The Professor made a drawing (Fig. 29), which shows just how he wanted it made. In the drawing, A is the cup-shape, which is the size and shape of outside the crock; B is the central stem; and D is the small pulley on the stem. This was mounted in a pair of arms like CC, and a belt was attached to the pulley.
"You have made a very creditable article. Now you may make a flat paddle, and shape one end so that it will be just like the inside of the crock."
Fig. 29. Potters Wheel.
The drawing (Fig. 30) shows how it was made, with a cross handle at the upper end.
That day the crocks were turned out in the following manner: The potter's wheel was rotated about sixty turns a minute, and the clay, in a plastic state, was put in the cup-shaped top, and the hands used to force the clay up the side wall. When the crock was formed in as even a manner as it could be by hand, the blade described was used to make the interior uniform.
The potter's wheel is one of the oldest tools known. Its use can be traced back for more than four thousand years, when it was well known by the Egyptians.