Restoring our steam powered potter's wheel

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Morris & James’ William Boulton throwing wheel is being restored.  A team of early machinery enthusiasts based at Warkworth Museum are helping to return this historic artefact to working order.  To date, they have repaired a broken casting, and freed a seized shaft, so the ingenious cone drum mechanism which varies the speed now functions again.  The next stage will be a minor modification to the foot pedal, which appears to have come from a different machine.  The ultimate aim is to connect the wheel to a motor, so that it can once again be used to throw pots.

By Mike Rose