Leach kick wheel

I bought this off eBay yesterday:

It looks not to have been used for years and the wheel head is quite rusty:


How should I go about cleaning it? What I'm worried about is using techniques or substances that later prove to be detrimental to throwing - damaging the wheel head or leaving waxes or oils where they didn't ought to be. Anyone have any advice?

Oops ... someone forgot to clean the clay off the wheelhead!
Clay is very corrosive .... this always amazes me!
How about cleaning it with vegetable oil?

The head has come up OK - there's still some pitting but nothing too dramatic:

Looking good Tony ..... a huge improvement !

I think the wheel on my one is aluminium or stainless, so I can just leave it covered in clay!

I've started waterproofing the tray:


The only red in the shop!

This is with three coats:

I tried throwing today with some earthenware clay from Kerrie Lowe Gallery in Newtown: kerrielowe.com



The wheel is both more and less forgiving than an electric one. Here's my clay god watching over the pieces:

...... your clat go .... ?
Another language?
Looks like a kiln god to me

I turned the bottoms today. Clat-go, my guardian, surveyed the process:

*Likes*

I just bought a Leach kick wheel.....very cool really. Just needs a clean. Wonder when it was made, anyone remember when they were being made here in NZ?

Late 1960's early 70's as far as I can recall.

ok, thanks

This page http://www.robertcomptonpottery.com/wheels-of%20potters.htm has photos of Chester Nealie using a Leach wheel one caption includes "This beautiful Leach Treadle Wheel was made in New Zealand by Seaboard Joinery in the 1960's" .

Another photo of a Leach Wheel on the page includes in the caption "In 2002 Robert brought back to the USA two Treadle Wheels made by Seaboard Joinery of Auckland, New Zealand. The wheels were made in the 1960's"

Thats great info, thanks. Just cleaned the whole wheel yesterday, the wood probably needs a bit of oil.

Tony, you are just amazing!

Hi, I just bought a Leach Wheel made by Seaboard Joinery and would welcome some advice on refurbishment.
1. How do I remove the wheel head? I'm guessing it unscrews but how do I get resistance on the shaft to get it started?
2. How should I clean the wheel head? It is not too rusty but I see how Tony K's wheelhead came up looking new and wondered how he did that.
3. The wooden pan is loose and lifts up a few cms long the shaft holding the wheelhead. I don't remember that happening in the one I used to own 35 years ago so I guess some part may be missing or unscrewed. Any ideas what?
4. A large block of wood under the wheel head, through which the shaft runs, has come loose from the pan. Once I can remove the wheelhead I should be able to fix it, but want to check that it is original. Can anyone tell me.
5. Any ideas what the name of the green colour is that Seaboard used to paint the pan, or what type of paint I should use to replace it?
6. The leather bearing on the block between treadle and shaft has been replaced by metal (galvanized iron? ) Does this matter?
7. A cotter pin (or similar) is missing from the hinge end of the treadle. Does any-one know what the original looked like/what is a suitable substitute?
Thanks so much for any advice you can give.

This page https://makezine.com/2012/06/27/the-leach-treadle-wheel/ has info on Leach wheels including a link to a series of photos Simon Leach took of a wheel being constructed. It may answer some of your queries. I washed all the clay off the wheel head of mine then used wet and dry sandpaper to smooth it. I then oiled it with vegetable oil. My wheel was made in Australia and as I wasn't concerned about restoring the original colour of the tray I used three coats of enamel in the closest red my local paint shop had available. It is wooden rather than being zinc or copper lined.

Good luck with your project.

Thanks for that tip. I already checked out those sources and none had the information I was looking for. In the Simon Leach video the wheelhead is already off and he doesn't show any detail of how it goes on (threaded or otherwise)and besides it is a different model, made in the UK. The photos are also a differnt much later version and don't show the angles/aspects I need. I've emailed Seaboard Joinery, who still exist, to see if they have any old specs. I think getting the wheelhead off may be the biggest challenge. Maybe it just needs determination. Thanks anyway.

Tim Caulton has a Seaboard treadle wheel. He might be able to answer your queries. He set up the FB New Zealand Studio Pottery group so you should be able to contact him there.

Thanks. It turned out the wheelhead was not threaded and I got it off with little trouble. I've started cleaning it with sandpaper and have repainted the tray. Now I'm wondering how to get the flywheel off, as it's ply top and bottom have delaminated somewhat and I want to fix it if I can. I emailed Seaboard Joinery, who still exists and they kindly sent me the old maintenance notes from when they made the wheels, but they don't have details of construction. I'll check out Tim Caulton on the FB page. Thanks again.

I am also trying to renovate a leach wheel...with similar issues to others...
I managed to remove the wheel with the help of a blow torch and penetrating oil but I am now facing the same problem of removing the flywheel - the ply has delaminated so I need to replace it! I have removed the nuts but cannot get the bolts which pass right through the fly wheel to move. Are they threaded into the steel plate on the top or just inserted through an appropriate sized hole? Any help would be much appreciated!!