This is the Best Beginner Pottery Wheel (2025)

One year into feverishly making pottery during my downtime, I started to imagine my dream home studio. In my ideal world, I own a little shed amidst a blooming backyard garden. The studio itself is light and bright and airy with a big bay window with golden hour light pouring in. And I have all the works—tall shelves to store all my pieces, a rainbow assortment of glazes, and of course, a reliable wheel as my trusty ceramics sidekick. 

While I’m sadly a ways away from actualizing this fairytale of mine, I do want to dedicate a room in my house to pottery. So, I’m on the hunt for the best beginner pottery wheel to check one of my many pottery purchase boxes. I’ve tried my hand at a number of wheels, from Brent wheels to Vevor to Shimpo, but one stands out as the best pick to grow with you. Drumroll please…the Nidec Shimpo VL-Lite is our choice for best beginner pottery wheel. 

How We Judged the Best Beginner Pottery Wheel

With a number of brands and models on the market, how do we crown one victor? Hands-on testing and rubric, of course. We’ve compared our many different studio experiences to find the ideal wheel for beginners. We rate each wheel based on a couple of key factors:

• Features: We consider basic functionalities as well as the extra bells and whistles that make the wheel worthwhile. 
• Ease of Throwing: We look at critical elements like torque, speed control, and mess management to gauge how effective this wheel will be in the studio. 
• End Result: Is the end result as expected? In other words, am I successful able to control the wheel, or did the wheel control me? 

The Features of the Best Beginner Pottery Wheel 

The first thing we look at when using a new wheel is the specs and what you can expect. Shimpo is a “studio”hold name in the pottery world, so it’s no surprise that this wheel boasts everything a potter needs. A belt-driven wheel, your Shimpo VL Lite is small, but sturdy. It comes with an alloy wheel head, a two-piece removable splash pan, and a foot pedal for easy speed control. It is also multi-directional, and turns on with the flip of a switch. 

In terms of the “extras”, we appreciate features like the built-in table for tool storage, and the bat pins it comes with. All in all, it makes for a really nice throwing experience. 

Ease of Throwing 

Now that we know the wheel comes with what we need, what is the throwing experience like? Here’s our pottery point of view on the torque, speed control, and mess management. 

Torque

An outstanding torque is always at the top of my wheel wishlist. What is torque? It’s basically how much pressure your wheel head can handle without slowing down. Ideally, your wheel manages large amounts of clay and pressure like it is barely lifting a finger. 

While I only throw with 5 lbs max, I’ve never experienced any torque troubles with a Shimpo. In my semiprofessional pottery opinion, torque is a major reason why you should splurge a bit on a wheel. Think of cheap Amazon wheels like a baby onesie. It’s cute for a while, but at the blink of an eye, you’ve already outgrown it. By investing a bit up front, you’re getting decades out of your wheel, rather than a year. 

Note: The manufacturer does say that this wheel can handle up to 25 pounds of clay—so if you’re going much beyond that, you may want to look at the Nidec Shimpo VL Whisper Potter’s Wheel. 

Speed Control 

I’m a foot pedal to the pottery metal kind of girl. Feeling like I’m driving the wheel hands-free is personally my preferred way to pot. There are a number of budget-ish tabletop wheels for beginners out there, like the Shimpo Aspire. While they have decent torque and portability going for them, I strongly dislike the hand control. 

So, naturally, I went with a wheel that includes a pedal. Outside of my pedal bias, I appreciate the ease of speed control that the Shimpo grants me. I can gradually ramp up and ramp down from full speed, and I never feel out of control. I’m driving the wheel, the wheel isn’t driving me! 

Mess Management

Confession: I’m a messy potter. As in, my hands are always caked with clay and I need a major mopping session after throwing. So, it’s important to me that my wheel minimize mess as much as possible. The Shimpo features one of the best splash pans I’ve used. With the Shimpo VL Lite, I am able to easily snap on and snap off the splash pan  without spilling—the same can’t be said for some other models out there (looking at you, Brent). The snap-off features allows me to easily carry my splash pan over to my reclaim bucket, and then rinse the rest off in the sink. 

I also appreciate that the base of the wheel has a pretty big built in table of sorts—enough to hold my bucket and some additional clay balls. It improves my pottery process easier by having everything in arm’s reach. I’m less likely to “potter” around the studio leaving clay handprints everywhere as I’m searching for bits and bobs. 

End Result 

With other cheaper, wheels, I often wind up with wobbly pieces. But not with the Shimpo. It’s an easy to work with the wheel—I feel in control, and its superior toque makes centering a breeze. From nesting bowls to vases to mugs, I’ve thrown a bunch of different shapes on the Shimpo, and it’s never let me down. 

Why the Shimpo VL-Lite is the Best Beginner Pottery Wheel 

When it comes to price and a seamless throwing experience, you can count on the Nidec Shimpo VL-Lite to be your trusty ceramics sidekick. There are so many things to love about this wheel—from its superior torque and great speed control to its easy-to-use splash pan and built-in “table”. Oh, and did we mention this wheel is pretty lightweight AND comes with bat pins? As a beginner throwing under 25 lbs, you couldn’t ask for a better wheel to add to your home studio. So, try it out for size and let us know…is the Shimpo the best beginner pottery wheel? We give a resounding YES.