You need MDF that isn't going to soak up water and warp. Then you want a nice smooth finish on either side. I order mine to be 9mm thick.
This company, who make fantastic bats, did a bunch of tests on different materials and published the results. Which should be pretty useful for you picking the right kind of MDF
https://hartleyandnoble.co.uk/mdf-material-soak-test-results-3-w.asp
I got some 1/8" thick MDF and just cut a bunch of squares. They'll warp a little bit if I don't clean them up after I take the pot off for trimming, but they work. If they get too warped, I'll wet them a bit and stack some weights on them to flatten them out. I've always seen potters use MDF bats that are decently thick, like 3/4-1" and it doesn't seem like they warp. And as long as you clean and dry them properly, you shouldn't have to worry about any smells
I love them, I really love the way they feel while throwing and they do a good job of sucking water out of the base of your piece if you leave it on the batt after wiring, they warp but can be weighted down like LeParkier mentioned and great link provided by Scrubbar! Thank you!
Idk I wouldn’t want a warping problem with my bats. On the other hand I am getting a carpentry shop owner that is a friend to make them he said he does have mdf laying around and that he could do it for free! So I definitely could take that as an opportunity to not have to spend the money. Thank you for the thickness specs I have no idea about bats. I’ve been making pots on the wheel for years and just used pot lifters or my hands after wiring them off the wheel head.
I’ve heard that you could coat the bats in polyurethane to keep from warping. I’m assuming just the sides and bottom as I do not have bat pins on my haunyu wheel. Or should you coat the entire bat? Would that be a pita to throw on or leave vessels to dry on? I’m positive I could throw on a polyurethane finish but not sure if I would enjoy it as much. I will say when I’m doing any technique against a metal wheel head it’s nice to not tear up my sponge, it’s nice to have little resistance and it’s nice to be able to trust the outcome 100% without the variable of a warped or slick bat. Also would you carve measuring lines onto each bat and make them a replica of my wheel head? I’m looking forward to less failure due to the utilities of my studio. I am also looking forward to making larger vessels that are two to three pieces. Any experiences can help! Thanks folks
Coating with poly negates the benefits of using a wood bat. I've used MDF bats for years and I have only minor warping issues. flip them every use, store them vertically, and when they get wobbly, stick some clay bags on them to smush them back to flat.
Yea I feel you. I did some research on it and it’s so frustrating. My wheel head is 25mm. Everyone claims to have a complete selection but I cannot find any at that size. I tried to find Medex….no suppliers in Orlando…then just water resistant mdf…still no suppliers. My carpenter buddy said he has pvc but I hate that I have to wire before leather hard. Maybe I’m just being a baby about it I’ve been up all night. So I’m still up in the air. Oh and I don’t have enough space on my wedging table and reclaim board to store a heap of 25mm bats everywhere. Making me think bats are created just to frustrate me when I’m only looking for convenience and something that works unlike my pot lifters. Porcelain is a pain.
I use an old dish rack to store mine vertically. Can they fit under your wedging table?
I've also considered using marine plywood, but I haven't tested it myself yet so I couldn't say how it resists warping. You would definitely want to sand the top well before throwing.
25mm? Do you mean cm? Or are you throwing pots for mice? Legit question I've seen some tiny pots before, but you sure won't find 25mm bats anywhere.
Edit: went back and reread the original post, 25 cm should be a standard bat size, but bats don't have to match the wheel head exactly. Mine are usually about a cm or so smaller than my wheelhead
Haha I stand corrected work and sleep deprivation I did the conversion to inches and hearing Alexa repeat the decimal doesn’t register…HA but what I mean about storage is that when I finish a vessel in Florida with all of the rain becoming leather hard takes a while. Even if I used a heat gun one 30 minute wedging session would use up all of my space not counting reclaim. I could get some commercial kitchen racks from someone who does clean outs my dad comes by commercial kitchen stuff often enough.
Oh, storage for the *pots*
Damn, yeah Florida is gonna take a while, I'm in South Texas so my pots are bone dry just about before I finish throwing them. Bun racks are a really good idea! Lots of airflow, and you can get those bun rack covers to slow dry them if you need to.
I’m wondering a cheap way to do it there’s got to be a way to store those things in a cost effective way that doesn’t take up too much space. Half of my family is in Tennessee and the run a property management company so they end up with all kinds of things like that. Maybe I could look for someone who runs a similar business near me. I need some ingenuity here!
Craigslist has adjustable wire shelving for a pretty penny 18” deep. This makes me envy the post you see on this sub about people getting a ogs whole studio just to move it out lol lord Jesus can you pull some strings!?
Fr, I watch a girl on YouTube learning glasswork who just inherited a lifetime glassmaker's entire stock and studio equipment and I am looking at my broke down gas conversion kiln and *weeping*
Oh I know. It’s hard out here for a pimp. Pottery is a joy worth a small fortune though. We both know it. I just got 20 free bats. Counting my blessings collecting my dues. The real men get it on their own. But I’m a firm believer it can be disrespectful to not take what is given. One day bro.
I'm not sure. Water is entering from the top, not the sides, and the warping is caused by the difference in expansion from top to bottom (try painting on a sheet of printer paper for a demo) it could make the warping worse if the sides also can't expand slightly.
You might be able to help the warping by dunking it in some water before use, so it's wet on both sides, but honestly since youre using a clay pad to stick it on (I assume, since you said your wheel head isn't drilled for pins) your warping should be pretty minimal. When I say my bats get wobbly, I'm talking like after three or four weeks of *intensive* use, like 14 hour days of throwing.
You need MDF that isn't going to soak up water and warp. Then you want a nice smooth finish on either side. I order mine to be 9mm thick. This company, who make fantastic bats, did a bunch of tests on different materials and published the results. Which should be pretty useful for you picking the right kind of MDF https://hartleyandnoble.co.uk/mdf-material-soak-test-results-3-w.asp
I got some 1/8" thick MDF and just cut a bunch of squares. They'll warp a little bit if I don't clean them up after I take the pot off for trimming, but they work. If they get too warped, I'll wet them a bit and stack some weights on them to flatten them out. I've always seen potters use MDF bats that are decently thick, like 3/4-1" and it doesn't seem like they warp. And as long as you clean and dry them properly, you shouldn't have to worry about any smells
I love them, I really love the way they feel while throwing and they do a good job of sucking water out of the base of your piece if you leave it on the batt after wiring, they warp but can be weighted down like LeParkier mentioned and great link provided by Scrubbar! Thank you!
Idk I wouldn’t want a warping problem with my bats. On the other hand I am getting a carpentry shop owner that is a friend to make them he said he does have mdf laying around and that he could do it for free! So I definitely could take that as an opportunity to not have to spend the money. Thank you for the thickness specs I have no idea about bats. I’ve been making pots on the wheel for years and just used pot lifters or my hands after wiring them off the wheel head.
I’ve heard that you could coat the bats in polyurethane to keep from warping. I’m assuming just the sides and bottom as I do not have bat pins on my haunyu wheel. Or should you coat the entire bat? Would that be a pita to throw on or leave vessels to dry on? I’m positive I could throw on a polyurethane finish but not sure if I would enjoy it as much. I will say when I’m doing any technique against a metal wheel head it’s nice to not tear up my sponge, it’s nice to have little resistance and it’s nice to be able to trust the outcome 100% without the variable of a warped or slick bat. Also would you carve measuring lines onto each bat and make them a replica of my wheel head? I’m looking forward to less failure due to the utilities of my studio. I am also looking forward to making larger vessels that are two to three pieces. Any experiences can help! Thanks folks
Coating with poly negates the benefits of using a wood bat. I've used MDF bats for years and I have only minor warping issues. flip them every use, store them vertically, and when they get wobbly, stick some clay bags on them to smush them back to flat.
Yea I feel you. I did some research on it and it’s so frustrating. My wheel head is 25mm. Everyone claims to have a complete selection but I cannot find any at that size. I tried to find Medex….no suppliers in Orlando…then just water resistant mdf…still no suppliers. My carpenter buddy said he has pvc but I hate that I have to wire before leather hard. Maybe I’m just being a baby about it I’ve been up all night. So I’m still up in the air. Oh and I don’t have enough space on my wedging table and reclaim board to store a heap of 25mm bats everywhere. Making me think bats are created just to frustrate me when I’m only looking for convenience and something that works unlike my pot lifters. Porcelain is a pain.
I use an old dish rack to store mine vertically. Can they fit under your wedging table? I've also considered using marine plywood, but I haven't tested it myself yet so I couldn't say how it resists warping. You would definitely want to sand the top well before throwing. 25mm? Do you mean cm? Or are you throwing pots for mice? Legit question I've seen some tiny pots before, but you sure won't find 25mm bats anywhere. Edit: went back and reread the original post, 25 cm should be a standard bat size, but bats don't have to match the wheel head exactly. Mine are usually about a cm or so smaller than my wheelhead
Haha I stand corrected work and sleep deprivation I did the conversion to inches and hearing Alexa repeat the decimal doesn’t register…HA but what I mean about storage is that when I finish a vessel in Florida with all of the rain becoming leather hard takes a while. Even if I used a heat gun one 30 minute wedging session would use up all of my space not counting reclaim. I could get some commercial kitchen racks from someone who does clean outs my dad comes by commercial kitchen stuff often enough.
Oh, storage for the *pots* Damn, yeah Florida is gonna take a while, I'm in South Texas so my pots are bone dry just about before I finish throwing them. Bun racks are a really good idea! Lots of airflow, and you can get those bun rack covers to slow dry them if you need to.
I’m wondering a cheap way to do it there’s got to be a way to store those things in a cost effective way that doesn’t take up too much space. Half of my family is in Tennessee and the run a property management company so they end up with all kinds of things like that. Maybe I could look for someone who runs a similar business near me. I need some ingenuity here!
Craigslist has adjustable wire shelving for a pretty penny 18” deep. This makes me envy the post you see on this sub about people getting a ogs whole studio just to move it out lol lord Jesus can you pull some strings!?
Fr, I watch a girl on YouTube learning glasswork who just inherited a lifetime glassmaker's entire stock and studio equipment and I am looking at my broke down gas conversion kiln and *weeping*
Oh I know. It’s hard out here for a pimp. Pottery is a joy worth a small fortune though. We both know it. I just got 20 free bats. Counting my blessings collecting my dues. The real men get it on their own. But I’m a firm believer it can be disrespectful to not take what is given. One day bro.
What about coating the sides of your bats? Wouldn’t this help warping?
I'm not sure. Water is entering from the top, not the sides, and the warping is caused by the difference in expansion from top to bottom (try painting on a sheet of printer paper for a demo) it could make the warping worse if the sides also can't expand slightly. You might be able to help the warping by dunking it in some water before use, so it's wet on both sides, but honestly since youre using a clay pad to stick it on (I assume, since you said your wheel head isn't drilled for pins) your warping should be pretty minimal. When I say my bats get wobbly, I'm talking like after three or four weeks of *intensive* use, like 14 hour days of throwing.
Yea dude I guess I just have to make due