[Clayart] Looking for a book

[gerrg42--- via Clayart]

I am looking for a book from the 70’s about making your own equipment. It had a blue cover. I had a copy I kept for years. It wandered off.
I have a student who is making all kinds of equipment , like an extruder. He fixes my wheels and is always thinking about how to make things. He’s my mechanic and can make anything with metal. Has ridden unicycles for 40 years .
Today, he’s talking bout his ideas for a slab roller. I have an original Brent slab roller from the early days when Robert started in healsburg, ca. I also have a wheel from that era.
I would like to expose him to other people’s thoughts on equipment.
Anyway, I sure someone remembers who wrote that book. It was really popular then. Thanks!

Gregg Lindsley
Earth and fire pottery
Cobb, ca.
“At home among the lost and found”
Sent from my iPhone

[Vince Pitelka via Clayart]

Hi Gregg -
I think the book you are referring to is "The Potter's Alternative," by Harry Davis. I mentioned it in a recent Clayart post, because I built a vacuum deairing pugmill from the Harry Davis plans when I was a studio potter in Blue Lake, CA. The book is out of print, but there's a copy on eBay right now for about $55, which is a good price. Harry Davis was an Australian potter who had a powerful humanitarian spirit, and he made it his mission to teach people in remote parts of the world how to build their own ceramic equipment.

Before I became a full-time potter, I was a mechanic and welder for the City of Arcata, so by the time I set up a larger studio and quit the City, I had the skills to build almost all of my equipment, including the pugmill, a Shimpo RK-1 clone, ware carts, a 100-cubic-foot car kiln, and various other things. I consider my experience at the City of Arcata some of the most valuable training I've ever received.

If you want, you can direct your friend to my website. Click on "Gallery," and then click on "Railroad Stoneware" and scroll down beyond the pots. There are photos of the pugmill and wheel, and you can see the ware carts in several of the studio shots. If your student has any questions about any of this, he is welcome to contact me. If you go to the Documents and Handouts page of my website and scroll down to Studio Equipment, you'll find the handout about building the Harry Davis pugmill, and it includes the link to the Leu Pottery website in Australia, where you can download PDFs of the pugmill plans.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Potter, Writer, Teacher
Chapel Hill, NC
vincep...@gmail.com
www.vincepitelka.com
https://chathamartistsguild.org/

[Michelle Joseph via Clayart]

HI Greg, may want to try this one: The Potter's Alternative, by Harry Davis, 1989
Ebay has one for about $55.00 with a non-typical blue colored pot on the cover [other copies are brown/red].
________________________________
From: Clayart <clayart...@lists.clayartforum.com> on behalf of gerrg42--- via Clayart <cla...@lists.clayartforum.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2025 6:49 PM
To: cla...@lists.clayartforum.com <cla...@lists.clayartforum.com>
Cc: ger...@gmail.com <ger...@gmail.com>

Subject: [Clayart] Looking for a book

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.clayartforum.com/pipermail/clayart/attachments/20251212/c15a8105/attachment.htm>

[Barry Salaberry via Clayart]

Hi Gregg,
The Potter's Alternative, by Harry Davis.

More than a full meal for your hungry creator.

Barry

Barry Salaberry

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings tunes without the words
And never stops - at all!"
-Emily Dickinson

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...

URL: <https://lists.clayartforum.com/pipermail/clayart/attachments/20251212/4c36e327/attachment.htm>