I grew up finding old pieces of Creek Indian Pottery here in Southeast Ga. Recently I started knapping arrowheads and now I'm adding pottery making in. Thanks for the video! -DirtySouthPrepper
Great video, really motivates me to try this technique. My mother made native pottery when I was a kid. She has went on to the next life. Now I want to carry on what she did. Thanks for the video. Your pottery looks great and it sure had a pretty ring sound when you tapped it.
Thanks Tony, a very useful technique indeed and splendid, clearly traditional products. Interesting to hear your voice after watching Native Clays. I stand in awe of your work. John Warner. Australia
That was great! Thank you so much for posting this. At school the only method without a store bought kiln was a wood based raku. this is brilliant! Absolutely gonna use this method. My niece and I are really impressed!
Thank you for your prompt reply, I watched your other Video where you make the, Paddle and Anvil Pot, which I found most inspiring. I love the simplicity and beauty of the piece and the History behind it all. More importantly for me, was your natural talent and desire to Share and inspire (I'm 73 by the way and you certainly inspired me to take up my Clay working again) and hope that you don't have to Artistically starve to often as it would be a great loss to lose someone of your nature. All the best to you and thank you once again. 🙋♀️🌈🌞
Great video Tony. I took your first class at Anza Borrego and loved it. You gave us paperwork explaining this kiln using a trash can. The video makes it easier to understand. Thank you.
Great video of an awesome process. As a sculptor, I've been wanting a way to pit fire larger works. This method should be perfect as it can be scaled up to do larger pieces. Super. Very well narrated and to the point. thanks.
It isn't a good idea to use galvanized iron in conjunction with heat because the zink melt's and becomes vaporized, therefore coating your lungs if you do a lot of it. I just thought of letting you know of this, just in case there are some people watching this and thinking of using a galvanized iron tank as a kiln instead of using bricks to build the kiln with.
Yeah, here comes the RU-vid police; not only the temperature of the galvanized tank could not get hot enough but it was burned outdoor and if there was any vapor it would float away and quickly get dilute. Life would be much nicer without do gooders like you Barry Ducret "@Barry Ducret"
The zinc coating vaporizes and dissipates within the first few minutes of heat contact. As long as you aren't standing right over the fire huffing the smoke you'll probably be fine.
I love this, and can't wait to try it. I've fired with charcoal before, using an old Weber charcoal grill. I put the pieces in coffee cans to protect them. Amazingly, everything fired up well and survived with no cracking! Warning: It pretty much destroys the Weber, so look for old ones, like at yard sales. The nice shiny finish will not survive!
I can't afford a Weber grill, but I do have a handcrafted grill made from an old box can. I cut an opening on the right base and then cut the metal off its left tall side.
Yes you can get higher temps with more charcoal or use lump charcoal instead. Also you can use a wire mesh cage instead of bricks. I think I used 15 pounds of charcoal maybe 20 pounds.
That was AWESOME! Thank you so much for making this video. I'm just getting into pottery and I am thinking this will be a craft that will last the rest of my life.
Cool! I’ve done experiments with pit firing and found it challenging to get the temperature to rise and cool slowly. The flower pot is a smart idea. And charcoal must heat up nice and evenly.
now here's a technique I can use in my backyard!! do have a couple questions.... How long do your bricks last? will they tend to break over time? Would it be better to use firebrick? Does the "non-briquette" type charcoal (lump & fragmented charcoal) work with this method? does it have to be charcoal; I have access to a large volume of wood chips (I have a wood lathe) and could easily fill the space with hardwood fragments and lathe curls; would they get hot enough while also giving a reducing atmosphere?? If I don't have a large metal container to cover it...would it work to seal it up with earth and clay? (with that idea in mind, would putting it down in a pit help with that aspect?) Definately going to have to give this a try!!
Watch how this guy did it...it's amazing! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OZtWewsZAsI.html He has a pit and uses sawdust so should be perfect for you. Make sure you video it and share with us all. I'd love to see the results!
I use a chocolate brown clay for my black, it fires black in reduction. If I want a black on oxidation I use 75 percent manganese dioxide , 25 percent chrysocolla or copper carbonate, and just enough chocolate brown clay to make the paint stick. The minerals must be fired first in rock form or powder form, then water sifted to get the finest materials then fine chocolate clay.
Awesome ... so when you fire like that are they " food safe" ..also will they still absorb water ?? Thinking of starting to throw again but have no kiln, I'm wanting to make water retentive dishes and drink ware.. can you help ? Thanks ..and again awesome vid. And from the looks of it awesome home...
Thank you very much for this video. I have long been looking for a video that shows how to get high in temperature. Do you have other methods where you can get up to 1200 + c
Hello there, do you think maybe I would be able to fire White Stoneware in such a kiln as you have built in this very well put together and informative Video.
I am 16 and really branching off from painting portraits to sculpting with handmade clay. Can I use sticks? I don’t have charcoal and my mom doesn’t have money to buy bags of it right now
Thah stove I want to make: 《Pablo Sotto heater with oven》I think is not so good if we put cement inside, but I am not sure, because my english is not perfect 😢 The place wich I am living is very cold and I need a good stove. The fire bricks in my country is realy cost to much but I found red earth very chip and I think I can make fire bricks because I have place to do that in my farm. Thanks you give your time for me.
The tub acts like the dirt if they were buried keeping the white slip white and the black paint black. They may have turned a buff color with brown paint without putting the tub over them.
I bet if you added a long steal pipe attach to a hair dryer leading to the center of the kiln you could probably get much higher temperatures, I’ve seen some DIY blacksmiths it.
The galvanized trough does not burn in this process, not a good idea to breathe anything with the pottery process especially clay and ash or any fumes.
thanks for sharing this. I will set it up for the next full moon in 14 th days!!;) epic work... So it sounds like you went up to 1200 and more...how much charcoal ? do you think that in oxygen firing (no bell) will be similar temp? Blessings
I am new to firing my own pottery. The pots you are firing here how long have they air dried before you fire them? Is this a bisque firing? Or a glaze firing?
This would be a low firing if you were talking commercial clays. My clays get close to vitrification at these temperatures. I’m not using many glaze paints. Maybe a galena or a frit from time to time. Temps reach 1600 to 1700 from time to time depending on fire method
No they have only been warmed in the house oven to 450 F to get rid of any moisture. They are not glazed so technically not food safe but they used them just fine back in the day.
Clay will always be porous and less you use a glaze . They didn’t use much glaze back in the day the water would just sweat out and cool the water on the inside.
Depends on the clay, I have a clay that doesn’t need preheat, those pots I think I put in the oven at 400F for an hour or so to get them passed r tree he point where they pop. You can let them cool and then set up your fire
Yes a lot of the clients I work with are on government assisted living and pretty much have nothing so I like to show them some different ways of being able to fire in intercity environments using some store bought or discarded junk. Loads of ways to stay shy of super commercial kilns. Although someone is always giving one away somewhere 😝
If you added a lot more charcoal you might get to come .06 which is 1800F . Low fire in the commercial clay world. Lead glaze for sure tho. Welcome to clay 😀
Valeria Wicker I built it out of some mesh from the welding store. It is a bit of work! You might find an old metal mil crate or something metal bucket and punch a bunch of wholes in it. I did preheat the pots in the over to 450F for an hour
@@tonysoaresnativeclays1434 Thank you so much! Ok, I got some experimental piece drying. One more question about the mesh. Do I have to use it? Can I just use a metal bucket with a hole on the top? If I am understanding correctly the mesh is only to keep the pieces from moving around,right? I was going to start with small pinched pots and slab work. Thank you so much again!🙏
@@tonysoaresnativeclays1434 Hi Tony I have my little kiln and material ready for the firing. I am SO excited to try this! Will attempt it tomorrow. I only have one more question if it's ok. How long should I preheat the pottery in the oven for (what temperature?)? And do the have to be still hot when I place them in the kiln? Over here is still chilly during the day and I am scared of thermal shock when I transport the pottery outside to the kiln. Thank you SO much for your time! I appreciate it so much!
Collect and Burn more wood, have less forest fires. It takes a small amount of fuel, there are many different types of fuel. I like cow chips. A bag or two of charcoal isn’t to bad maybe $20
