Simple Ash Glazes 

I tried watching a dozen different videos on how to make an ash glaze, 15-20 minutes and they still didn't say what they were going to use. Or they started talking about all sorts of exotic materials. They made it complicated AF. Thank you very much for your very simple explanation on how to make a very basic glaze, it was what I was looking for. Thank you.

equal amounts sifted Ash and Clay with water. Simple and effective. Thank you sir.

Yeah, fire that rascal and see what you get! I remember reading in the Foxfire books in the 1970s where old timers would mill frit from a coke bottle and use that in their glaze. Always wanted to try that. More dreams than time these days!

Very valuable. Can't wait to add glaze to my pottery! Just started on my journey. Thank you!

Thank you for the info. I’m not a potter, I don’t even play one on TV, lol. I fish the Mississippi River near St. Louis, needed some good clay to plug some holes in my forge. Had some left over so I cleaned it and want to make fishing weight molds to cast some lead. If that doesn’t work then I’ll just make clay fishing weights. But I’m rambling, thought I’d send some info back your way, charcoal brickettes are about 30% clay, 40% for the dollar store variety. Also be wary about using wild cherry for anything as it contains natural arsenic, enough to give some people blisters where shavings or sawdust touches sweaty skin, it damn near swelled my eyes shut turning some on the lathe. Just be careful. As I said, thank you for the information, I’ll save my ashes from my stove in the shop this winter and by spring I’ll have glaze!

Out standing video, clear, simple and to the point! Thank you.

Thank you Captain! I live in the Amazonian region of Brazil and this technique has been used here by indigenous people for thousands of years. The type of ash and pigments both organic and mineral have an effect on color and pattern. It's something that is becoming more rare and happy to see you keeping the tradition alive even if it wasn't your intention. Just subscribed and am looking forward to binging on your videos!

That dark glaze from the variety of ash types is spectacular!

Thank you so much Capt Mike, I have been wondering about this for quite some time, and just happen to run into your video ... very clear explanation (really liked going through the process), very simple (although the tech speak about pottery sort of went over my head), but now I actually know how to make Ash glaze and that means a lot to me. And i'm not even a potter, but i am just interested in a lot of things (some of which is our human history, and seeing how pottery has been so important i thus want to know stuff about it (that said though, i do have an inclination for crafts, so who knows i might pick up pottery some day)), so i knew that Ash glazing (one of the first glazes we actually used) was possible, just didn't know how to make them (other than perhaps coat the thing in ash?). But now i know, so from my perspective this gets two thumbs up !! btw. I also like your pottery ! ... have fun making it, experimenting with it, and tnx again for also sharing it !!

Hi there, maybe you could add some of the bigger chunks from the sieving to your clay to add texture to your clay. there's a book on all the kinds of things you can add to your clay and I reckon those chunks would be great. And i always add the dry to the wet so I'd put a biyt of water in and add some dry and then keep doing that so it doesn't glug up. Adding water to dry ingredients is a bit clumpy. We learned this when we did cooking with our mamma. :-)

thanks for sharing

Simplicity is what I was looking for. Thanks

Fascinating, thank you!

I just got into pottery. It's fun learning. Thank you for the lesson!

thank you really enjoyed the class!!

Hopefully someone can help me, I would like to know whether or not wood ash glazes are food safe. As I would like to ensure that lye or other alkalines won't leach into the food and what not. But the only way I can assure that may not happen would be to use an electric kiln that could fire at cone 6, which I do not have nor have the space or money for. Instead, I use a wood fired kiln. Would the wood ash glaze be safe for cookware in such a kiln or would I have to find a different glazing method ?

Great video! Really enjoyed your personality :)

A good place to throw those extra ashes is in a garden ash also can clean a stagnant pond

thank you. nice video,,you explained it so everyone understands. but i have one question. my thing is cement pots and ive gotten pretty good at it. is it possible to glaze a cement pot with your method. im sure that once they have cured they can withstand the heat of a kiln. but im not sure of how it might shrink or swell. could it work?

Beautiful work. I have question did the ash glaze make pottery waterproof (I have 0 experience in ash glaze)

Mike great video. I,m a beginner & process wild clay. The last I just did was okla red clay. What temp would that clay be rated for. I also have excess to some river clay that is grey Like some you had. What temp would the gray clay take? I,m really looking forward to trying Your glaze recipe. Thank you my friend.

Loved this video .. thank you for sharing .. just starting my pottery journey and found this to explain ball clay .. as wondered if it could be substituted for other clays .. so found this explanation really helpful: - ^Ball clays are kaolinitic sedimentary clays that commonly consist of 20-80% kaolinite, 10-25% mica, 6-65% quartz. ... They are fine-grained and plastic in nature, and, unlike most earthenware clays, produce a fine quality white-coloured pottery body when fired, which is the key to their popularity with potters.^

Really enjoyed this video, really simple and clear to understand

Thank goodness, directions that don't require a special ingredient you have to order!

Hi Capt Mike, greetings from the uk this evening! Just wanted to say thanks for the very useful & straightforward vid on ash glazes. I’ve been considering having a go at one of these for a while (as I have a inexhaustible supply of ashes from various sources) and your demo has given me the confidence to have a go. Love the simple recipe and experimental attitude, life would be so boring if one of us ever “had a go” at stuff. Many thanks again & best wishes, Natalie

Can you add some egg shell in the mix?

It helps a lot! Thank you so much. I a, so new to make ash glazes. Sorry if it is a dumb question... If I use this ash glaze on dinnerware, is it food safe? Or do I have to apply clear glaze to make it safe? Also the ash glazes are runny? Do I have to use stilt under the ash glazed pieces in the kiln? Thank you!

I'm curious if sifting down so fine is needed though? It might be easier to just take out the biggest chunks, and then mix it into the water. Just agitate the water, and then pour it off after a few seconds. The larger particles will stay in the first container, kind of like a cyclone separator. You would save quite quite a bit of time, and possibly lose less to the wind? Thank you very much for the interesting, and informative video.

I soke my pièces in milk let it dry then heat it up.on a electric stove and exposed it until.i like the color

Man I love me some pecan trees! When I was a kid my papa and I would gather a couple trash bags whole pecans from my aunt's house and sit on the porch all day long crackin and eating them during the summer time, one of my favorite childhood memories... a lot of pallets made with pine too I know because I like use them 4 forging Steel and when you turn that pallet wood into charcoal that burns hotter than any Hardwood charcoal you can make or find which is mostly what's around here besides red cedar it burns hot too but fast

With that bit you tossed out you could add into your soil mix! Plants love it

This really helped me have a better understanding of where glazes started. Thank you!

Hi! I was wondering if someone already tried to fire home made ash glaze below 1200C/cone 6? And did that work out?

lol! thank you sharing! please exercise care whilst traipsing in the wood!😂

Enjoying your videos! Thanks! I'd like to try this! Have you done, or thought about doing any pit or barrel firing?

do you fire the dish or pot first then glaze and fire again ? or do you glaze be fore firing.

are you in the black land prairies? the foliage seems very similar to where i live

That is about as simple as it gets. I had no idea ash melted. I cant wait to try it out.

Good video. Does this glaze work in any kind of kiln? Like an electric kiln?

Wyatt about using borax to lower the melting point of the glaze?

Could you use this to paint and decorate pottery that will be salt glazed?

You can make a sieve yourself with a plastic bucket, screen, and a thrift store griddle. Cut the bottom off of a cheap 5 gal bucket. Easy to do on a table saw. The I like to cut another ring about 3 to 4 inches from the bottom. Slide that ring into the bucket to double the thickness of the bucket wall. Heat your griddle to 450 F. Place a square a *metal* screen on the griddle as flat as you can. Then put the bucket on top. The plastic will melt, and ooze into the screen. Once you have good penetration of the screen into the plastic remove and let cool. I trim the excess screen with scissors. I then use snub nose wire cutters to trim the melted plastic around the edge. Window screen works well, but you can also use a cheap stainless steel splatter screen.

Is the reason for the clay for affinity/bonding with the pottery? 🤔 Peace and Health

Is your 50/50 ratio of ash to clay by volume or weight? It appears from the video to be by volume. Thanks for this informative video!

Hi... First of all, thanks for making this video. I was a little unclear on one detail, however. The clay you use in the suspension to make the ash glaze... Does it have to be fired before it's ground up, or just dried out really thoroughly? You may have said it and I missed it, but I was just a little confused on that little detail.

Do you have to paint the glaze on or can you dip it.

sorry, what temp do you mean when you say cone 4, 5, 6? i was a bit confused with all those charts i found in the internet

Ball of clay is there to 'stick' the glaze on to the body, as far as i know.. Thank you for all these experiments. I appreciate. Regards

Do you fire it first then glaze and fire again or just fire all at once

so if i made clay out of dirt and then glazed it with ash glaze.. i could use it to make a pot or a cup and drink from it ? i remember reading about some clay types are bad for you so i can't be sure, thought i'd ask if you knew

Why not find someone with a log fireplace and use their ash afterwards? In most countries burning off in your yard is a crime. And for good reason too - it's horribly wasteful. And in this case a waste of good wood when there's megatons of other glazes on the market right now ready to purchase yet there's a distinct lack of high quality wood. I make musical instruments, I'd kill for the variety of woods you have on your property. Seeing them burnt for me is like watching someone burn an art museum down. :'(

l have a old backyard furnace l am thinking to make it into a wood fired pottery kiln.. l am guessing the highest temperature would be glowing Orange? Would these glazes work? Or ls the temperature too low ? Thankyou for your time ❤

What would happen if you used Human Ash ?

Best explanation of glaze ever.

17:45 I'm no expert potter and can only speculate what the clay does in the glaze, but I'm guessing it's to bond the shiny stuff (the ash) to the already existing clay in the pot by use of cohesion- that is similar or same substances bonding to one another. To go another step further in my explanation, I'd guess the clay is also bonding to the ash by use of adhesion. IOW, the clay in the glaze mix is the middle man between the clay pot and the shiny melted ash. Thanks for the upload- very interesting and straight forward presentation.

Will this glaze help make the fired pottery water proof? I'm just doing my research before I start.

Even I can follow that recipe.

Oo! This! Thanks!!! I always wondered how one would glaze pottery to make it relatively food safe cause i always see people making primitive kilns and such, but no glazes

Can you say firing temperature for this glaze, please))

I don't like the drones and choppers minding my business

How many belt buckles do you have?

Thanks a lot you are good man

This is exactly what iv been looking for.

Thank you for that instruction. It was very helpful. (I don't know what "cones" means, though) I wish you had fired it, now I am vested and want to see how that bowl turns out. 😀

Great video. Can you tell how water“proof“ this glaze is?

Capt Mike ! - Thank you so much for your GREAT video !!! - I' m going to the beach to find some driftwood ash to take back to my clay studio to make a simple ash glaze. Wow!

thank you for being a steward of the land

I wonder if its silica that remains in the ash that melts and causes a shine. If that is true, I wonder how horsetail weeds burned to an ash would do. Horsetail is medicinally high in silica.

I'm just curious if you ever noticed the ashes of ebony are rust brown? Im pretty sure it is ebony, because I salvaged the black keys from a piano someone abandoned in the weather. As a wood worker I was keen to salvage the hardwood pieces. One was severely splintered and I decided to burn a piece to detect if it was oily and detect its scent. It has a very pleasant aroma, sweetish, akin to sandalwood but not as pungent. It burned as an ember right down to ashes. What is interesting is the ash is rust brown, not a black or white speck among them. Searching google has been a useless, vain task. I just get articles on ash trees, or ebony incense burners.

Thanks for the simple tips :)

As simple as that!! What a wonderful thing to do! you saved me a headache with all the other ash glaze videos on the internet... Thank you so much!

ty from australia

Great vid hoss I have going back to our roots trying to be less wasteful and use more natural renewable resources. This was a great help. Keep on keeping on!

What temperature did you fire It at?

Get your premium sifted wood ash at mrdirtfarmer.com

Hello, thank you so much for this. I love just having a go at things. I’m going to do some experiments of my own now!

Thank you!

Thanks ❤

Does he use fired or unfired clay?

are your ash glazes, and ash glazes in general (clay, water, ash) safe for eating and drinking from? I want to glaze my coffee cups, and i'm a true novice, haven't even fired my electric kiln up yet, trying to get up to speed. Great video, thanks for posting!

Gracias, me gusto. fácil explicación. Lo haré y subiré los resultados. Saludos.

Can i glaze earthware clay with ash glaze

Interesting! Thank's for sharing!!

I'm not a potter, but was interested in how it was done. I saw how salt can be added to a kiln while firing and it vaporized to form glaze. Do you think salt water and clay can be used as a dipping or painted glaze?

not to sound fucking negative but uughh farm peoples’ pace messes with me x_x if it was that simple I personally would’ve said HEY, ash, clay, 50 50 of each, enough water. hey look at my garden it’s cool isn’t it. yeahyeah

Would this work on cookware?

I’ve been looking for this information thank you 🙏🏻

Thanks so much! Mystery is gone! :D

a punisher fan

. would have been good to see the fired result right at the end! (y)

Wish I knew stuff like this 50 years ago.

mask please

I'm new to pottery and I am so enjoying your videos - thank you 😊

Awesome! Thank you - great tutorial!

This is great to get me started on experimenting. I also am too old to have to do everything in great scientific detail...I am for having fun while learning and you have given a great starting point. I liked your walk in the woods and your burning method. I will have it to adapt to my suburban setting. Nice examples too!

Sir could I use this glaze on a terracotta clay?

This is worth a try! Giving ya a 🤘 your a brave man!

I love it! Thanks for sharing! So relaxing.

Save yourself some time. Start at 6:00

Thank you, this was great!