

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There is a tendency with workshop firings that whilst the rostered on stokers are fully engaged with the firing, the off duty students tend to not keep an eye on some of the important transitions going on in the firing cycle. This is one solution that for short fast firing kilns works. The other feature of this workshop was in the emphasis on cleaning up, so the wicket was cleaned and ground as it was removed – making the next firing easier. The kiln and firebox were cleaned – removing the wadding, ash and nails. The shelves were left due to the awful weather, but there was a demonstration of how to clean a shelf and where to apply the wash.

The kiln load was roughly divided into three portions, one third for each of the students and one third for the tutor to offset the the work preparing the wood and hosting the firing. The firing itself was a success with some great results for the students and tutor and proof that this new idea for woodfiring workshops can work.

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We got off to a great start with most students sorting out their slipping and glazing before arriving on the Saturday morning. That meant we had more time to think about how to load the kiln, putting aside the appropriate pieces for the firebox, throat steps, bag walls and underneath the first shelf – all areas that needed the right size and shape of pot.

The students rotated through the various jobs associated with loading the kiln; pot picking, prop selection (and cleaning), wadding and stacking. Some pieces were shell wadded on their sides or in stacks, different wadding was used in different areas, ramp stacking each shelf and awareness of accurate shelf placing all makes for a better load.

The firing kicked off at 6am on the day that the clocks go forward, so a beautiful dawn greeted the first stoking team. The wood was regularly hauled up from the woodsheds, a mix of gum, macrocarpa and pine pallet wood. 

The kiln follows a log, no pyrometer is used, instead observations about what’s happening in the kiln are compared to the log to see if the kiln is on schedule. We reached the soda temperature (about a cone 7) in good time and set about squirting the soda mix into the kiln in various ports. It takes about an hour to get the soda in and then the last ramp/soak to get the top cone 10 down – all up the firing was 12 hours 40 mins.

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We also looked at a sample of other potter’s work to see the solutions others have tried to integrate a lid into a form. Understanding the balance between functionality and aesthetics, between the practical and the decorative requires a experimentation and a critical eye.

Throwing on the Leach treadle wheel and off the hump proved a new experience for some, as did the trick of using dental-floss to cut off the finished lid from the hump. We had two studio clays available for students to try – the 10% and 25% mixes, which showed how different clays can influence the way you throw.

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Both Charade and I were students at the recent Jean Nicolas Gerard workshop held at the Auckland Studio Potters. It was great to see such a fluid maker at work, to see the deft touch and simple gesture articulate his work. So, inspired and with a few workshop pots as guides, we both experimented with ways of incorporating some of what we saw into our own work. It was fun to try different approaches and see which ideas the kiln would treat well.

The darker of my clay mixes with the Karangahake flashing slip used a bit thicker and with more abandon was my starting point. A bit of sgraffito with different sticks, a bit of terra sigillata, a daub of glaze; all applied with a freedom born from inexperience. Some pieces undoubtably worked better than others and there were some pieces I’m still figuring out if I like, but there were some pots that a definitely on the right track and worth making more of…watch this space

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Another firing successfully completed with some interesting clay tests. It’s the testing of new ideas or technologies that are the pieces I linger over during unloading. This time three new clays from Primo were dotted throughout the kiln and a tweak of my standard clay mix.

I wanted to see how the clays flashed and reacted with the flashing slips. Also inside was a newish idea using water as a resist, splashing water on a piece then pouring a glaze that responds with colour variations due to thickness, kind of a randomising of the process.

We were lucky with the weather, somehow picking the one decent fine day of the week to fire. I’m noticing a slow creep in the wall above the throat arch, instigated by some excess clamming on the outside that I removed before this firing, but there was still about 4mm of creep towards the bag wall. The main consequence is an increase in drips on pots on the lower throat step. No effect on the firing of the kiln so far but does indicate that my H30 bricks are closer to end of life than I had hoped.

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It’s been good to get back into the studio over the month of May, making a new batch of clay up and starting a list of pots to make for the June firing. Starting with the standard ware range – pasta and noodle bowls, mugs and beakers. Then  larger bowls and pouring bowls. Changing clays to the dark Rahu blend and another series of forms – tea caddies, jugs and tea bowls.

The kiln always needs some maintenance, some repair more than the usual clean and inspection. This time a bit of insulating adobe around the base of the chimney. Then it’s into glazing and working out the combinations of liner glaze and exterior or highlight glaze. This firing we’re trying a new Barium Blue glaze out on a few different pots to see how it looks, different methods of application and placement in the kiln will test how it reacts.

We pick a clear weather window to load and fire the kiln, it makes the job that much easier if we don’t have to dodge the showers. Firing close to the winter solstice is often the easiest as you can see the changing colour inside the kiln better and spot the chimney flame sooner. We stockpile wood close to the kiln before it gets dark which saves a job at the pointy end of the firing when we’re soda spraying and stoking.

The firing went smoothly in 12.5 hours and produced good results. Now comes the last jobs, sanding smooth the rough bases and picking out the seconds and the exhibition pieces, everything else is destined for one of our outlets.

To see more of Duncan’s work from this firing then head over to duncanshearer.co.nz

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