The Best Full-Size Slab Rollers for Ceramic Studios

 
Bailey DRD / II ceramic slab roller machine

The Bailey DRD / II gear reduction slab roller pictured here with the shorter 51” table.

 

Slab rollers are great for slab-built pottery, tiles, and sculptures. While you might be able to get by with a rolling pin, if you use slabs regularly, a slab roller should be an integral part of your studio And while full-size slab rollers can take up a chunk of space, having the ability to easily make slabs is worth it.

This post covers all the full-size slab rollers on the market from five manufacturers: Bailey, Nidec Shimpo, North Star, Brent, and the Hi Roller. For a guide to smaller portable or table top slab rollers, click here.

Top Pick: Bailey DRD / II Gear Reduction models

Bailey DRD / II slab roller with 69 inch table

The 24 inch wide Bailey DRD / II slab roller pictured here with the 69” table. Note the two wheels for ease of moving the table.

The Bailey DRD / II slab rollers with the gear reduction feature are the best slab rollers on the market. These slab rollers are a joy to use, can quickly take up to 2 inches of clay down to an even slab, and are extremely durable and long lasting, suitable for a professional, academic, or personal studio.

The machine features steel rollers, a large 34” wagon wheel handle for easy turning, and one adjustment knob that raises and lowers the top roller. The slab roller can be adjusted from an ultra-thin 1/16” up to 1 1/2” .

This machine feature a reverse-thread handle adapter to prevent damage to the machine, but be careful—what this means in practice is that you can unscrew the wagon wheel handle and it will fall off. (Make sure students are trained on this machine.) On the shorter 51” table, the 34” handle is quite large but it is easy to use and turn, even with large amounts of clay.

The only other (small) drawback is that if one is not careful, canvas can be pulled under the feed table and ends up wrapping around the bottom roller. But once one is accustomed to the roller, it becomes second nature to avoid this.

Bailey makes a few different rollers, but the DRD / II gear reduction models are what you want. The cost about $100 extra for the gear reduction but they are simply the best slab roller on the market.

The Bailey DRD / II gear reduction models are available in a 24” width as a machine only ($1,380), with a 51” table ($1,780), or a 69” table ($1,999). The 30” models have the same option and generally cost about $200 more.

Budget Pick: Nidec Shimpo SR-3050 Slab Roller

Nidec Shimpo ceramic slab roller machine

The Nidec-Shimpo Slab Roller

The Nidec-Shimpo SR-3050 slab roller is a studio workhorse that will turn out great slabs. It features a double roller that sits in the middle of a 30 x 50 inch table with a wagon-wheel handle. Slab thicknesses can range from an ultra-thin 0.1” up to 3 inches, and the top roller is adjusted by moving the two handles.

Adjusting the two rollers can be a bit annoying and the table is somewhat small, but all things considered, this is a great roller that is listed around $1,100 and often can be found for around $900. The short feed area can be fixed by adding a wing or placing the machine next to another table.

The Bailey DRD II and the Shimpo slab roller are just two of many full-sized slab rollers on the market. Keep reading for a complete guide, or click here to read about small and portable table top rollers.

Table of Contents

  1. Top Pick: Bailey DRD / II Gear Reduction Roller

  2. Budget Pick: Shimpo Slab Roller

  3. How to Shop For a Slab Roller

  4. North Star Slab Rollers

  5. The Hi Roller Vertical Slab Roller

  6. All Bailey Slab Rollers

  7. Brent Slab Rollers

  8. Slab Accessories

  9. Summary

How To Shop For A Slab Roller

It can be confusing to shop for a slab roller, as Bailey and North Star in particular make a variety of slab rollers that can be ordered with a variety of table sizes and features. Here’s a guide of how to shop and pick out rollers.

1. Start With Roller Width

Full size table top rollers range from 24 to 40 inches wide. In practice, your widest slab will probably be about 2 inches less than that. Even a 22 inch wide slab can be quite large! But if you are doing large tile projects, the 30 or 40 inch models will be needed. For an individual studio, a 24 inch roller might be quite large—maybe a table top roller is what you need.

2. Table Size

The important considerations here are the size of the table where you feed in the clay, the size of the “output” area, and the total size of the table. In addition to width, the table size will determine how long of a slab you can make. Once again, I’d suggest that a 22” wide slab by say 24” long is quite large! But if you have a larger table, you have more working area.

Shimpo, Brent, and the Hi Roller machines come in one size. But Bailey and North Star let you choose the table size. With Bailey it’s a 51” or 69” long table, and North Star options are 48” or 72” inches, and North Star also sells prop-up “wings” that extend the table. With Bailey and North Star, you can also buy the machine only and build your own table.

With any roller, measure the complete table and make sure it is suitable for your studio.

3. Rollers

Most high-quality rollers have a double roller. This will give your slab pressure from both sides, and results in a more even slab. Brent Rollers just have a roller on one side, which along with the heaviness of the table is why we don’t recommend Brent rollers.

4. Handle / Crank Mechanism

Most of these large rollers come with a wagon wheel handle, but some have a crank. A wagon wheel makes it easy to turn, but does take up more room. Consider the Bailey rollers with the short table: a 34” wide wagon wheel handle is paired with a 51” table. It’s a bit crowded. Smaller table top rollers generally have a crank rather than a wagon wheel.

5. Gear Reduction / Safety Mechanisms

Any slab roller should be treated with respect and they can be damaged if they are turned the wrong way or too much clay is forced through the rollers. Bailey makes a gear-reduction model that is even easier to turn, and also has a reverse-threaded wagon wheel so that you can’t turn the gears the “wrong” way and damage the machine.

6. Durability

All of the machines reviewed here are well built and will be long lasting if not abused. In my experience, the Bailey, Shimpo, and North Star machines hold up best under intense use in academic or community studios. The Hi Roller is fussy but can make nice albeit small slabs. The Brent rollers are extremely heavy and basically bomb proof welded steel, but if the shims get wet they can warp and the wires can snap if used improperly. So many academic studios have Brent rollers but the other four manufacturers make machines that are simpler, lighter, and easier to maintain.

North Star Slab Rollers

The North Star 30 inch wide Super Roller with table.

North Star makes two styles of slab rollers: the “standard” line has crank-driven 2 1/2” double rollers available in 18”, 24”, and 30” width as machine only, table-top portarollers, or in 48” long tables. (Our top pick for a portable roller is the 18” Portaroller from the North Star standard series.) The two larger rollers in the standard line can also be ordered with wagon wheel handles.

The “super” series features wagon-wheel driven 4” wide double rollers with a gear reduction in 24”, 30”, or 36” width in 72” long tables. If you are a production shop or a busy academic studio, the Super series is what you want, whereas the standard line is great for individual studios.

North Star also makes a variety of accessories, such as fold-out wings to extend the length of tables, and extra shelves for the roller table.

These are great rollers. The only drawback compared to the Bailey DRD / II models is that North Star has two height adjustment knobs, rather than one that moves the entire top roller. North Star mentions that this makes “tapered slabs” possible, but truth be told, that’s a concept I’ve only heard mentioned in their marketing copy.

North Star Standard rollers range from around $1100 to $1200 for a roller and table.
Super series rollers start at around $1500 for the 24” roller and table, and go up to $2355 for the 36” roller and table. All the models are available for less as machine only, if you want to build your own table.

The Hi Roller Vertical Slab Roller

The Hi Roller vertical clay slab roller machine

The Hi Roller Vertical Slab roller is a space-saving machine that is easy to crank.

The Hi Roller is an interesting entry for the full size slab roller because it can be wall mounted or stand on its own, taking up very little space while providing great (if somewhat small) slabs. The rollers can be adjusted easily with a dial, clay is placed near the rollers, and a small crank easily moves the clay down between two pieces of canvas. Then, the clay is cranked back up, often sticking just enough to the canvas until you remove it.

This all sounds great, but in practice, this is a fussy machine. Sometimes the clay drops below the rollers and won’t come back up, and it’s hard to make large slabs. So there is some trade off but if floor space is a premium in your studio, this is the roller for you.

The Hi Roller is generally available for around $1,450-$1,500.

Bailey Slab Rollers

Bailey makes a somewhat confusing array of slab rollers so hopefully this outline of their product line will help.

The Bailey 40” DB Drive Board roller with electric motor.

The DRD / II slab roller from Bailey is the top pick for a slab roller (see top of post) and is available in a 24” or 30” model in either direct drive or gear reduction models. It’s worth the extra $100 for the gear reduction—why not make it easier to crank out slabs? The DRD / II models have 2 1/2 inch diameter rollers.

The original DRD model is still in production, and is available in 30” or 40” width. The DRD features 4” diameter rollers, designed for professional studios or heavy use by academic studios. These are amazing, big rollers. They are also available with electric motors.

Finally, Bailey also makes the DB or Drive Board rollers in 30” or 40” widths. These machines have a single roller on top and a drive board that travels with the slab, allowing for more even compression and protecting the slab from bunching or bogging down in the machine. These are best for tile and architectural tile work.

Brent Slab Rollers

Brent SR-30 Slab Roller

The Brent SR-30 Slab Roller

Brent makes three slab rollers with a wagon wheel (the SR-14, SR-20, and SR-30) and one model (the SRC) with a crank handle. All are rather overbuilt with heavy steel bases, and single wheels that move over the top of the slabs, and have wires underneath the roller table covered in sticky grease. The slab thickness is adjusted by adding or removing canvas-covered shims.

These slab rollers are quite common but I would avoid them whether new or used. Here’s why:

> Adding or taking out shims is a pain. Also, this process generally results in a lot of dust being created.

> Single roller, only pressure from the top rather than a double roller.

> Heavy. So heavy. You’ll need a forklift or about 6 people to move these. They are unnecessarily heavy.

> Hard to maintain. Have fun repairing the guide/crank wire when it snaps! (Misuse by students can easily break this wire)

> Warped shims: I once used a Brent roller that had water damage and all the shims were warped, resulting in uneven slabs.

And finally, expensive. All that metal costs money. These rollers ranged from $2,000 up to $3,700. Sure, if properly maintained and used you will get fine slabs, especially if you never change the slab thickness. But any other machine will be better.

Slab Accessories

A few things that will make working with slabs easier:

Slab Mats

Slab mat

Slab mats are available in a variety of sizes and are great for rolling slabs or handbuilding.

Slab Mats are a plastic fabric with one side smooth and the “working” side has a bit of a fuzz. They are less flexible than canvas, but are also great for putting through rollers, moving slabs around, or just as a working surface to protect your table tops. Most normal clay uses (fettling knives, craft knives, needle tools, etc) won’t cut through these. Small sizes can also be used as small bats for handbuilding, or get a larger piece to run through your roller.

Canvas

Unprimed, raw canvas is a great working surface that can be laundered.

For slabs, unprimed canvas is also great for rolling and moving around the studio. With a canvas blanket, you can cut to your desired shape and either hem or leave the edges unhemmed. Canvas can be washed over and over again by hand or in the washing machine. Frequent washing will help keep the dust down, and does soften the material over time. #12 / 12 oz canvas is a great place to start, or go slightly thicker with #10 / 15oz canvas.

Rolling Pin

Solid maple rolling pin

A solid maple rolling pin is a useful studio tool that is easy to clean.

A solid maple rolling pin is a must-have for any ceramic studio, even if you have a slab roller. For small things, it’s usually easier to roll by hand. Pair this with a few wooden slats or yard sticks, and you’ve got an adjustable slab rolling system.

A solid rolling pin is better than a rolling pin with bearings or moving parts, because there is nothing to break and it is easy to clean the entire rolling pin with water. Rolling pins come in a variety of sizes but a 24” wide rolling pin is still easy to maneuver but large enough to make really big slabs. At around $30, this is an affordable studio tool that will last forever.

Summary

This post has covered every large or full-size slab roller on the market, including models from Bailey, North Star, Nidec-Shimpo, Hi Roller, and Brent.

The top pick is the DRD/II gear reduction slab roller from Bailey, but there are lots of options for a wide variety of budgets. All of these rollers, if properly used, will make great slabs but there are some superior options (Bailey, Shimpo, North Star) based on price, weight, and quality of features.

What slab roller do you use in your studio? Let us know in the comments.

How to Rip Sandpaper

Sandpaper ripped into eight pieces.

Sandpaper is a great studio tool but you usually don’t need to use a whole sheet at once. This tutorial will cover how to easily rip sandpaper into eight even pieces that are useful for small jobs such as sanding pottery ware, cleaning up rough wood, or any job. It’s a simple technique that results in even, rectangular pieces.

If you are doing any studio task that create dusts, wear a good dust mask or respirator. (Read our guide here) Or if you can, sand wet so that no dust is created.

For a guide to sandpaper and abrasives, click here.

This tutorial uses 3M Pro Grade Sandpaper. It’s plastic backed, making it longer-lasting and suitable for wet sanding. It’s the best for ceramics and just about any other art studio use. Look for the “no-slip grip” sandpaper.

For sandpaper grits, I like to stock 60 and/or 80, 120, 200, and 400 grit.

How to Rip Sandpaper Into Smaller Pieces

Here’s how to rip a sheet of sandpaper into eight even pieces.

Step 1

Starting with a full sheet of sandpaper, fold it in half vertically (the long side) and crease.

Full sheet of sandpaper

Full sheet of sandpaper

Fold in half

Step 2

Ripping a creased sheet of sandpaper

Rip along the crease

Then, rip the sheet in half along the crease. You may rip a bit unevenly at first, but with practice you will get an even rip.

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Step 3

Then on the long side of the smaller pieces you have just made: fold, crease, and rip.

Fold, crease, and rip again

Square pieces might be useful, but we’ll keep going.

Step 4

Continue to fold pieces in half, crease, and rip. I find that ripping a sheet into eight sheet results in a useful size.

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Step 5

Sandpaper ripped into eight pieces.

When you are at eight rectangular pieces, you are set. Now, find a small cup or box to store them in.

Summary

What sandpaper do you use in your studio? How do you rip and store it? Let us know in the comments.

You might enjoy:

Complete Guide to Sanding and Abrasives for Ceramics and Pottery

Best Wet Polishers

Best HEPA Vacuum for ceramics and woodshops

How to Make an Interchangeable Grinding Disc for Your Pottery Wheel

Shopping links:

Best Small Test Kilns for At-Home Firings on 120V

The Skutt KMT-614 Kiln Master Touchscreen Kiln, the top pick for a small at home electric kiln that can plug into a regular 120V outlet.

A small kiln or test kiln is a great addition to any studio. They allow you to quickly fire test tiles, small pieces, beads, jewelry, or doll parts. And the good news is that there are a variety of great options for test kilns that plug into a regular household 120V outlet on a 20 amp fuse, which means that you probably don’t need to rewire anything. (Although it is always recommended that you check with an electrician before installing an electric kiln.)

Test kilns are also a great addition to academic, teaching, or production studios because they fire hot and fast, allowing you to do tests or make small pieces without having to fill an entire large kiln. As with any kiln, safety is of utmost concern and test kilns should be kept in clean, fire-proof areas and be placed at least 12 inches from drywall, or anything flammable.

There are a lot of small kilns but most don’t go hotter than 2000 degrees, which is just enough for working with low-fire clay. This post will focus on kilns that can reach cone 6 or hotter, or around 2200 to 2350 F. The post includes kilns from Skutt, Olympic, Paragon, ConeArt, L&L and Cress that meet these specifications:

  • Fire on 120 V power with a 20 amp fuse (typically found in North America in households)

  • Can reach Cone 6 / 2250 F or hotter

  • Use a standard plug found in North America

The Skutt KM-614 is a supersized test kiln with an 11 x 11 x 13.5 inch tall kiln chamber, a standard Skutt controller, and can reach as high as cone 6.

TOP PICK: Skutt KM-614 or KMT-614

The Skutt KM-614 or KMT-614 models are more of a mini-kiln than just a test kiln, and either model is the top pick for a small test kiln because of it’s larger size and ability to reach cone 6.

The models are identical except the KM model has a push button controller and the KMT has a slightly more expensive touchscreen controller. This kiln runs on 115V and needs a 20 amp fuse (typically a standard fuse in a household breaker box), and measures 11 x 11 inches wide and 13.5 inches deep, for a 0.8 cubic foot kiln chamber. The kiln can fire to cone 6 or around 2250 F, and uses a standard plug. The kiln chamber is lined with three-inch-thick brick, and the outside dimensions are 29 x 28 inches by 28 inches high, with a weight of 88 pounds.

At 13.5 inches deep, this kiln really gives you a height option that is hard to find in a test kiln. The only drawback on this kiln is that it can’t go to cone 10, but otherwise it’s a great small kiln that will last for decades and comes with Skutt’s great reputation for build quality and support.

Skutt KM-614 pushbutton control
List Price: $2175
Retail Price: Often available for around $1,650-$1,700

Skutt KMT-614 touchscreen control
List Price: $2,560
Retail price: Often available for around $2,200

Runner Up: Paragon Caldera or Caldera XL

The Paragon Caldera is a square, top loading test kiln that can reach 2350 F.

The Paragon Caldera models are more of a standard small-size test kiln, but they are great for tests or small pieces. The Caldera measures 8 x 8 x 6.75 inches tall for a 0.25 cubic foot firing chamber, while the Caldera XL measures 7.5 x 7.5 x 9 inches tall for a 0.29 cubic foot firing chamber. The kilns fire on a standard 120 V plug and can reach cone 10 or 2350 F. These are great little kilns that just get the job done and can go hot.

The Caldera is listed at $1128 but can be found for about $1030, and the Caldera XL is listed at $1308 and can usually be found for around $1200.

Table of Contents

  • Top Picks

  • Skutt tests kilns

  • Paragon test kilns

  • Olympic test kilns

  • Cress test kilns

  • L&L test kilns

  • ConeArt test kiln

  • Summary

Skutt Test Kilns

The Skutt FireBox 8x6 LT, a small test kiln rated to Cone 6 / 2250 F.

Skutt makes four kilns that plug into a standard 115/120V outlet, the two KM / KMT 614 models detailed above, the FireBox 8x6 LT, and the FireBox 8x4 LT. The FireBox models are 8 x 8 inches square and either 4.5 or 6.5 inches tall. The FireBox 8x6 is rated to Cone 6 / 2250 F, and the FireBox 8x4 is rated to Cone 10 / 2350. The kilns are only available with push button controllers

The FireBoxes are interesting kilns, but they are just a few hundred dollars cheaper than the 614 model while being quite a bit smaller. With that in mind, I would go for the Skutt 614 unless a smaller kiln is all you have room for or need.

The Skutt KM-614 (detailed above) is the top pick for a small test kiln.

Paragon Test Kilns

Paragon makes numerous small and test kilns that plug into a regular 120 V outlet, but not all are suitable for temperatures above 2000 degrees. As detailed on the Paragon web site, only 4 of these small kilns are designed to fire to Cone 10 / 2350. Paragon also makes at least 6 kilns that will fire to low fire ceramic temperatures, or around Cone 1 / 2000 F. They also have a few small kilns that are a bit larger than a cubic foot, such as the Express 66-3 kiln, but these models require a different plug, breaker box, and power supply. As this review is focused on kilns that plug into a regular outlet, we’ll just cover the four kilns that meet that criteria and can reach Cone 6 or higher temperatures.

The Paragon Caldera test kiln.

The best Paragon option is the Caldera or Caldera XL. They fire hot—to cone 10 or 2350—and are 6.75 and 9 inches deep respectively, but they aren’t that wide, around 8 inches square. The Caldera measures just 0.25 and the taller XL is 0.29 cubic feet. But, if all you need is a small, dependable test kiln, they might be right for you.

Paragon also makes two cone 10 kilns that are smaller than the Caldera.

The FireFly Digital test kiln from Paragon.

The FireFly Digital is very similar to the Caldera, but the kiln chamber measures 8 x 8 x 4.5 inches tall, for a 0.16 cubic foot chamber.

The Q11 is another interesting cone 10 model from Paragon. It is a front loader, with a chamber that measures 6 x 6 x 6.25 inches tall.

Both of these models retail for around $1000. Because they are quite small, it seems worth it to upgrade to the larger Caldera model or consider a kiln from a different manufacturer.

The Paragon Q11 is a small, front loading test kiln.

Olympic Test Kilns

The HotBox 89E is the largest of Olympic’s 120V test kilns that can reach cone 10, measuring 8 x 8 x 6.5 inches tall

Olympic makes 12 small kilns that plug into a 120V outlet.

> Six of these kilns can reach cone 10 / 2350 F. These models range in size from a very small 0.11 cubic feet and top out at about 0.33 cubic feet. These include the five HotBox kilns, and the Doll E / Test E kiln.

> Three kilns can reach cone 6 / 2250 F and are a bit larger, ranging up to 0.58 cubic feet. These include the 129, 129 FLE, and 139 FLE models.

> Two kilns can reach cone 4 / 2100 F. One is the 1214 Raku E and the other is the 1214-120E, which is most comparable in size to the top pick from Skutt, measuring 11.25 x 11.25 x 13.5 inches for a kiln chamber of 0.86 cubic feet, but this kiln is only rated to 2100 or cone 4, whereas the Skutt 614 is rated to Cone 6.

> One Skutt kiln is rated to Cone 04-03 / 2000 F, the interesting model called the Traveler 120 V.

For more info, visit the Olympic website.

Cress Test Kilns

The Cress BT911T test kiln has an 11 inch diameter hexagonal chamber that is 9 inches deep, and is rated to cone 6 / 2250 F.

Cress makes a variety of kilns that are great build quality. Cress makes manual and digital/automatic kilns, but the only digital kiln that works with a standard 120V household plug is designed to top out at 2000 F.

For test kilns, there are six manual-fire options that reach at least cone 6. These manual kilns have a Dawson kiln sitter along with a limit timer, which allows you to safely fire the kiln with light supervision.

The three smallest models, the A4HKT, the A8HKT, and the BT511KT range in size from 0.11 cubic feet to 0.33 cubic feet, and will reach cone 10 / 2350 F. The largest of these volume wise is the A8HKT, which is 8 x 8 x 9 inches deep.

The Cress C11HT test kiln has an 11 x 11 x 11 kiln chamber, Dawson kiln sitter, and manual limit timer.

Cress also makes three slightly bigger models that will fire to cone 6 / 2250. These are the BT711H, the BT911T, and the C11HT. The BT711H and BT911T are 11” wide hexagons and are either 6.5 or 9 inches tall. The largest test kiln is the C11HT, which is an 11x11x11” cube that has a 0.77 cubic foot chamber.

For more info, visit the Cress website.

L&L Test Kilns

The L&L Doll and Test kilns feature a hexagonal 0.5 cubic foot kiln chamber and a variety of power supplies to meet your needs.

L&L is loved by many for their kilns with hard ceramic element holders, protected thermocouple, and easy to access electrical panels and they bring all these features to the three DL11 Doll and Test Kiln models. These three models are the same, except for different electrical components. The kiln features a 0.5 cubic foot hexagonal chamber that is 11 inches wide by 9 inches deep, and each model is listed at $1650.

> DL11-D is rated to cone 5 / 2170 F and uses a regular household plug on 120V.
> DLH11-D is rated to cone 6 / 2230 F and uses a regular household plug on 120V.
> DLH11-DX is rated to cone 10 / 2250 F but will need a 240 power supply and a socket for a NEMA 6-20 three prong plug. (Check with your electrician to see if this will work with your current box and fuses)

For more information, visit the L&L website.

Cone Art Test Kiln

The Tucker’s Cone Art doll / test kiln, pictured here with the Bartlett touchpad controller.

Tucker’s Cone Art makes one size of a small doll / test kiln, which is rated to cone 10 or 2350 F. Like all Cone Art kilns, the kiln features 2 1/2” thick brick backed by 1” of insulation. Typically, this allows the Cone Art kilns to reach higher temperatures on a lower amperage. In the United States, Cone Art kilns are also sold as Bailey kilns, the main difference being the color of the electrical box, but the test kiln size is currently not listed on the Bailey site.

The 119D Cone Art test kiln is available with a touchpad Bartlett controller, or with the upgraded Genesis touchscreen controller. Both models use as a standard 120V outlet. Although this kiln is smaller than the top pick from Skutt, the ability to fire hotter may make this the ideal kiln for your studio.

For more information, visit the Cone Art website.

Summary

This post has covered a wide variety of small doll and test kilns that will work with a standard plug on 120V, and will fire to at least cone 6. The top pick is the KM-614 from Skutt for it’s ability to fire to cone 6 and larger size, especially the 13.5 inch height. But there are many other options to suit and studio.

Test kilns are ideal if you work small, such as dolls, beads, or small sculptures, or you need a kiln that you can fire without having to fill an entire large kiln, such as for tests. They make a great addition to any ceramic studio.

What is your favorite small kiln? Do you fire at home with a kiln like this? Let us know your experience in the comments.