Backyard Pottery Firing Without a Kiln

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3 жыл бұрын

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ℹ️ About this video
I went to visit my friend Bill who has a unique way of firing pottery in his backyard in Chandler, Arizona. This video takes a look at his way of firing and talks a little about how it was built. This is a great setup for someone who wants to fire pottery at home but does not have access to a kiln.
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Пікірлер: 85

@isabellaanglin9012 Жыл бұрын

Notes about the adobe rocket kiln : (1) 6:23 Have multiple entrance holes radially to ensure proper and even heating (2) 6:45 don't build higher than arm length to be able to load easily (3) 7:44 Bill used own sandy yard clay, temper was chopped glass/volcanic cinders, built up structure smashing 'bricks' together with paddle, on day two kept plastic/sheet around to dry slowly Notes about the firing: (1) 1:15 Lights sticks, put some heavier wood to burn down to coals (2) When dies back to no flames put a grate on top to preheat the pots (3) then wait until cool downs a bit to put in pots (3:10) on top of a grate, adds sagger and put fuel on the outside (4:55) (4) Lets burn to reach certain temp (770 surface temp was measured) and then covers holes with dirt and top with trash lid (5) let's it smoother overnight

@1a1u0g9t4s2u 8 ай бұрын

Between no burn days, HOA's, and bad neighbors looks like Bill was able to maneuver successfully around all those obstacles. Hope I can be as successfull. Thanks for sharing

@TheWaldHaven 2 жыл бұрын

I'm so greatful to all the content creators and inventors on you tube. You've given me the foundation and incouragement to start my own experimentation, even if some of my pots break I now know it happens to the best of us 🙂

@AncientPottery 2 жыл бұрын

You are so welcome! Get out there and break some pottery - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/lbuoZ8R2xtPOZXU.html

@user-jd9kg3pd9z 4 ай бұрын

@@AncientPottery😂

@libbylandscape3560 8 ай бұрын

I’ve watched this before and have it on my Pottery list, but as always I get more info from a second viewing. Thanks. ❤

@leslie-lynnesinkey1225 3 жыл бұрын

That Salado Polychrome is absolutely to die for!

@AncientPottery 3 жыл бұрын

The pottery is mostly all Bill’s.

@sirsteamtrain7913 3 жыл бұрын

I'm learning on the wheel and a gas kiln but I still love watching this. It really helps round out what I know.

@AncientPottery 3 жыл бұрын

There are no right and wrong answers in ceramics, just different paths. Always fun to learn how other people work with clay. Thanks for watching.

@nom_b 2 жыл бұрын

I was rewatching videos and cant believe I'd forgotten about this one. A tandoor would solve all my problems. Thanks so much for making this vid 😀

@AncientPottery 2 жыл бұрын

Good, I hope this solves your problem.

@alicewyan 2 жыл бұрын

I'm quite impressed at how little fuel the adobe kiln uses! Also amused at what "in the city" means over there ;-) I have a friend who lives in a village nearby and hopefully we'll manage to build a small kiln to try out some ancient pottery

@AncientPottery 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, it is fuel efficient. Not sure what you mean about the city though because I never even showed any of the city, just his backyard. Or do you mean that people in cities don't have backyards where you live?

@alicewyan 2 жыл бұрын

@@AncientPottery yeah, it's rare to have backyards at all in the city here, let alone one that big :) thankfully I live in a smallish city so it's quite easy to get to the countryside.

@jeanettewaverly2590 3 жыл бұрын

Interesting to see another firing system. Thank you and Bill for sharing it with us.

@AncientPottery 3 жыл бұрын

You are welcome, thanks for watching.

@bishnur3768 3 жыл бұрын

The result is very nice. I love it. Thank you so much for this video Andy....

@AncientPottery 3 жыл бұрын

You are very welcome

@isntjames 2 жыл бұрын

These mud kilns are fantastic, It just takes a little know-how to use well. Plus free to make. You can lime plaster the outside to make it rain proof, and custom shape and size grills built into them. I love mine. I built it from Andy's model and works great. Love you Andy.

@AncientPottery 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks James, it sounds like you have it figured out!

@lisengel2498 Жыл бұрын

What a fine way of showing how you Work - its truly fun to Watch and very inspiring

@AncientPottery Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much!

@TalRohan 4 ай бұрын

I am looking at using our gardfen clay for making some pottery and this looks like a good way to go for me to fire it...Its a way I have smelted iron in the past so I ma comfortable with the build . actually I think if I build this on a premade mound I could use it for both iron smelting with charcoal and for pottery firing with wood Thanks very much for sharing

@rachelduckett3408 3 ай бұрын

❤🔥❤I love you guys!! Grateful for you both sooooo deeply 🐉✨🐍🌀🔥

@Caramelhorse1 3 жыл бұрын

Great video!

@AncientPottery 3 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

@fernlintner65 3 жыл бұрын

I love this video, i am very very very new to pottery and am exploring ways to do it economically. I would love to see a specific video on different kinds of clay to use and where to get them for thiose of us who can not harvest our own. Love these videos you have truly given me a desire to learn this ancient craft

@sadiefuller4480 Жыл бұрын

can someone explain the process for the stone kiln in the video? i can’t wrap my head around it but i think it’s what would work best in my climate. cant figure out how ti build/operate. did they put the pieces just among the wood and let it burn around them???

@johnnyappleseed.4420 3 жыл бұрын

I'm building my kiln right now! Thank you for your videos. Is there a firing schedule you follow or do you guys just eye ball it?

@AncientPottery 3 жыл бұрын

No, I just keep my eye on the temperature, once it reaches my desired temp I start the cool down.

@goodpeople5676 3 жыл бұрын

I love your TANDOOR ..but you can make it from small metal paint barrel n clay n few rods . Or the ANGTA ( a charcoal burner inside room ) that we use in northeast of INDIA . Can also be used to burn the pottery . Enjoy With Love from SAM Guwahati Assam INDIA

@AncientPottery 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the tip

@rang....-._.-....0. 2 жыл бұрын

In my situation (small area with neighbours), I might try this. Thanks so much both for sharing. A shorter construct would help easier loading... part I am jittery about. What's the shortest height from ground I can go for please? Thanks.

@AncientPottery 2 жыл бұрын

Good question but I have no idea. You are correct that a shorter build would be easier but the hight also gives it draw like a chimney which strengthens the convection air flow. Only some experiments will answer that question.

@shawnsg Жыл бұрын

That's pretty cool. I live on the edge of the city so I'm always worried about anything excessively smoky for long periods of time or big open flames attracting unwanted attention lol. Is the rocket one made from something like cob?

@AncientPottery Жыл бұрын

Yes, it is made from adobe. You should check out the charcoal method in this video which produces very little smoke and no flames, so it is great for in town firings. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sNp8oZZz2L_Zemw.html

@shawnsg Жыл бұрын

@@AncientPottery my first thought was Adobe Photoshop? I'm an idiot. Ha well I'm trying to be cheap so I don't want to buy the charcoal. We have about 1.5 acres and half is covered with small trees, privet, and other scrub stuff that I'm trying to clear. This way I could kill two birds with one stone: fire a kiln and get rid of some of the debris.

@sheilam4964 Жыл бұрын

👍👍👍👍👍

@NeverEverFaceTheDark Ай бұрын

Should the bricks be clay or can they be concrete?

@Pef273 2 жыл бұрын

Great videos! How do you determine if the fire was hot enough to convert the clay to ceramic?

@AncientPottery 2 жыл бұрын

Get the pot wet, if it falls apart, you didn't get hot enough, if it comes through a good soaking just fine, you have made ceramic.

@user-jd9kg3pd9z 4 ай бұрын

When they take the pots out of the kiln you will notice that they are always tapping on the side of the pot. This to make a ring sound like a bell. If the pot or bowl has a nice ring sound when tapped then the raw clay has turned / bonded into ceramic. IE permanent. If it cracked it will not ring nicely, in that case you now have more shards😂. And then there is wards water test. But you loose your pot with that test. Good luck. Watch a few more of Wards videos, you will learn so much.

@Achbar 2 жыл бұрын

Can you get that fire Hot enough to glaze Pottery? I love the Tandoor idea of a Kiln.

@AncientPottery 2 жыл бұрын

Not sure, I would guess not.

@Achbar 2 жыл бұрын

@@AncientPottery Thanks for you help

@christopherconaway3549 3 жыл бұрын

i have a question Andy. i recently fired a primitive pot using a fire pit and a metal bucket as a kiln. my pot developed a hairline crack in the bottom while it fired but the rest went perfect. how do you prevent your pottery from cracking in the fire?

@AncientPottery 3 жыл бұрын

There are a lot of variables in this sort of firing so sometimes it can be hard to determine what went wrong. My guess would be thermal shock from too fast heating or too fast cooling. Try adding a bit more temper to your clay to prevent cracking, or be careful to heat up and cool down more gradually.

@christopherconaway3549 3 жыл бұрын

@@AncientPottery that is a good point. i had to quickly get the fire out so i buried the pot in the hot sand in my firing pit. i guess it cooled the bottom down too fast. if i glaze the pot would that seal the crack?

@xeroart3852 2 жыл бұрын

Look closely at the crack. If the crack is somewhat spread open with a bit of jagged edge it cracked in the beginning of the firing due to quick temp rise (always preheat pots). A hairline crack up close will have a straight sharp edge which occurs in fast cooling.

@jadrakteofurupa7729 2 жыл бұрын

How long does the pre-heating lasts? I have made several loose bricks kilns and almost everything cracks :(

@AncientPottery 2 жыл бұрын

Preheating usually lasts at least 20 to 30 minutes. Also try adding more temper to your clay to increase resistance to thermal shock

@austinanderson2993 Жыл бұрын

Damn 760 is really hot, I got aluminum to just barely melt in my open fire pit with a desk fan on it the whole time and aluminum melts at 660

@AncientPottery Жыл бұрын

Heck yes it is

@1a1u0g9t4s2u 8 ай бұрын

Many years ago a high school buddy and I built a wood fire in his parents habatchi to cook some steaks. The aluminum grate did not survive but the cast iron base did so we had to improvise to cook the steaks.

@eugenatang7861 3 жыл бұрын

Is it possible to fire cone 6 stoneware with this method?

@AncientPottery 3 жыл бұрын

I have no experience with this but I would guess that it would be very difficult to reach stoneware temperatures with a primitive kiln such as this.

@eugenatang7861 3 жыл бұрын

@@AncientPottery I see, so what clay body would you recommend for this kind of small-scale wood firing?

@springbloom5940 3 жыл бұрын

Are you reading F° or C° ? How hot can you get a kiln like the brick updraft kiln you built? I presume you could fairly effeciently gas fire the adobe barrel, too? How hot might that get? Im looking to build a small kiln and would like to be able to do stoneware, but having a hard time finding detailed enough information. I know stoneware has been around for thousands of years, so I know $15 a piece refractory bricks aren't required. So, just mass and lots of fire? Is it reasonable to do something like that with common bricks and say, a breadbox size firing chamber? I know its hard to communicate like this and appreciate any insights you give.

@AncientPottery 3 жыл бұрын

I usually measure temperatures in Celsius. I don’t know the top temps with this sort of kiln, I want to do some experiments to find out. Yes you could set something like this up to burn gas. I think you are going to need to do some experiments to find all the information you want. Information out primitive kilns is hard to come by.

@springbloom5940 3 жыл бұрын

@@AncientPottery Thanks. I did make some promising kiln bricks. I used 70/30 crushed perlite/sand and a heavy slip of my ball clay. I pitfired them for about 6hrs and they came out very light and solid. I put a propane torch to one, until it glowed and couldn't see and apparent erosion. Im thinking Ill line a 20" x 20" firing chamber with those and if that doesn't workout, Ill just use some ceramic blanket. If I can get to glazing temp, Ill be thrilled.

@AndrewDanielartofAndrewdaniel 10 ай бұрын

@@springbloom5940did you get to glazing temps??

@springbloom5940 10 ай бұрын

@@AndrewDanielartofAndrewdaniel I was able to glaze some earthernware. I ended up with 16x16x24 chamber lined with 4" of my homemade brick, backed with 1" ceramic fiber and encased in a double layer of solid 4x8x16 concrete blocks. I blow about 30,000btu into it. So, 8" of concrete with about 5" of DIY refractory lining. I had some early failures with the DIY brick and had to fire them 3 times. First in the pit, then in the 1" kaowool chamber, then a final 16hr fire in place. Its held up pretty well for a bout 5 full firings, now. Not very efficient, but does the job.

@AndrewDanielartofAndrewdaniel 10 ай бұрын

@@springbloom5940 wow! Makes sense! Glad to hear it’s possible! I’ll take some notes for later! 🤓

@kopigunung 2 жыл бұрын

I don't really like the smoke. If you put on a chimney, does it do harm to the potteries??

@AncientPottery 2 жыл бұрын

I would think you could, although this was really not a smokey firing.

@wendydee3007 Жыл бұрын

This looks amazing. But I'm just a little confused with having the two different methods. Could someone just tell me in basic instructions, how to fire with the clay oven? Thank you very much :o)

@AncientPottery Жыл бұрын

1. build an oven 2. build a fire to heat it up 3. once it cools enough that you can reach in without burning yourself, load your pots 4. build another bigger fire 5. Congratulations, you just fired pots.

@wendydee3007 Жыл бұрын

@@AncientPottery Oh wow, thank you! :o) I love the idea of building a clay kiln.

@janetshaffer423 Жыл бұрын

To reach inside the taller fire hole, get some welders gloves from Glamazon….all leather and works for at-home fire building ….

@AncientPottery Жыл бұрын

Good tip

@georgedelgiorno6375 Жыл бұрын

Seems to me you didn't have to tear your kiln down as this man's kiln gave you the answer. Just add the air extra air holes around the bottom. Exactly the way he modified the tandoor plan...

@AncientPottery Жыл бұрын

No it wasn’t wide enough at the bottom for this kind of setup.

@janesmith7028 Жыл бұрын

Is that Chandler, Oklahoma? Do you teach somewhere in Oklahoma?

@AncientPottery Жыл бұрын

Chandler, Arizona. My in-person classes are usually in Arizona, but I have online classes you can take from anywhere.

@markspc1 3 жыл бұрын

Humm, I want to see the opening of the pit :(

@AncientPottery 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah sorry I couldn’t show that. Bill lives in Chandler and I live in Tucson so it just wasn’t possible for me to drive back up there for the opening the next day.

@markspc1 3 жыл бұрын

@@AncientPottery Oh I see.

@williamwarner6036 3 жыл бұрын

@@markspc1 To see some pictures from the next morning and notes on my smothering failure (soil slumped at one of the air holes which overoxidized the pots at the end though everything came through the firing intact), see my June 12 post on Andy's "Primative Pottery" group on Facebook.