Laguna Pacifica Pottery Wheel Review

Ok, I have been a HUGE pusher for pacifica wheels since I started throwing. I throw 2-60lbs gloriously with no problem or complaints. They are white (much better than 70's yellow...sorry brent) they have more table space, good splash pan assembly, quit, and they HAD smooth great metal foot pedals.

Then they changed the pedals a few years back when Laguna took over. Now they look like this:

These are not so great.....well basically they are crap! RUN AWAY!!!

I am a ceramics teacher so I manage, maintain, and repair 23 pottery wheels. These new pedals have FAILED on 3 of the 6 BRAND NEW wheels. Within ONE YEAR. Here is why:

The old metal die cast pedal used an electromagnetic throttle for speed control.... the NEW so called "magic" pedal uses a crappy STRING on a pulley with a spring....See below:

Soooo..... on 3 of these new wheels I have had to restring them using high grade 80lb leader line. This will be just a temporary fix until it breaks again I am certain. See Below:

The other problematic issue is the wheel does not stop quickly when the pedal is turned off. When you are trimming or working and you want to make an adjustment or spin the wheel to a certain point you must manually direct the wheel. They wheel spins too long after turning off. I am sure there is an adjustment I can figure out and when I do I will post here!

When I called pacifica about the problem they were VERY aware  of this common issue and you'll have to send your pedal in on your dime and wait 1-3 months for a fix.

I would highly suggest buying an older pacifica with the die cast metal pedal over a new one. If you cannot find an older pacifica you should probably steer clear of these wheels unless you don't mind taking it apart once a year. 

Please email, call, or write and inform Laguna why you will not purchase another pacifica wheel. Maybe...just maybe they will switch back..... and pacifica, once again, will make great products!!!

Good Luck and Make Great Pots!

Greg