The Gold Standard in Potter's Wheels

1969

Apollo 11 lands on the moon.
U. S. troops begin to withdraw from Vietnam.
The Beatles give their last public performance.

Brent® wheels begin production in Van Nuys, CA.

“AMACO® continues to make Brent® wheels and equipment with the quality and reliability I envisioned in 1969 when I started the company.” —Robert Brent, September 15, 2008

California Company Creates First Electronically Controlled Wheel

Forty years ago, ceramic artist and entrepreneur Robert Brent set out to build the best potter’s wheel. He succeeded. Today, Brent® wheels are the “gold” standard in the industry and proudly manufactured by AMACO®.

Brent dropped out of college after one year and started a pottery school in Los Angeles with a $2,000 loan in 1967. With help from his uncle, a mechanical engineer, they made 10 potter’s wheels for the school. A year later, he sold the school to begin designing and building potter’s wheels in the garage of a rented house in west L.A.

Everyone knows that when you buy the best “tool” for the job, it makes the job much easier, which is why this “ghost” potter has chosen a Brent® CXC. During Brent’s 40th anniversary, all Brent® wheels purchased in 2009 are backed by a TEN YEAR WARRANTY.

Dissatisfied with the design and performance of other wheels on the market, Robert decided his wheels “would be so dependable that they would perform for 20 years.” He was the first to include electronic speed control and permanent magnet DC motor technology in a potter’s wheel.

In 1971, his father set up a dealership in Los Angeles while Robert flew across country in a small private plane establishing Brent® dealers to take his company nationwide. The next task was developing a reliable foot pedal that would “perform 1 million times over 20 years—8 hours a day, five days per week”. Their final design is still in use today and has been copied by virtually all wheel manufacturers.

The company moved to Healdsburg, California, in 1972 and shortly thereafter, Robert designed his first kick wheel and invented the first clay slab rolling machine in response to interest by a professor from the Chicago Art Institute. A devoted clay artist, Robert Brent continued to design dependable ceramic equipment for artists and schools.

In 1977, acting on his original intention to grow the business and keep it for 10 years, Robert began looking for a buyer. AMACO®, seeking to add a quality potter’s wheel to its ceramic line, purchased the Robert Brent Corporation in April, 1977.