Production of a Ceramic Kick Wheel Using Improvised Cement Flywheel

ABSTRACT
In ceramics pottery production, the means of achieving forms, shapes,
textures and general effects are as old as mankind's creation story. The
earliest men in history had formed clay into usable vessels which serve the
purpose of meeting man's everyday household need. Thus the origin of
pottery production as it has been claimed was born out of necessity at
different parts of the countries of the world, and can still be seen in today's
pottery making as many culture are still seen with similar shapes, texture and
forms of the old preserving their traditions. The means of shaping and
forming clay began manually, and has been seen to have also developed with
the advent of time and civilization as we know it. Pottery forming still takes
manual approach as much as mechanical. The industrialization saw the
development of manual pottery throwing wheels, electric throwing wheels,
jigger jolly, hydraulic press, injection casting process etc. while
sophisticated method is on the rise in developing countries, some regions
still thrives by manual means if the trade or practice is to be sustained. The
plight of unstable power supply (electricity) in Nigeria is such that has
informed the production of manual wheels and possible use of locally
available material to influence further research and sustainability of ceramic
pottery production.