Your wheel.
Your tools.
Less crap everywhere.
Dirthead makes modular storage for the pottery wheel. One mounting hook stays on the splashpan. Boxes, trays and whatever comes next hang off it and come back off again.
Fits Shimpo and Brent pottery wheels. See the exact models.
- 01 SplashpanAlready on your wheel.
- 02 HookMounts to the pan lip once and stays there.
- 03 AccessorySwap boxes and trays on and off the same hook.
It comes apart on purpose
The mounting hook attaches to the splashpan. Accessories hang from it. Stack the pieces you actually use, then change the stack when the work changes. Throwing today, trimming tomorrow — swap the accessory, keep the hook. Change wheels and you swap the hook instead.
Pick the hook that fits your wheel's splashpan. It stays there.
Hang on the thing you need. Box, tray, divider, whatever comes next.
Change the accessory without rebuilding the whole setup.
Build the stack you need. Change it when you need something else.
The first batch is small. Very small.
One potter, one printer, and a suspicious amount of time spent measuring splashpans. Everything below is printing now, in Los Angeles, in quantities set by what fits on a plate.
Complete sets come with the hook they need. Build your own is the same pieces on their own, for when you already have a hook.
View allMade for the studio. Not the dishwasher.
PLA is tough enough for slip, water and daily studio abuse, and it has exactly one enemy. Read the heat line twice.
Rinse it, wipe it, keep it away from heat.
| Material | Matte PLA, printed to order |
|---|---|
| Cleaning | Rinse in the sink and wipe it down. Slip comes off easily while it's still wet; dried slip needs a soak and a brush. |
| Heat | The one that matters. PLA softens well below boiling and warps for good. No kiln, no heat gun, no dishwasher, no hot car, no long spells in direct sun. A warped hook will not sit right on the pan again. |
| Water | Splashes, rinsing and sitting in a wet splashpan are all fine. Don't leave it soaking for days. |
| Finish | Visible layer lines and printed-part texture. Not an injection-moulded finish. |
| Tolerance | Roughly ±1 mm, so a hook can be snug on one pan and easy on another. |
| Not rated for | Food, drink, heat, load-bearing use, or holding anything you would be upset to drop. |
Does it fit your wheel?
The hook is the only part that has to match your wheel, and it is the cheapest part to replace when the wheel changes. It grips a splashpan lip about 0.35 in (0.9 cm) thick and doesn't mark the pan. Boxes and trays hang from it — what hangs from what.
| Wheel | Mounts to | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Shimpo | Splashpan lip, about 0.35 in (0.9 cm) thick | Printing now |
| Brent | Splashpan lip, about 0.35 in (0.9 cm) thick | Printing now |
| Shimpo Aspire | Tabletop pan | In design |
| Anything else | Email the wheel model to questions@dirtheadla.com | Ask |
See the exact models each one covers. Doesn't fit a wheel on this list? I'll replace it — see returns and fit.
You're getting in early
There is no polished checkout yet. No warehouse. No shipping department hiding somewhere in the Valley. Pick what you want, send the list, and you get a real reply with a real total.
- Pick
- Add what you want to your list. No account, no card, nothing charged.
- Send the list
- One short form. Your name, an email, and anything you want me to know.
- Get a total
- I email you within about a week with the final price and a ready-by date. You pay nothing before that.
- Pay and collect
- Pay once it's confirmed, in cash, Zelle or Venmo, then pick it up in Los Angeles.
Add what you want in the shop, then send the list. Los Angeles pickup only for now — shipping is still on the to-do list.
One potter. One printer. One increasingly organized splashpan.
Dirthead started with a simple problem: my tools kept ending up in the slop bucket. So I designed a mounting system around the splashpan, printed it, used it, found the annoying parts, and did it again.
Small runs mean I can change things quickly and actually listen when someone tells me a product needs fixing.
Read the longer versionWant me to print something else?
Tell me what your studio is missing. If it currently gets solved with a bucket and a piece of cardboard, I want to hear about it. No promises, but I actually read these.
Suggest a productQuestions worth answering
Which pottery wheels does it fit?
The hook is cut to a specific splashpan profile, so it's the one part that has to match your wheel. It grips a lip about 0.35 in (0.9 cm) thick and doesn't mark the pan. These are the wheels supported in the first run:
- Shimpo
- VL-WhisperVL-Lite
- Brent
- Model BModel CModel CXCModel #16
- Shimpo Aspire
- In design — not shipping yet
On anything else, email the wheel model to questions@dirtheadla.com and you'll get a straight answer before you pay for anything.
What do Single, Double and Triple mean?
They're widths. Hooks, boxes and trays are sized by how much of the splashpan rim they take up: a Double is twice as wide as a Single, and a Triple is three times as wide. An accessory hangs from any hook of its own size or bigger, or from smaller hooks side by side.
| Accessory | Hangs from |
|---|---|
| Single | Any hook: Single, Double or Triple |
| Double | A Double or Triple hook, or two Single hooks |
| Triple | A Triple hook, a Double plus a Single hook, or three Single hooks |
A Triple hook can also carry a Single and a Double at once — that's how Combo A works. Approx. hook widths: Single 2.6 in (6.5 cm), Double 5.1 in (13 cm), Triple 7.5 in (19 cm).
How do I take care of it?
Rinse it in the sink and wipe it down — slip comes off easily while it's still wet, and dried slip needs a soak and a brush. Keep it away from heat: PLA softens well below boiling, so no kiln, no heat gun, no hot car and no long spells in direct sun. A warped hook won't sit right on the pan again.
Do you ship, or is it pickup only?
Pickup only in Los Angeles for the first run. Shipping is a real plan, not a promise with a date on it. Packaging and lead times get solved once local demand is understood.
How long does an order take?
Everything is printed to order in small batches on one printer, so lead time depends on what's already on the plate. I'll email you myself within about a week to confirm your total and a ready-by date, and if anything slips you'll hear it from me rather than finding out by waiting.
How do I pay?
Nothing is charged on this site. Once I've confirmed your total and a ready-by date by email, you pay in cash, Zelle or Venmo, then collect your order in Los Angeles. Prices include sales tax. I only ever ask for payment by email from orders@dirtheadla.com — a payment request from anywhere else isn't me.
What if it doesn't fit, or it's broken?
If a hook doesn't fit a wheel on the supported list, or something is broken when you collect it, I'll replace it. Tell me within 7 days of pickup. The details, including what to send me, are on the returns and fit page.
What is it made of?
Matte PLA. Expect visible layer lines and printed-part texture rather than an injection-moulded finish, and roughly a millimetre of dimensional tolerance.
What's the difference between a complete set and building my own?
A complete set is a box or tray that already includes the hook it needs, so it works straight out of the bag. Build your own is the same pieces on their own — hooks, boxes and trays — for people who already own a hook, or want a different mix. Parts — spare dividers and the like — come once the hook system is proven across the supported wheels.
