S. Leigh Whitaker 2007-12-28
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
I got this pottery wheel for my daughter for Christmas. I have a real pottery wheel and she wanted her own so she could do pottery with me. Being used to a real wheel, I had fairly low expectations for this toy, but my daughter was so excited about it I went ahead and got it anyway. Even with low expectations I was a bit disappointed in the product.
The wheel is very cute, but a flimsy (and loud). There is a covered slot on the tray. I'm not sure what it's for, but it keeps coming off. The wheel head is made out of orange plastic and slips over a hexagonal metal shaft attached to the motor. After using the wheel only one time, the plastic that slips over the metal shaft is already starting so show signs that it might crack.
If you have used a real pottery wheel you know that centering the clay is the first step. There is no way you could center even a tiny amount of clay on this wheel. The motor just isn't strong enough. The toy comes with a device that is supposed to center the clay for you. It is a small cup that you attach to the wheel, fill with clay and then remove. This is problematic, because the clay wants to stick to the cup and not the wheel. I ended up having to take the cup off the wheel and force the clay out, then stick it back down on the wheel and just try to get it as centered as possible. I can see this causing a lot of frustration for my daughter (and me).
The toy also comes with some tools for shaping the clay. We haven't actually tried them yet, but I did mess around with them. There is a arm that attaches to the base and holds the shaping tools. The plastic screws that hold the tools onto the arm do not seem to stay fastened in place. Maybe they will actually work when we try them on clay, but I am doubtful.
The wheel has a pedal that turns the wheel on and off. When I was using it it wouldn't turn off when I took my foot off. My daughter, however, didn't seem to have this problem, so it may be that I was pressing it too hard.
Even with all the negatives, I have to say that my daughter loved it. She's bugging me constantly to set her up to do some more pottery. Oh, just one more thing... if you do end up getting this you might want to order some extra clay. The clay that comes with the wheel is enough to make maybe 4 items.
