I got very tired of driving my pieces to the studio an hour away, and then waiting weeks for them to be fired, so I started saving $50/wk until I had enough for my own kiln install last summer. it takes me a while to make enough pieces to run a bisque firing, but I'm having a lot of fun. no regrets. I think if I had done financing or paid through a credit card, I'd feel pressure to make and sell and pay it off/justify the purchase, but since I slowly saved up and thought about it for a few years before I finally bought it, I feel more comfortable slowly making at my own pace.

I bought a broken kiln ( broken bricks, broken elements, no control unit ), I repaired it, made my own ( bigger ) elements ( from 2400W to 6000W ), bought a control unit. Now I have a 60L kiln that cost me 500€ total.

Lol! My mom and I bought a wheel, and my partner wants to be supportive so he offered to buy a kiln but we hadn't even had our first pots from our home wheel fired at the community studio! Your video helped me feel much better about telling him no, that we're not ready for a kiln yet!

My husband built me a primitive kiln last year and we've fired it three times. But this is TOO ironic, I was given two kilns for free to just come pick them up yesterday. A small one and a huge one. The big one needs an element and the small one is fine. I'll have to learn how to use them properly. Thankfully we have an enormous woodshop to put them in away from the house and my husband is also an electrician.

As someone who literally just bought my kiln today is was worried for a second, but I know this is the best time as I move from a hobby to an artist. I have been doing ceramic for 2+years and I just want to do more. Thank you for your advice and I will be watching the rest of your videos when my kiln arrives

I made my own gas fired kiln which I only use outside. It's implied that both the size and number of pieces are limited. So my long haul isn't all that long, being in my 70s. And it keeps me busy and alert as a retired manufacturer. You stop, you die. True to my past performance, I try to add useful information based on my experience. And who knows, I may make a dime every now and again. I'm not overly vested in the craft. Thanks again! ❤

I'm from Uruguay and pottery supplies are in general very expensive, so buying a kiln for me wasn't an option because of the price but also because for me, pottery it's a hobbie... So, I made my own gas kiln with an oil drum and ceramic fiber. They are usually used for raku but I use it as a regular kiln and works just fine. And the whole process of making it was really fun and educational! I learned a lot :)

I've been doing ceramics for 10 years now, and I still don't have a kiln,😂😅 not only because of the price and my shared studio space with non-artist friends but also because a ceramics school is approximately 10 minutes walking from the studio, and the boss is super sweet and rents me the kiln when I need it. Thank you for the video!

Community is so important in the creative world. Totally agree! I bought a small kiln (Skutt 714) for home as I don't like to wait in line at the studio when I want to make a gifts or things, but for the large pieces, and creating in general, there is SO MUCH benefit to joining community spaces. Great video!

I got a little 110 kiln a couple years before I retired as a ceramics teacher and a wheel I already had a kick wheel so I guess I was already set up Been working with clay since 1976 😜

Skutt's KM818 single phase will run off almost anyone's existing 220v household circuit, and it's pretty roomy. 18" x 18" interior dimensions. Alternatively, Olympic makes a cone 10 Doll E/Test kiln that will run off a standard 120v outlet (dedicated circuit with 20 amp breaker). It's not huge, but probably big enough for most hobby potters.

One thing I tell people ready to go solo, is ask to help with firing, I was lucky, I got a degree in ceramics and got all the training anyone could ever possibly need to find thier voice in clay and start out in independent or semi-independant practice, which is why I value actual hands on experience working with an experienced potter. Video instructionals are all great reference material, but the only way to really learn what you're doing is in person. And a community studio is a great way to get that learning. Also, maintaining those ties after you set up your own studio is invaluable. Personally, i don't play well with others, it's too distracting and then i get absolutely nothing done, all I want to do it get an audiobook going and get on with making. As for insurance, I currently have a rented industrial unit and business contents insurance. Soon, if this sodding house purchase goes through, I'll be moving my studio into the detached double garage and getting 3-phase installed. My kiln is more than double the firing chamber of yours and needs industrial power to reach stoneware temps. I'm too scared to look into the new insurance costs in a domestic setting. But currently, I pay around £120 per year. Also, I don't change my kiln's elements, I accept the extra cost of paying a professional kiln engineer because I don't trust myself to do it properly, i tried it once and it cost me a new hearth and more new elements, so it's cheaper for me to just get a pro in. Another option for firing your work is if you are close to a local clay supplier, they often run a firing service and will happily sell you space in a firing. You might be waiting until they fill the kiln for your work if you don't have enough to fill it yourself, but if you're not in a hurry, it's a viable option. Most importantly, and this is to help any beginner avoid a costly disaster in a kiln they don't own.... KNOW EXACTLY WHAT CLAY YOU ARE USING AND IT'S FIRING RANGE. Some earthenware clays can melt if they go to stoneware glaze temps. Always ALWAYS keep a label with the manufacturer, clay type, batch number and firing range on it. Every bag comes with this information. If you ever doubt what clay it is, treat it as earthenware and sculptural. I totally agree about sculptors not really needing to have thier work fired. In the UK, there's scarva's Flax paper clay which is incredibly versatile and wet can join to dry, it's a really nice medium to work with.

Such a useful video, thgank you. You answered some questions I've had a for a long time. Moved to France and haven't been sure if I should take a leap with regard to buying a kiln.

Thanks for the video! I bought a kiln a few months ago and I love it so much, I personally don't regret it at all!

I play with geopolymers instead. The options are more limited, but it does not need firing. It is way more robust than polymer clay, it actually uses pottery clay. But you can't touch it with bare hands when it is wet because of the alkalinity.

I recently got a kiln from someone who is getting a bit older and does do pottery anymore. I feel pretty lucky that I was able to get one at no cost to me. Very grateful! I already had the circuit in the garage for it!

Always so informative Mia. Thank you. Yep I’m a community studio potter for all those reasons! Very fortunate.

This is so helpful! A kiln of my own I’d definitely a bucket list item, but I have to say the studio where I take lessons and get studio time is wonderful! Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom!

I bought a kiln from offer up. She said she bought it from her aunt but she never got into pottery and that her aunt used ut quite a bit. I didnt know anything about kilns used or new. This one is old school with the cone activated auto shut off. I lucked out and had an outlet in the shop that was previously a wood shop. Since purchasing it, I have concluded that this kiln could not have been used. Prior to the lady recklessly loading it into my truck, the bricks were unbroken and pristine. The handful of times i have used have left a mark for sure. This leads me to the most shocking part of my purchase....i only paid $300. Less than i can find a heavily used old kiln. Happy dance.

I bought my kiln last summer , and it took me 4 months to find an electrician to actually come and run a special outlet for my kiln in my studio and I have a small kiln : ( electrical work is in high demand in my area with tons of building) also the cost of installing the electrical was more than the kiln itself. I love my kiln though so no regrets

Was stationed in Illesheim from 87-89. Actually married a German gal, and I must say, I was rather impressed when you busted out that German! Sounded pretty good, there!....lol! You have a great channel. Wishing you much success!

Thank you, Mia, for this really helpful summary of things to be considered! And hey, I'm in the video twice ;-)) What an honor. I miss you and your studio here in Berlin! And Peanuts of course ;)

This video came out during the worst week yet with my kiln. I do kiln share (potters rent my kiln)- but am still at 0 income in a year just due to the cost of replacement and maintenance!

I’ve been teaching myself slip casting for over a year, trying to gain enough skill and make enough pieces to start selling at craft fairs. I’m lucky to have a pottery supply store in my area that offers kiln firings. I don’t know how to run a kiln, and am not ready to buy my own, so I’m glad I can pay the experts to fire my pieces for me!

If you are a part-time hobbyist it probably doesn't make sense. A wheel and a kiln are necessary if you want to get serious about the craft simply because having 24/7 access to them will improve your work exponentially.

I spent nearly five thousand dollars to get my electrical upgraded to handle my kiln. It was certainly a major investment. I have a huge old kiln sitter that I bought used from a school and it is being converted to be an outside gas kiln. I am very fortunate my family owns our land and we don’t have restrictions because it’s Appalachia.

My area does not have a kiln anywhere. I'm disabled and can't afford one, I live on cape cod ma. There's nowhere here. The closest one is hours and hours away, and I'm disabled and can't drive. It's just such a bummer I had no idea making ceramic goods or plates and comes was so...inaccessible to people. It's just super disheartening, feels like you gotta be rich to own one, or happen to live somewhere near one. i even looked at rent a kiln from random other people, hours and hours away. Man...sucks so bad. I found out about microwave ones, that can only do teeny tiny things. Such a bummer!

I'm buying my first kiln after being a member of a maker-space that has a perfectly good kiln for 2 years. The problem with using someone else's kiln is that you have to fire on their schedule and at their temperatures. They won't run the kiln unless they have enough work to fill it so in slow months even when I have a piece ready for firing I may have to wait weeks to fire it. And because it's a community kiln they only have two temperatures on the schedule - a bisque firing and one glaze firing temperature. This limits the clays and glazes I can use. So a good reason to own your own kiln is to have total control over your schedule and temperatures.

Option #4, fire your pieces in a campfire or other primitive kiln. I use wild clay and make earthenware pieces. It's fun and low cost.

several years ago when i had just started (and i mean JUST started) doing ceramics on my own, i was lucky enough to come across a used kiln for sale for only $500. i have no idea how old it is, the electric control panel is at least 25 years old and is much newer than the kiln itself. it was used in a school before switching to personal use, it's cracked everywhere and half falling apart and the outer metal parts rusted through and had to be replaced, the control panel's wire had been CUT OFF at the plug by the people who took it in, and i only have space to run it outdoors, and my shelves are all cracked or broken. and despite it being in comedically bad shape, i think it's pretty great and i have very few issues as a beginner/someone who doesn't use it much. i did not learn how to use a kiln until after i got it, too, and i'm still learning things... i think beat up kilns on their last legs like this are a good option for beginners and hobbyists!! you just have to keep an eye out until you see one cheap enough, if you really think you want a kiln. one will come along!

So many reasons to buy a kiln though. Studios might underfire your clay to save cost and your work suffers. It also limits the your options with glazes and makes you dependend whatever your studio may fire too. Your work might also be less consistent because in a community kiln someone may fire with chrome or copper which become volatile and ruin your white glazes and or make them turn pink or green. Also pottery is hot shit and if you ever decide to sell your kiln, you probably can do that fairly easily. Firing at low temps in a community kiln will limit your options with glazes and be cost intense when making your own (everythings needs a pricy boron source). I own a rohde te-s and formulate my own glazes with rather particulare firing schedules up to cone 11 (which in an amazing rohde is just 1284 with a short hold.) and in my case owning is best. Love my kiln.

I’m looking into getting a kiln, however the timeline is likely a year or two out. I’m definitely just a hobbyist and have enjoyed firing with my local studio but there are certain aspects of this hobby that I just need my own kiln for, primarily, glaze testing. When you don’t have control of your own kiln you can’t really adjust things like firing schedule, experiment with crystallization, or use glazes that could be at risk for damaging other work or could cause fumes that may be harmful to breathe in a shared space. I considered a tester kiln, but people still ask for nearly $1k or more for these so, I decided to just get a full kiln. However, I lack space, and the correct electrical setup. The first issue is being resolved now. We’re getting our deck redone, and we are putting in an accessible space underneath which will serve as my semi-outdoor firing space. The second will need to be done eventually. I will need to hire a professional electrician to put in a 240V outlet plus other updates we’d like.

I want a kiln but my landlord no and kilnshare in my state of NJ is limited and I only need a kiln that runs on 115/120v and I do not make large pieces so my kiln would be smallish. But I can only get a kiln if I get a house and not rent apartments.

Ty. Subscribed. You are so fun to watch, like hanging out with my best buddy from college or something. You try stuff and hang it out there for us.

Our insurance said as long as it was just hobby potting, it was fine. So glad we have a kiln. Just need to get the kiln sitter repaired and probably need to replace the elements soon, but I have to figure out what kind. Old kiln and no longer supported by any seller that I know of.

I took classes at our community pottery center for two years. I started making things as gifts for my family. Traveling to visit in July i spent 6 months making things. Down to the glaze firing of the last platter i asked what the odds were of it getting fired before our trip. I was told very good, and in fact it was done a full week before i left. But when i came back there was a new sign about not expecting things to get fired in time to be gifts. That really upset me. At that point my wonderful husband bought me a kiln, which is installed in the garage. Sometimes i fire twice a week. Other times (when it's hot out) once every couple of months. I certainly won't make money, but i love the flexibility, and will continue to make gifts. Maybe I'll even try selling something.😊

Thank you for the information and the kiln share! I have found two places in my area.

If you're someone that's good with tools and have basic physics / electricity knowledge, there's a lot of resources on the internet and youtube that help you build your own kiln for a fraction of the price of a commercial one. I basically built a 60L, 3.2kw kiln based on your Rohde ecotop with all the same features and the materials cost around €600. I fired it twice to 1050C so far, and it works great. Doing 1220C next week, fingers crossed.

In Portland at least, it seems rare to find a ceramic studio that will fire your work if you don't have a membership or are taking a class with them. I'm so lucky to have found one because I otherwise wouldn't be able to make ceramics and have the small business I have now. 💛

I've seen some people make their own air dry clay - looks awesome! Like the idea of community studios. Fun!

I bought my 2nd hand kiln from a ceramist who was moving back to her home country and she didn't want to carry the kiln with her back to Austria. But eh, that worked great for me and now I have a in-mint-condition 20 year old front loading Nabertherm Kiln with like 10 shelves and a million props for 2000eur. I am lucky enough that where I'm renting I have an extra room on a separate building meant as a "Hobby Raum", where I installed the three-phase electric system needed. Now, that + the counter cost me 800eur (that one actually hurt me more than the price for the kiln, haha). Great advices and I think this is gonna be a very useful video to many people!

€5 in electricity per firing sounds so cheap to me. At our local pottery studio, they charge €5 per kg of clay you bring in (bisque firing), and though they have a very big kiln and thus more costs, I think my 60L kiln fires a lot less efficiently than €5 per firing. Any tips on how you keep the costs low? Great video also, thank you for the advice!

I definitely got over eager and bought a second hand kiln real cheap without realizing the issues id face with electrical and ins and all that. It's still sitting a year later (not hooked up) in my garage.

I think it's also good to mention that you really need to know the science behind ceramics and what happens during the firing of clay. A kiln is not something to play around with if you have no idea how the basics work. So also knowing about glazes, different clay types and why they need to be fired differently, the fire curves, cones etc.

As a photographer, I know how expensive a hobby can get! But if you start with the right foundation and aren't afraid to outsource the things outside of your scope at the moment, it can be extremely cheap and rewarding. Pottery studio, photography studio, same thing 😂

For me I thought about just buying a cheap wheel and if I liked making it then I would buy a kiln months later. Found a nice Chinese brand I checked out when I was living in China. Good side and price is about 700 including shipping

I started pottery over a year ago and have loved it since. I go every week two times a week but the studio I go to is getting so expensive and I just want to do more. I am paying 250 dollars a month for 8 hours a week which isn’t bad but I wanna do way more… I’m thinking of making my own studio and selling my stuff and give classes to children but idk if I should… because I’m scared of losing interest (this is the longest hobby I’ve ever had)… but honestly I love it.

By far, the best thing to do if you have time is take a class at a community college. At least in my area, the teachers are usually studio potters with MFA’s making about 5000 pots a year. You will not get better training and firing than that. Also, if you wood fire with a professional, make sure your pots are dry and small. I dry mine in an oven. If you are not asked to help fire, don’t take it personally. I learned working a wood pile and watching before I started working the kiln. Also, be quiet. I get pots with wood ash and salt glaze fired to cone 12. I have an electric and gas kiln, but rarely use them. Lastly, if you live in a rural area, check out the rocket kiln. It works like a rocket stove, but for pots. Scrap wood, scrap electric kilns. It is pretty much 100% oxidation, so you get similar results as an electric firing. With that said, I bought a kiln first thing and started studying glazes while my throwing improved. Lastly, get someone handy to roll your kiln coils. Much cheaper and not very complicated.

I was lucky I found a 40 yr old kiln came with everything and then some that = more than the 350 I paid for the kiln, I bought new elements thinking I would need to replace still have not had to, I have access to a shop that is set up to run a large welder and my cheap kiln. I feel very lucky as there is no one near me with a studio . Maybe one day I will have a need for a very expensive new kiln. But I think anyone starting out should start with these old girls and maybe work up.

I was ready to buy a kiln but when we contacted our homeowners insurance they said it’s not allowed. I haven’t heard of others having this issue so I was surprised and disappointed of course

Thank you, your videos are so helpful.

Great video, Where could we join the community in Berlin? I saw a beautiful studio in your video, where is it? Thank you in advance for the information.

Thank you, again, for sharing all those informations ❤ ❤

Great, exact what I needed intending to buy a kiln. I tried to join a potter comunity to get my stuff burned, but it did not really work, especially burning glasur.

Then there're Andy Ward's and Tony Soares' traditional pottery sites!

I bought a 45L kiln that cost me 1000 usd, it's so helpful

This was interesting, and i watched one of the the videos in the link (about bisque firing) which was very informative. 👍 I noticed that you work with digital kiln. Do you have information about working with older manual style electric kilns - the kind with a kiln setter, two or three dials, and a timer?

Excellent video, and this is why I stick to air-dry clay. Thanks.

Another fantastic video! Yippee, I found a kiln to rent locally!!!

As a beginner I like to make small vases and stuff, and I saw people having mini kilns for in the micrawave. Is that anything good since you didn´t talk about it?

Hi Mia, Could we get a video on your thoughts/ opinions on bat systems? Ones you’ve tried or worked well for a community studio.. if you have strong opinions. Idk if you have mentioned this in another video already

Another point about ventilation: pets. The amount of ventilation needed to make having any offgas-producing device safe for a cat or dog is significantly more than it is for a human, and for a bird it's even more. For birds, also, the first sign you may get that you haven't sufficiently ventilated your home from something is often the death of the bird. Even using nonstick cookware with a bird in the house is dangerous to a bird, so consider how much more dangerous a kiln would be, if you have a bird.

This was really helpful thanks

What is the going rate for renting a full kiln firing? I feel like the few local places charge way more than is practical =/

I really enjoy your videos, but your comment on sculpture really irritated me, enough to come back a week later and add my own comment. Don't discourage people from choosing their medium of choice. Polymer, air dry clay, cement, plaster, and cob are not the same as working in ceramic clay. Ceramics has a long history as a sculpture media and offer it's own benefits and challenges that other mediums can't match. Please, keep up the great videos, but open your mind to other uses for ceramics outside of functional wares.

I couldnt afford to buy a kiln so i built one. A couple hundreds euro for a gas fired fiber kiln. Works pretty alright. Its not automated so i need to baby it but thats fine for me. Buying a kiln with 150 liters is just too expensive for what it is.

lovely dungarees! what make are they can i ask?

Thank you for sharing

Bonjour, où as tu acheté le conduit de la cheminée et quelle est sa composition? Merci !

What pipe are you using for to transfer the hot air of the kiln outside?

Bad alternatives to buying a kiln: Watch primitive technology, go into a forest somewhere, make bricks out of clay from the ground, mortar them together, fire the walls, while that's going go out and make a mound full of wood, set it on fire, cover the top to make charcoal, use the charcoal below the primitive kiln made before to fire your works out in the woods somewhere. Apply a few finishing touches on the worksite to confuse future archeologists, hopefully leading them to believe that an undiscovered tribe is inexplicably in Minnesota. Grab some bricks from a nearby home department store. Get a lot of propane torches. Get an arm rest. Build a makeshift kiln from the bricks and fire it by hand for three days. Hope it doesn't rain. On the bright side, you'll have an excellent intuitive feel for the process. Sound waves impacting on a surface warm it up from the kinetic energy transfer. It would take approximately seven years of yelling to warm a cup of tea up. Get yelling for a few decades and you'll get there eventually. Make sure to do your vocal warmups right, and you'll also come out an experienced metal vocalist. Multitasking! A kiln is just a warm box, like an oven, right? Why not just use that! Call in someone to do a larger custom encasing, to host some bigger heating elements. Customize every piece of it. Forget that you don't have an oven to cook food during the process, pass out from hunger, and go on a dream quest to find an amazing glaze that you'll wake up to remember was amazing, but will promptly forget the recipe of, while still somehow remembering the existence of. Get back to brass tacks. Spend more money modifying your oven to be suitable as a kiln than a kiln costs. Realize in all the commotion that it doesn't keep the air in properly so your pottery cracks consistently. The cracked pottery scatters grog all over the bloody "oven" so you can't use it for food either.

I didn’t hear exactly why it was a mistake? I get there are other options…

if you dont have access to a kiln what can you instead?

Omg if you have to change elements yearly something is wrong! Even with almost daily fires, that sounds like way too much to me. I’ve been firing regularly for about 30 years both solo and in a community studio, and I think every four or five years is more realistic. Maybe it depends on the type of kiln?

Nice. Thanks.

Im probably just gonna buy the kiln I want and not use it til I move. I been serious about pottery for 4 years and for the last 2 years been serious about selling my work.

I like your snake tattoo. 🙂

looked up kiln share the nearest is 200+ miles away lol

agree with this video 100%

First, hehe! Love your content.

I have never replaced my elements. It would cost me $5000. My kiln is 30 years old. It only costs $20 per load. You are being a bit negative.

if I Get babbel from you, I need to hear ALOT of ceramic terms

I bought two kilns and installed them in the house I rent without telling my landlord. ;)

Wha kiln do you have?

Getting super hyperfocused on a new hobby before losing interest a few months later? Hehe, my ADHD ass wouldn't know anything about that... hehe... \*Hopes you don't notice the closet full of all the supplies I have for like, 80 different hobbies I have tried out before ditching*

im sorry, $5 to fire the entire kiln?

This is the first video I've watched from this creator, but i 100 percent thought she was Dutch not American, lol. That accent does not sound American at all.

a Kiln is just a really hot oven.

My bank account thanks you for this video 🙃

NEIN! ES IS NICHT EIN SCHWERES SPRACHE! NEIN!