My Wife is a Potter. This is Her Second Attempt @ a Scuttle. Comments appreciated.

looks great I bet you could sell a bunch here!!

or do I smell a B&B LE scuttle

Very nice! I would say that I prefer a 1 piece design to minimize breakage, spillage of water, etc. The more volume of water it holds the more heat too.

Wow that looks really good.

If I were interested in a scuttle, I'd definitely go for one like that! I can't comment on price (having no first hand experience with them), but I'd say at least what other potters are charging for theirs. The scuttle in that picture is damn classy looking; your wife has talent!

I think its beautiful as well. If it were me selling them, I would probably go less than some of the more reputable companies like Dirty Bird, Georgetown etc, AT FIRST. Once they pick up some steam, and strong reputation, then I would start pricing comparably. Just my two cents.

That is a very nice design.

Have her make some small mixing bowls. Probably about the size of the inner bowl in the pic above. You can find polished metal ones on E=Bay for a go-bye pic. Make them large enough that a lg puck fits in the bottom and make matching LIDS for them. Nice colors and well glazed...I sure think they would sell..??

.....hope she decides to start selling them...........

............think she would have a ready market for them here and on other shaving forums.......

............. news of quality items and quality vendors travels fast.......

Very nice! Any lid should be optional. Some prefer a "web" rather than swirl design for the inner bowl with the theory being it promotes a better lather (swirl looks better). Offer subtle single color glazes, including white, that easily match bathroom decors (more creative are welcome as well). A smaller "brush scuttle" is a good idea. I'd be comfortable in the $40-$50 range. Let your wife take the keyboard for a bit to offer her vision of where she'd like this to go. I cut a round rubber disk that I glued to the bottom of my DB 1.5 that keeps it much more secure on a slick counter-top, that might be an option. Offer numbered limited editions...guys like to collect stuff here!

yes.

I agree with everyone else: that scuttle looks awesome! I like it a lot; the separate bowl is something I've decided I like in scuttles. And that's a fantastic color, too! I really want one of these, now! Tell your wife she's got serious talent.

I have a suggestion, if I might, for keeping the bowl stable during lathering (and for holding the heat in a little better): add a narrow lip/ledge on the outside of the bowl; size it so that the lip rests just on the rim of the lower portion. This will help make the bowl more stable and will (should) help hold in some of the heat--though given how thick the walls are, I don't know if that's going to be too much of an issue.

I'd pay $30~$40 for that kind of work, no problem (but I'm a bit cheap).

I like the two piece. The versatility of a scuttle that also doubles as a simple bowl is appealing. For me, a scuttle is something I would pay about $30 for with shipping included. It is the one thing that has not been absolutely necessary to my wet shaving journey, so I have not pulled the trigger on one yet. An inexpensive one would be a great plus, though I know time and money go into these things so I do not think most of them are over priced per se.

Your wife should pick up some books on running a studio pottery business. It will help her get a grasp on the business end, including pricing. Nice scuttle, good luck.

I have wanted a scuttle for a while, but like a lot of people I'm a bit put off by the price of the big names. Most of them are $45-$55 plus shipping, which many people will pay, but others can't.

Lately I have seen the Becker scuttles getting a lot of attention because they do a great job and they are very affordable. (They all run $21-$28 plus shipping.)

I'm not sure how much time is involved in making one of these, but if you could afford to sell them for under $30, I think you would have more orders than you could fill in quite a while.

CyberJCM said:

And as far as price, I'm the type of guy who is really particular about what I get for the price I paid. Currently based on the pricing of say the Big 4 scuttle makers 'round here, DB and Bonneyman are very overpriced, Georgetown is fair, and Beckers price is awesome. I'd shoot for between Becker and Georgetown. That's my opinion though.

Thanks for sharing, can't wait to see where this goes for you... and all of us!

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wow, i'm surprised at your comments regarding the Dirty Bird being over priced

The GT G5 is $45 and the DB 1.0 is $42. i'd take a DB any day of the week over a GT. from what i understand, the GT is not handthrown or clay or something. it's a different process and not nearly the quality of true pottery (sorry, my terminology may be way way off). the RB is cheaper, because again it is not a pottery item, it's molded and/or not made in the same process and would not be nearly the same heft and build quality as the DB.

to me the Dirty Bird is the best bang for the buck. proven quality, proven reputation, reputable potter (julie) and price is way below some others, and less then GT.

as for the Bonneyman, yes they are just way out there for pricing, but that's us Canadians for you

bottom line, they will all keep your lather warm, look nice and it's whatever floats your boat and which you like the aesthetics of the most.

Here's my personal preferences in a scuttle:

* One piece not a two piece scuttle. I have many nice bowls if I just wanted to use a bowl.

* I agree with the height of the bowl being too high.

* Consider a small drainage hole in the bowl part.

* As far as options, I like webbed interiors, options to have my initials on the outside, options to have a generic logo (i.e. acoustic guitar, etc.). Any chance getting the B & B logo?

* I would like having a lid.

* A fair price would be $40-$60

brucered said:

from what i understand, the GT is not handthrown or clay or something. it's a different process and not nearly the quality of true pottery (sorry, my terminology may be way way off).

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Based on their website it looks like it's hand-built, which means rolling clay out and cutting it to size and/or shaping it on a form, then putting the pieces together. It's "real pottery," just not wheel-thrown. Hand building can offer very good precision and repeatability, but frequently not the same sort of elegant shapes you can throw on a wheel. At least, that's been my experience thus far.

Songwind said:

Based on their website it looks like it's hand-built, which means rolling clay out and cutting it to size and/or shaping it on a form, then putting the pieces together. It's "real pottery," just not wheel-thrown. Hand building can offer very good precision and repeatability, but frequently not the same sort of elegant shapes you can throw on a wheel. At least, that's been my experience thus far.

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that sounds right and a much better way of describing it then mine.

Thanks for the clarification.

brucered said:

i for one, do NOT like the 2pce design for a BOWL scuttle. i could see it moving around a lot when lathering as the water would force it to float bit, so you'd have to hold it against the lower bowl and also the handle, and see it being cumbersome. i'd love to see a video of how you lathered it with water in the lower reservoir and how much it moved around and/or how you held it (pick up bowl and lather, then place in, or lather directly with bowl on water portion)

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I was actually talking with my wife about doing this earlier today. I used it again today for my daily shave and had no problems with the floating issue. The "alpha" version did, this one is much better. You can hear the pieces move against each other a little bit, but that's it. Even that is stopped if you put a finger on it, or reach your thumb forward from the handle.

Sully2 said:

Have her make some small mixing bowls. Probably about the size of the inner bowl in the pic above. You can find polished metal ones on E=Bay for a go-bye pic. Make them large enough that a lg puck fits in the bottom and make matching LIDS for them. Nice colors and well glazed...I sure think they would sell..??

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We have discussed some other items she could make. she already makes some nice lidded clay "boxes" for use to hold jewelry and other small things. Just a bit of adjustment of the size to make it compatible with a range of refills and they'd look quite handsome.

Face&Head said:

I cut a round rubber disk that I glued to the bottom of my DB 1.5 that keeps it much more secure on a slick counter-top, that might be an option. Offer numbered limited editions...guys like to collect stuff here!

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Interesting suggestions! The rubber foot is certainly something that would have appeal to some and not others. Either way, it's not much addition to the time or cost of making the piece. That might just be a universally available, no-cost option on each order.

Limited editions, huh? Maybe if things go well we can talk with the mods and founders and do one with the B&B logo on it. But that's getting *way* ahead of ourselves.

Add a lip. Close the gap. Heat might escape.

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Several people have mentioned things along these lines. Nice looking out. However, the way the piece fits together internally, it's not necessary. The inner bowl is in contact with the outer bowl all the way around. The visual "gap" is caused by the fact that the outer bowl shrank a little more than the inner bowl. The thicker top portion of the bowl is there to make sure it contacts the outer bowl if nothing else, but in this particular model the contact point is a fraction of an inch lower. It's a fact of life for wheel thrown (and sometimes even hand built) stoneware, unfortunately. Slip-casting, which uses dies and carefully controlled water/clay mixes, is more precise. Like the stuff used to make stoneware plates and bowls for decorating stores.

The first version of the scuttle actually had a bigger difference in size between the inner and outer bowls at the top, and relied on the lip concept. Unfortunately, the inner bowl shrank a lot more than the outer and made it very unstable, which is why we switched to this version. Plus the thicker top band adds weight, helping to avoid the "floating away" issue.



Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions. Keep them coming!