The wheel will throw 3 lbs of clay. The motor is really too weak for more clay weight.
The wheel does not go slow enough to complete a large bowl.
I added allen screw pins to the wheel.

One year update:

Still glad I bought this. It's now my dedicated trimming wheel with a griffin grip attached. I did end up spoiling myself with a shimpo, and its nice to have this one for trimming. I miss the smaller incremental speed changes I could make with this wheel. The shimpo isn't as subtle. I actually preferred the hand control for speed on this one.

Overall, I still think this is an excellent option for people who want to get into pottery without shelling out the dough for professional equipment. Only real issue is that you must throw directly on the wheelhead and wire pieces off (a good skill to learn) or drill bat pins - but very workable.

Update with issue:

After about six weeks of daily use, Wheel started a regular thumping noise and didn't seem true anymore. Removed belt and didn't see an issue there. Next step was to remove wheelhead. Cleaned out clay under plate and its now mostly smooth again. Tried putting silicone caulk around the plate to prevent recurrence.

I think the issue was caused by swamping the wheel bearing. I don't know if other wheels have a way to keep the wheel bearing water proof, but I'd recommend being careful when removing the splash pan to make sure no water or clay gets under the plate attaching the wheel head to the body.

It's been throwing smoothly again; I've been throwing 7-8 lb platters on it and its still mostly a smooth experience, though at this level its starting to be a bit more strained - still a smooth throwing experience, and I actually cancelled my speedball big boss order because this one is still working fine.

Need bats now; it's very easy to drill holes for bat pins so wish I'd done that at the start! Planning on doing that in the next couple days.

I've been throwing on it most days since the start of covid.

Original review: I was very glad I bought this and could keep throwing through coronavirus

I was worried about it because I've only heard of people using the expensive name brand wheels. But this has been better than I expected.

It's a smooth throwing experience, it's easy to adjust the wheel speed in small increments, and it spins very fast and has easily handled the four-five pounds of clay I've thrown at a time on it. I have no idea what the max amount you could comfortably throw on it is; I've never done more than six pounds (been doing pottery about a year) so not sure where you'd start running into issues. It's great for bowls, mugs, jars, teapots etc -

I've just been wiring pots off so far, but since it has no pins, my long term plan was to make plaster bats. I've read about people placing plaster bats on a wheel over a thin layer of clay, but I haven't tried that out myself.

Not sure how hard it would be to drill bat pins in it. However, very easy to just wire the pieces off with water for now.

The wheel does come with a thin layer of machine oil on the wheel and probably the motorized parts, too, so it will smell like oil the first couple times you use it, the first 6 or so times I used it, I was still wiping a little oil off the grooves on the wheel head when I cleaned the wheel.

It's lower to the ground than standard wheels in the USA. I find I am very comfortable with it on the ground (in a kiddie swimming pool in a bedroom) while I sit on the lower step of a stool. You could prop it up in bricks or a table or something; the rule seems to be have your seat same height as the wheel, and I know in some parts of the world people have their wheels on the ground so this isn't that unusual (though it's not the same setup as most American wheels)

UPDATE: Used it about 25 times now. Still good. Wheel goes fast so I've had to learn to adjust downward when centering. I'd say the top speed on this wheel is a fair bit higher than you want! Will update again ifI encounter any issues.

I bought this as a Christmas present for a friend who has been doing pottery for years. However, she was not confident in using, throwing a pot. She absolutely loves this wheel"¦ easy to use and clean. We made a stand with locking wheels to make it portable and two inches taller.

Even celebrity potheads who do pro level pottery like it and so will you.

A solid construction, hilariously simple and genius usage of a scooter handle throttle, btw (flip it over and peek under the skirt to see what I mean). Being an engineer building similar, but super costly and high end devices that are functionally not that different, I heartily applaud the manufacture and design despite what some may claim is 'cheap'. News flash, IT'S CHEAP.

What is also is, is SOLID and it WORKS GREAT. Motion is very stable, more than enough torque and speed. You could throw bigger pieces on it too other than that the lowest speed is too fast for a large diameter piece. I'd put 20lbs of clay on it without concern. Most pro-wheels are massively over-spec'd because they have very low speeds and that's quite abusive on induction motors. For a speed controlled motor with an impressive level of performance and repeatability and stability, this is a very inexpensive and durable solution.

Honestly if you know how to do it, replacing the controller or motor/controller with a unit that can manage much lower speeds safely would be a better investment than a small pro-wheel.

Bearings are very solid and smooth. The primary abuse for bearings in a wheel is the force you shove down with, not to the side, and the gritty material you are trying to pour into them. The seals are appropriate types and should outlast your hobby as well as the next ten people who inherit and discard the hobby from you. Again, another thing that could be upgraded in the future if needed, but the wheel blocks 99.9% of intrusion as well so the seals should last about 10 years of continuous usage just from general wear.

Washdown from the top safe, no water intrusion. Don't wash it upside down, it's not built for that. For that matter don't operate it in a pool of water, the water goes on the top, but who operates electrical equipment in the pool? Not me recently.

Should you buy it? Do you want to make pottery at least 2-3 times and possibly for the rest of your life but don't have a wheel? Even if you've got the money for a big pro wheel, start here. Totally suitable for low to medium scale production pottery work as well and easily upgraded to anyone who knows the basics of rotating equipment and/or sewing machine repair/modifications.

I bought this wheel 5 months ago and I've used it anywhere between multiple times a day to once a week, depending on the time I have for hobbies. I bought this because my pottery class couldn't have studio hours during the pandemic, so practicing wheel throwing was out of the question. In short, it is an amazing value that really helped me improve.

Big wins:
* Perfect for a home studio practice wheel
* The joy to money ratio is amazing
* I actually do use the metal trimming tools that it came with. The plastic ones aren't useful in my opinion.
* Quiet and smooth operation.
* Speed adjustment is smooth and continuous, not "stepped" or "discrete".
* Adjusting the wheel to be level was easy
* Handled centering approx. 7 pounds. (I'm not making huge pieces. )
* No issues with rust on the wheel or other oxidation.
* Splash pan was easy to remove and hose off in the yard
* With practice, I actually managed to make functional stuff in class instead of a series of collapsed bowls.

Some tradeoffs:
* The lowest possible speed is a bit fast for my tastes.
* The bar which operates the pedal speed is a bit rickety, took a few tries to get it situated
* It's possible to tip the wheel a bit of you hit the pedal too aggressively, and generally I have to reposition my body to adjust the speed, so it's hard to make micro-adjustments to the wheel while both my hands are actively working.
* I thought there was a slight (1 millimeter) wobble or "thump" to the wheel but it ended up not impacting my craft too much.

Things that have helped me working with this wheel:
* The top right splash guard pocket is the exact right width for tall takeout soup recyclable tupperware (the one's you get when you order pho). Use that instead for an increased volume of throwing water.
* If you don't watch your splash guard water levels you might notice some water leaking under the seams of the raised pan.
* I've put my wheel on a workshop plush foam mat to increase the stability of the wheel and protect my floors.
* I wire my pieces off and then use metal pottery piece removers to place them on bats, if I were making a lot of plates, the lack of bat pins could become problematic.
* A regular chair will be too tall for this wheel. I use a 13 inch step-stool.