Pottery Wheel

I am not sure if any of this journal will be accurate information, but i am going to attempt to find the current physics topics in this pottery wheel.  So "i'm just saying" to all the information ahead.  This pottery wheel varies speed with the foot pedal at the base of the machine.  The harder you push down on the pedal the faster it goes and the lighter you push on the pedal, the slower it spins.  When  i noticed this varying of speed i thought it could be using a variable resistor.  If it were using a variable resistor, pushing down on the pedal would decrease the distance of the circuit.  By decreasing the resistance by decreasing the distance, more electricity is able to be carried through the circuit to turn the wheel faster.  When the foot releases pressure, the circuit's distance increases and the resistance increases.  When the resistance increases, the current of electricity decreases and slows the wheel down.  This is why i think the variable speed of a ceramics wheel could be made possible by a variable resistor.