This turned out to be a great day for firing pottery and the weather was perfect. There are a number of other ways to fire pottery primitively, if you want to learn more about other types of firings check out my "Outdoor Pottery Firing" playlist here ru-vid.com/group/PLxjk09ZJzrlsyEo-ickFHnMDwQBT1HP5b
You're a great mentor and teacher. Pottery is like music, they're both ancient and ingrained, a lot easier and less complicated when they're approached with the tools at hand. Thank you.
So fabulous! I can’t wait to try this with my students this winter. I’m the Art teacher and also the Forest School teacher in a small primary school (elementary school) in the mountains in Australia. We have clay occurring naturally in our area so I’m going all-in and using found clay with imported sand and trying our own firing in a fire pit. Your video was so helpful. I’m trying to work out how to pay the monthly sponsorship but struggling to work that out. Will do though. THANKS! 😊👏🏻
Your pitfire was much more successful than ours. I think this is due to the height of your pit. We dug ours very deeply (18 inches). We also did the pre fire but i don't think the ground held the heat as well either. Great video!
A thought about air flow, have you thought about using a Dakota fire hole to get more oxygen to the base of the fire?...love your channel keep on keeping on
I’ve been binge watching your videos and will be buying some white slip from you! Thanks for all the knowledge you share, your videos have gotten me back into primitive pottery
Have you ever surface fired in the southeast? One of the bigger problems is the moisture in the ground. So, you have to spend hours burning stuff to dry up the ground. Tammy Bean puts down a section of tin and then puts the dirt on top of it and then starts her fire. That dries out the soil on top in just a couple of hours as the wood burns down. When you pre heat, you have to set them on something to prevent the pots from wicking up moisture. (BTW, no rocks around near me, if you want rocks, you will need to use fire bricks.) Rake the coals out around into a circle, put your pots in the middle. build the fire up around the pots gradually, then really carefully across the top of the fire. If you break one, this is usually when you do it. With the iron rich soil in the southeast, almost everything will fire a shade of orange to red.
I have friends who make beautiful pottery like this in the southeast, some accomplished primitive potters and others who are current students of mine. I also have friends in the northeast which suffers from many of the same issues and also cold weather in the winter. Don't let these problems hold you back, the ancient potters overcame them and so can you. We often have copious rainfall here in the southwest, at a recent firing I did the ground was soaked, we built a fire the night before and kept it going most of the night so it dried out the ground before our firing. We set the unfired pots on our cover sherds to keep them from wicking up moisture from the ground. It has all been done before.
Now I have to “ like” your videos before I even watch them, so at the end when you suggest a video for more info I can click on it quick! No problem....like, like Like! Awesome videos! Thankyou!
Real nice Andy! What was your daytime temps? How long from pot warming to removal from the fire pit? Will you be selling that white jug, it's just beautiful! Thanks as always for your fine blend of scholarly-artwork!
Thanks, the temperature was probably around 85 F. Total time firing was probably an hour and a half if you include the warming up part. Yes, the pot will be sold on my website. Glad you enjoyed it.
I want to try making pots on my local Occoneechee lands. Their home island is gone, washed away by the formation of the Kerr Reservoir. But the park that overlooks the buried island is probably where pots had been fired for hundreds of years. It will be a sight to see.
Great channel, awesome stuff! I've thought a little about low fired pottery ever since elementary school when we did one pit fire, but never really researched it until today. I'm so excited to get back into clay through the method that initially captured my imagination.
how long do you let the pots dry before doing the primary fire? a few days? and then how long do you pre-heat them with the primary fire? a few hours? thanks Andy love your videos
A perfect firing from a great master! I just did two firings myself, one oxydising, the other reducing. I got a lot of cracks on the oxydising one except on a small bowl. I thought it was mainly due to the wind after the wood burned down, but the ceramics were also very questionable. The reducing one was in a shallow pit on the sea shore, I recovered the fire with sand when it was burning at its most and covered every chimney hole which appeared spontaneously. I didn't get any significant cracks, but a lot of fire spalling - one fatal to a small cute jug. It seems that it was not enough this time to warm the pots by the first fire, perhaps due to the wind and I should have preheated them in my kitchen owen. I am still satisfied as they are totally black and really shiny as I wanted, surprisingly like those of Maria Martinez actually! and like most of those I am imitating from Iron Age Europe. I wonder if this was not just a question of getting dark tones but covering them by sand may also protect them from the cold wind once the fire is down.
Thanks for this video! I bought stoneware clay and made a few pieces but didnt realise how expensive it was to put my things in a shared kiln. My question is, do you need to glaze with stoneware clay? To use it to eat from when firing with a firepit? Thanks!
I love your videos! I have been binge watching the last few days since finding your channel! I had a question. I do not have cover shreds, is there something else I can find that will work instead? Something that is cheap and easy to obtain until I am able to compile some cover shreds of my own?
Been busy getting the garden ready,... hibernation over... Just got a chance to watch this video, and it is a great addition to the Andy Ward Saga! Really like the bowl. Light red lava rock makes a good pink paint, but I don't really like pink on pottery. Thanks again and I appreciate what you do, sir!
Yes get that garden ready you may be very glad you have it before this year is over. I have no place to garden where I live so if times get hard I'm coming to your place. Thanks for watching!
@@AncientPottery I was thinking if times got rough, maybe the Gila may still have some water by then. Build my own Gila cliff dwelling! Make my own Gila pottery. One mans nightmare is another mans dream! LOL! Your totally invited.
Thanks, I have made several videos about the natural paints I use, here is a playlist of some of those videos ru-vid.com/group/PLxjk09ZJzrlvtM-FCcmX97pOJHP2zxAXy
@@AncientPottery thanks for this, I’ll check them out now. I’ve just ordered some red clay (you wouldn’t believe how hard it is to just order low heat clay here in the U.K., most is this air dry rubbish).
I fired my first clay! Just little solid shapes. Turned kind of a dark red. I'm not sure if I fired it right though as some of it can be rubbed off with my fingers, otherwise it was really awesome!
Hi Andy. This is Enrique, from Spain. I love your videos, I should imagine you are also familiar with the prehistoric pre-kiln pottery from Europe. Anyway, I wanted to ask: do you think that too much heat could also crack the pots? I have had two or three successful firings (I use my huge BBQ bowl as a container, but the method is pretty much the same as yours), but the last one was a total failure. It all cracked. I was trying to achieve a super high temperature, covering the fire with the lid, and fanning it all the time in order to get a good oxygen flow. In fact, the fire was yellow, so I might have achieved a 1000°C, perhaps. So, that's my question, could too much heat crack the pots, (taking for granted that I went through the pre-heating correctly)?. Thank you so much.
Yes, more temper in your clay will protect against thermal shock cracks which is most likely what happened to you. Have you seen this video? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9KYaJyML7u8.html
Hmm, not sure I had to fiddle with the settings when I got it. I set it to celsius but I think I am using it just the way it came out of the box besides that.
Hi Andy. Hoping to organise a pit-firing the summer for a group of us at pottery class. Must the pots be earthenware, or can stoneware also be used ? Wondering if the fire can reach the required temperature for stoneware. Many thanks for all your great videos !!
I don't know much about commercial clays. I think most clays can be made to work as earthenware but I can't make any promises. Maybe check out this video where I tried out a few popular commercial clays in this way ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n1zwTqlu4GI.html
Great job. Loved this movie. How/ with what, did you decorate the pieces? I'm sure you have another vid covering that, but I can't find it! Again, great clip and fascinating channel... thank you for all your hard work.
The white, yellow and green background colors were all different clay slips I have collected and processed. The white paint is also clay slip, here is a video about making clay slip. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FGj-hyKZ8eM.html The black paint is a mixture of manganese dioxide, copper carbonate and clay, you can collect your own and process by hand as I do or buy online. Here is a video about making mineral paint. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Dqp8ePhg7Wk.html
@@AncientPottery Thanks so much Andy. I also watched the Tony Soares clip (and another doco type thing about him via another channel). What an amazing artist and what skills! Love your channel, thanks for taking the time to get back to me. Take care.
@@MarieB113 it went great, I went from greenware to bisque, but I got minimal colors. I did throw some table salt on towards the end and used a bit of charcoal. It gave me some beautiful dark blue on a small bowl I made.
Hi! When I build a campfire I build a channel through the pit to get wind, and therefore O2, flowing through the fire to make the fire hotter. Can you do this with pit firing?
That is really impressive, Thanks :-D. Somehow I really dont think I could pack that light. I'll take some photos to share when I go on my first outback firing and see how it compares to you. I was really wondering how you carried your pots safely, so that was helpful too. Thanks again.
Glad you got something out of it. You really don't need much, other things I didn't include that are important are food, ice cold drinks, a shady hat and long sleeve shirt to keep from getting sun burnt. A folding chair is nice too.
Sure you could, I would select a clay that had some grog in it, or add grog to your clay. Did you see y video where I tested commercial clays in a firing like this, that might help answer this question ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n1zwTqlu4GI.html
I'd say you can get a rough estimate for the temperature you got by observing the clay, the ember and things that have melted or reacted like metal or salt. In case you've got a little wind - the temperature should be higher. I still think stacking of the wood is kind of a glue to temperature --- done wrong should result in bad results. Usually when I do theres a prefire, then a second fire and then I keep adding fuel or coal as I think it's necessary. Last time I had some wind channels and little wind and everything became nice red. However I liked the brown and more kind a natural color when everything was covered in ember and ash over night. I am not sure if covering with organic material or just dry sand is a thing. It might even be more fun to play around with firings than actually doing the pottery. You can't get that feeling from a kiln. I did the firing in my parent's garden on the place they do BBQ and my mother said she was just fascinated by the fire and both where happy that I burned the unnecessary wood they piled up.
What might work instead of cover sherds if one didn't have any? Are they primarily for providing cover, in which case anything sturdy and heat proof would do, or is there something about them being ceramic that helps with the heating or something?
The cover sherds provide some protection against the harsh gradient heat, prevent some thermal shock from that but mostly they keep the fuel from coming in contact with the pottery where it will make black marks. Metal works good, an old wash tub or bucket can work, check out how I used a tub in this video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sAERJi3XRoY.html
@@AncientPottery Excellent, I was hoping there'd be an easy workaround before I get to the point of having sherds laying around. The thermal benefits would be nice, but in the mean time I have plenty of roof metal scraps. Will def check out the video link, thank you!
Question 1; at 04:01 You state that moisture is the leading cause of breakage. That being said, does it work to allow the pottery to sun dry for a while, BEFORE firing?
Probably this depends on the weather where you live. Here is Tucson in the summer, sure, that should pre-heat the pottery just fine. But because we are trying to get all the moisture out of the clay, I would be careful to get that pot heated up to around 200 F just to be sure you don't have any breakage.
Love your videos . Will be subscribing to help you out & keep making these . One question I have when you creat your pottery how long can you keep the piece before you fire it ?
Hey Andy, quick question: do you know if commercially purchased clay, that I have already bisque and glaze fired in a ceramics studio, would bond with smectite slip and organic paint on the unglazed surface should I use the salado firing method? Thanks! If unknown, I will be experimenting to find out!
I have a glass kiln that won't go hot enough for high fire clay. At what temp would I fire and how long to hold temp to fire primitive earthenware clay pottery?
Thanks! This fire was maybe 45 minutes to an hour total, that is rather on the long side for me, many of my fires are around 15 minutes. It just depends on what kind of pottery I am trying to make and what max temperature I am trying to reach.
Wow, 15 min firing too! That's great talent Andy 👍 I'm trying to pitfire stoneware for selling in my upcoming design shop but I'm not successful at it yet. Your videos are really helpful to me. I'm just stuck at unsuccessful firing. I'd love to hear your advice.
@@AncientPottery I ask because emotionally, I feel like those pots are going to break when those woods falls on them. To see it makes me nervous really :D
@@TeomanasAbramovas you could put the pots under a metal tub like I did in this video. 3 Tips For PIT FIRING POTTERY, Demonstration Pot Firing at Steam Pump Ranch ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sAERJi3XRoY.html
Andy I have been testing mineral paints on raw local clays at about 800 c is this temperature normal for a fire like yours? Or too hot. I have been testing in a controlled environment reduction and oxidation . I want to do my test fires in what may have been a primitive firing range. Thanks for any feed back!
@@AncientPottery I really want to go Andy to the Cliff event. Please let me know details on cost or things to bring. Email me if you get the chance with details .
To tell you the truth I have not found much advantage to pit firing. I can get the fire as hot on the surface with the same amount of fuel. Generally I use a pit fire sometimes if I am firing a large amount of pottery as it can help me to use less fuel to cover it all, or when I am going to smother the pot to reduce the paint. For the fire on this video I only fired this way so I could discuss pit firing with my audience.
Here in NY, we have a lot of creeks and rivers, and putting stones in a fire is generally discouraged because they can explode with a lot more force than a damp greenware pot. Just to be safe I'd probably bring my own spacers or sherds to put under the pottery.
We get rain and moisture here in Arizona too, from July to September we have what is called our monsoon season where it rains almost every day. If things are wet I pre-heat the stones just like I do the pottery, it drives off the moisture and makes them safe.
I found some clay a few years ago I fired in a kiln but for some reason it just isn't working for me in a pit. No cracking or blowing up it just doesn't turn solid even if I burn it for a long time. Are there any other reasons that may be happening? I've never successfully fired natural clay in a pit fire but it does work in a kiln
Please don't give free advice, I am an adult. Also I spent 10 years working as a US Forest Service firefighter and know a thing or two about fire safety.
Is there a reason for removing the pots while still hot? Can you leave the pit until everything is cool enough to handle, or does that cause some problem?
No, if it is convenient for you, leave them until they are cool enough to touch. For me however, I am a busy man and have other things to do than to sit around all day waiting for pots to cool.
I have an allotment right next to my house so I preheat a pot in my oven at like 250’c then go straight out and put it on some stones in a little hole then start the fire. I don’t have a prefire… is that bad?
I fired pottery in my garden in the surface and my pot are stacked to each other and the space betwen came out not that colorful than wer theres nothing stacked. What can i du about it? (It came out good)
At the point you're removing the ashes and fired pots, you are using your shovel. If you use a Raku tong, it would be easier and "safer" to pick up the pieces.... just a thought... cool video, (just like the indians used to do.. I've been a potter for over 50 years and have done this many times with my students.
I don't think I had any red clay turn black in this firing did I? Sometimes iron can turn black at high temperatures with not enough oxygen available though.
Wow, those colors really were vivid. I'm wondering if the dead wood around here will give me the heat I need. We have maple and ash which I think burn fairly hot. I don't recall seeing hickory on the property but there might be some oak. Anyway, it's still chilly but I am hoping the snow of last week will be our last and I can get out and have some fun. :-D
I guess you will need to experiment to see what wood in your area works best. Of the specials you mentioned the only one I have tried is oak which works good but burns very slow. Our oaks are live oaks so may be a bit different from your oaks.
@@AncientPottery LOL !!! i have a bunch to fire and we were going to go to the bush property this week but we just got 5" of snow. i hope it will dry up soon. again keep up the great work. thanks
I've used a deep pit and all you have to do is to dig a little side tunnel you can put bricks on the trench and then cover with dirt to have an air funnel.
Almost anywhere. Most of Arizona is public land, campfires are allowed on National Forest, BLM and State land most of the year with the exceptions of fire restrictions in the summer. Just call your local Forest Service or BLM office to ask. On private land too with permission of the land owner of course.