This channel exemplifies the DIY mentality for both practical and artistic purposes. It must be really satisfying to find and dig your own clay, process it yourself, make the pottery pieces, build your own kiln, mix your own glazes, and fire your own pots. Low budget, high art. Bravo.
Agree with possible reuse of a gas hot water heater. We just got rid of one, and cutting it apart to recycle it, I was impressed with how thick it was! Also no chance of having oil in it.
I know this video was made 2 years ago and that there has been at least 1 comment below that briefly touched on the danger of this ceramic wool but I highly recommend you coat that wool with some sort of heatproof cement or rigidizer. When loose and exposed the stuff is truly appalling for your lungs. It is even worse when exposed to high heat with a blowing gas flame. Little pieces easily bake and break off and can potentially give you silicosis of the lungs. If you've been using it for the last year or two with the exposed fibres you might want to treat and cover them very soon. This sort of stuff causes a lot of lung issues in the home blacksmithing community and is as deeply unpleasant as asbestos, if not worse in some instances.
If you don't know how to read an MSDS then you shouldn't be playing with tools. www.insulationindustries.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/MSDS_-_Kaowool_Blanket_and_Bulk_Products.pdf No official documentation on kaowool or cerawool or any other brand name mentions being "appalling for your lungs". They all say - and have always said - that if you inhale it you should move into fresh air. That's it. No mention of silicosis. No mention of being anywhere close to asbestos. It's a blacksmith myth, just like galvanized steel welding fumes killing you instantly. And the best part is, the rigidizer is silica that you spray mist your kaowool with, so if there is a danger of silicosis the thing everyone recommends to "fix" the kaowool actually is a vector for it. But the rigidizer is very important, because this stuff has a looser consistency than cotton balls, and if you're moving it around and manipulating it and bumping into it, you're going to destroy it, and it was ****ing expensive so the rigidizer is to protect your forge/kiln from getting wrecked so quickly, especially if you're shoving pieces of steel and tools into it. It's not there for any other reason.
Totally love this! I built something a bit similar to build a gas furnace for melting and casting bronze and aluminum. I might repurpose my specially built burner to try your version of this kiln! Thanks!
In case you didn’t know, basalt is basically a glaze all by itself…it just needs to be heated to a certain temperature to make a glaze, depending on the type of basalt which temperature you would use for glazing. Basalt and many rocks are used by those of us interested in using some or all natural materials in our ceramics. But you have to be careful which rocks you calcine in the kiln in order to break it up to use it, because some can explode, so you need to know how to identify (at least to some degree) the rocks and what you plan to use them for. Also, for the buttons, it is actually recommended in a almost all guides/books etc to make the buttons out of porcelain, not stoneware (although I guess you could say that porcelain can fall under the category of stonewares). You don’t want a groggy clay for the buttons, you want a tight clay that fires to very high temperatures like porcelain, which some porcelains can go above cone 13, and stonewares in general tend to be a bit more open or groggy, which is great for firing pieces in the raku kiln with, but porcelain is much better for the buttons. And you can actually fire porcelain in raku kilns, although you are more likely to lose more ware than most other clays (even raku and fireclay clay you have a high percentage of loss with even if you are the best ever raku firing guru), it is typically recommended to make porcelain more likely to survive by wedging some grog, or mullet/kyanite or pyrophyllite into your porcelain, or make it paperclay porcelain (which opens it up much like grog and the other things do, although the other things do special stuff that regular grog does do as well) or to just wedge in probably at least 30% of raku or fireclay stoneware into your porcelain. Great Lakes Pottery Supplies apparently used to make a porcelain specifically for raku, it looks gorgeous in books, and I heard from my mentor they had fantastic clay in general, but sadly they closed in 2019 and I don’t know of any other places that make porcelain specifically for raku. But some do put molochite, a kind of fine grog specifically used in porcelain, or kyanite or pyrophyllite in porcelain and not advertise it for raku, it is to help them make taller pieces and generally be better for certain activities like sculpture, so if you can find some of those they are great for using in raku. Just thought it would help people to know some of this stuff.
Hi from Japan. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your idea with us. I would add a couple thoughts, if I may... 1. Glad you mentioned Simon Leach-- his grandfather's name is revered here. His idea for an off-set flue is a good one, and I wonder if a few smaller ones instead, scattered along the rim, might be more efficient. 2. Many of us use a shichi-rin pot （七輪陶芸）for raku-type firings. Are they available there in the US? Again, thank you, and I look forward to seeing more of your videos.
My brother has been wanting to make a safe kiln for a while, I think this might be a good option for him to look at. Good stuff, very informative : ) Very pretty pots.
Fudging the cost? Not at all. I could easily cobble together a model that would last any one for years, just from the junk around the property I live on. You have inspired me to get busy. From my point of view, the biggest cost would be the insulation and a few connectors for the gas supply which ( If I look close, I may have readily available). Suggestion, Metal barrel of the Kiln could be the inner tank of an old water heater. It is heavier steel than the barrel top and already clean and environmentally safe for cutting and altering. Split it in the middle, 2 for one, with your desired exhaust hole or holes on the domed top. Closures could be simple plates of an inferior metal beaten into shape over the surface of the dome in needed position, add a screw to one side and you would have your choice of two exhaust vents for desired operation. The heat entry port could be 2 holes drilled over lapping, producing the needed shape for a variety of angles of operation and a strip of the of the inferior metal beaten into shape over the surface of the cylinder, producing the desired curve to make a sliding fixture of the needed curve, allowing any angle of operation for the torch head, leaving the port more securely closed limiting excess air from entering, increasing the efficiency of the heating and limiting the undesirable oxidation reactions with the body and surfaces of the pieces. The torch head will be already be vented in manufacture to allow maximum efficiency of the burner head. If this is not desired you can always slide the vent piece back to allow air in. Yes, I Babble, I'm allowed to, I'm old as dirt. Again Thank You, Tinker & Think, for this inspiring Video.
Absolutely! I hope other people can do the same as you, take this as a guiding or motivating video, and use what is available to them to meet their needs. I love it. I hope you'll share your results with me!
Really awesome. I’ve been wondering about how to fire pottery at home. I’m hoping that you explain everything in detail including recipes on future videos. I don’t use Instagram and Facebook anymore. Thanx so much!
Well, that's pretty interesting. I've just inherited a kiln which I'm re-making as a gas fired kiln. It already has the insulation in it. I was going to put firebricks around the edges, but maybe I can use it as it is.
It would be good if you explained more about what you are attaching to the gas bottle, the torch thing and where to buy this, also it would be good if you told us what we can use instead of an oil drum having warned we will possibly die if we use that... lol. It's very interesting but I was left scratching my head over these two things.
you can look up weed torch, or burner. If you have a Atwoods you should be able to find them there. You could use anything metal as long as it was tall enough.
Um comentário na entrada do queimador no forno, poderia modificar o angulo de entrada da chama para 45 graus ao invés de 90 graus (direto nas peças), o que daria uma circulação melhor no calor. Sem dúvida uma prateleira para o 1 piso é muito bom. Parabéns!
A standard, galvanized garbage can works well for a support structure as well. That's what mine is. Anyone attempting this should use caution with fiber blanket. It should be cut and handled in a well ventilated area, and a mask should be worn. The tiny fibers can dmage the lungs when inhaled. Also, the glazes on your pieces look slightly underfired. The glazes boil and release gases when fired, and they need to be allowed to smooth back out. Generally glazed raku pieces should look "wet" when they reach maturity. I don't recommend bisque firing in a Raku kiln. It can be done l, but isn't efficient, since bisque firings are relatively slow (Several hours), while Raku firings are fast (An hour our less). But yeah, Raku kilns are relatively cheap and simple to build.l, and the results are visually interesting.
Agreed on the PPE re: ceramic fiber, and on bisque firings being inefficient (but a great fallback option when no electric kiln access is available. What makes you say the glazes look underfired? It's definitely been a trial and error, and I have underfired some, but I think the ones in this video are matured. What are you seeing?
@@tinkerandthink From the video, they look a bit "bumpy" or "cratered". It could just be the video. If it is the glaze, they just need to be fired a bit hotter and/ or longer to allow bumps to smooth out. What are you using to monitor temp? I started with an analog pyrometer and recently upgraded to a more accurate digital one. Some potters use Pyrometric cones like in a standard kiln too.
You're totally right on the texture, but with these pots it is because I'm using an unprocessed wild clay I dug, and all the stones left in the clay make those bumps and craters as the clay shrinks around them. I'm still experimenting to get that rough look to be complemented by the form and glaze. I'm just monitoring temperature based on color and the appearance of the glaze. Just playing around with totally low-consequence test pieces, so I'm not worried about any particular piece turning out great. Instead, I'm trying to get a feel for firing clay without being tied to numbers--though if I had access to a good pyrometer I think that would be helpful in the learning process, just like using a torque wrench was helpful when I was learning to wrench on vehicles, and helped me develop the feel for how tight different fasteners ought to be. Just not something I've invested in, yet.
Love it! ‘Common sense…there is a shortage of that.’ My question, if you have the ability to control the heat, is there any reason I couldn’t bisque fire in there? Anyone feel free. Also, any reason I could not use glass in here? The temps are very similar
I have used this kiln for bisque firing, so absolutely you can! As for glass...I have no experience with that, but I don't see why you couldn't use a similar principle for making a glass kiln or a forge of some kind. Though I know nothing about the particulars of how such kilns/forges out to be designed, this principle of insulation and flame should carry over just fine.
I'll be coming out with videos soon on the entire process, but the short version is this: I start on as low a flame as possible, and every 30 minutes I turn it up just a little. It take about 3-4 hours to get the pots glowing red (about standard bisque temperature). I do it partly by feel, and I'll turn up the heat more or less depending on what seems right. I'll get into the details of why it takes so long in the video, but apart from being inefficient with your fuel and time, it's better to err on the side of going more slowly. And always make sure your pots are totally bone dry before, or they'll blow up in the kiln as the moisture boils out! By comparison, a raku glaze firing can be as quick as 30 minutes.
Nice. Thanks. This is almost too simple..... But gonna try this and find out. Just curious. (or missed this in the video) How much do you spend on gas to do one batch of Raku?
It is surprisingly simple, let me know how it goes! I didn't count, but I think I fired about eight times on one 5-gallon tank (4 bisque and 4 glaze). I found that a bisque firing takes about three hours, because it has to heat up so gradually. But one great thing about raku is a glaze firing take only 30 minutes. So obviously you can do many more glaze firings than bisque.
Since you don’t recommend people using a drum, what do you recommend? I was excited until you said not to do as you did, but did recommend an alternative.
Well, a drum like this works. You just have to decide for yourself if you feel comfortable enough doing it safely. Otherwise, some comments here have recommended other things. I think one person used the drum from inside an old dryer; someone used an old metal trash can, and so on. You might find an oil drum that's already been cut open, or if you find a place with used drums maybe someone there has done it before and would cut it for you, safely. You could also wire together a kind of 'frame' with metal mesh, or chain link, and attach the fiber to that.
Does that studio do the labor of firing the pottery for you, or do you need to manage it as well? Its a steep price either way, but theres a value proposition of SOME form if theyre adding labor
I have to assume they do all the work. From a business perspective, I reckon it's a 'fair' price. But, honestly, I find that doing the firing myself is quite fun and super rewarding. It takes time, but it's certainly not hard! I'll post a video relatively soon about the actual firing process details.
You didnt show how you finished off you Raku pottery. I believe you said in another video that there were pine needles in your bucket. Did you put some kind of lid on it, did you burp it after covering, how long did you leave it in the can and did you use any water or alcohol? Also how did you clean it when you finished? Thanks
Yep, pine needles in a metal bucket, then cover with a lid. Experiment with how long you leave it, and how fully you cover it with combustibles...it makes a difference, but not predictably enough for me to make suggestions right now. But at least several minutes. You can leave it until it fully cools, or you can remove it after a few minutes and dunk in water to stop the color from continuing to change. Clean with a stiff plastic-bristled brush and water.
Not specifically, no. My wild clays are all quite coarse, so the glaze isn't smooth on them. But on a smooth clay, these should be pretty free from crazing.
Been really enjoying your videos. Is a kiln of this sort of design only suitable for raku firing, or can it do the "normal" (for lack of a better term) way? I'm really interested in getting into pottery but the cost of hiring kiln use is a deal breaker for me, and a pit firing method like in your other video isn't possible where I live. Thanks :)
I reckon you're referring to a higher temperature firing, like cone 6 (typical in studios where you'd rent electric kiln space). The short answer is "possibly," but it wouldn't be very efficient. I explain why below, but let me ask you this: why do you want to fire to higher temperatures? There are a few things about raku that make this kind of firing efficient--first, the lower temperature simply requires less fuel to achieve it. To achieve higher temps, you'd likely want thicker insulation (ideally kiln bricks) and a second burner (and to make a bigger kiln). All this adds cost and makes the kiln a more permanent fixture. Second, because raku clay bodies are made to withstand thermal shock, you can fire on a much quicker schedule. With stoneware clay bodies, you need to increase temperature gradually to avoid cracking. This would mean burning more fuel for longer. Obviously, people fire stoneware and porcelain in gas kilns all the time. It is by no means impossible to make your own gas kiln to fire to cone 6 or even cone 10, but it will necessarily be way less efficient than firing raku (which fires to bisque temps, cone 06 or thereabouts), and more expensive.
@Wrongthinker I wouldn't put, say, raw chicken in a raku bowl, because I wouldn't feel confident it would wash out of the pores easily. But for something like drinking tea, it's not really an issue, because you're constantly adding scalding water, and the tea itself isn't introducing lots of dangerous bacteria. There's bacteria literally everywhere all the time, so it isn't necessarily bad to have bacteria. Just my thoughts!
@@tinkerandthink As for food safety, wouldn't occasionally baking the piece in a home oven kill everything in it? Save energy by doing that after cooking, while the oven is already hot, of course.
Outdoor fires and pits are illegal here (other than certain types of food BBQ grills certain times of year when wild fire risk is low). I'm wondering if possible and if so waiting for someone to come up with way to fire pottery indoors using fireplace or more specifically a large vintage cast iron/metal wood burning Schrader fireplace.
The problem is that a fireplace or wood-burning stove is small. It's hard to practically build a fire and put pottery inside. If you use a very thermal-shock resistant clay, you could do a different style of firing--put chicken wire around the pot so that falling wood doesn't break it, then build a fire around the pot. This way, the fire gradually heats the piece at the center.
@@tinkerandthink The one I have is vintage and much larger than the ones they make now. However, I did finally a video in which they fired same type earthenware I wish to make again and did so in a smaller one than I have as well as in a standard fireplace. So I finally found exactly what I needed and was looking for. :) :) :) But thanks for the tip -- might be able to try it sometime with something else.
Please do not use the ceramic wool on its own. The fibers are terrible to breath in. You should use a ceramic wool stablizer and castable refractory on top of the wool.
A kiln shelf is best, even a broken one, which you should be able to find at any pottery or pottery store. A kiln brick would also work. You can make kiln shelves, which I've been meaning to make a video about, but you can read about it on digitalfire.com Instead of an oil barrel, use anything metal that gives you the size and shape. You can use metal fencing, or a metal garbage can, or whatever. Use your imagination, it's just there to give shape and structure.
Rockwool is a brand, and I don't know if they make this kind of material. What this is NOT is normal insulation you find in a house. It's specific for use in kilns and forges.
Probably not, and definitely not efficiently. It's good for lowfire, so clays that mature (but aren't vitrified) at cone 04 or so, or else for raku (where the clay isn't meant to be vitrified).
Cones are cheap and reliable. Pyrometers are surprisingly affordable, but not really necessary for raku. I just look in the kiln and visually assess when the glaze is mature
You could use a metal trash can, the inside drum from a broken dryer, metal mesh, etc. Anything metal that will hold a shape so you can attach the fiber.
The ceramic fiber is hazardous to breathe. There is a product that you spray onto the ceramic fiber that makes it rigid and less friable. It's called rigidizer.
Cone 6 clay and glazes won't mature in a kiln like this. But you can add sand or grog to a cone 6 clay and use raku glaze (check out my other raku videos for details).
I wonder.. can I make it out of clay bricks? I can harvest my own clay from our property, but if I can make a kiln out of clay brick, it'll be next to free for me.
Considering "common sense " is in very short supply... You might want to mention the danger of breathing in the micro fibers from the ceramic fiber...Especially when cutting and fitting into your kiln. Cough cough choke. Much like asbestos fibers entering your lungs. I use a good mask when handling this material. 👍😎 Cheers for opening up people to thinking on diy v $50 per small firing fee! However those who can't pay attention to detail should avoid working with temps in excess of 2000 F. Or not?🤔
Yes, the ceramic fiber insulation is pretty nasty to work with. Won't kill ya one time, but it is a major irritant. As for the high temps...yeah, you can definitely screw up without common sense. But what can ya say? People can screw up putting on pants...
@@tinkerandthink I hear you, but if you put your pants on backwards at worse you just look dumb. Mess up with the kiln and your toast. But then it does clean up the gene pool, right?🤔✌❤
It's a constant internal struggle for me, as a well-traveled American who has studied several languages other than English, deciding if I want to pronounce foreign words like Americans do, or like they are pronounced in the original language. You risk being both ignorant and self-absorbed in the former case, or pretentious bordering on unintelligible in the latter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ In this case, I always hear Americans say ra-ku the way I do in the video. And, in truth, I haven't studied Japanese (only studied Mandarin as far as Asian languages go), so I couldn't make an informed decision about accurate, authentic Japanese pronunciations. Though, in my experience, the idea of an 'authentic' pronunciation is elusive, anyway--when I lived in China, I found wildly varied pronunciations from region to region. Same with Spain and France, or between Spanish-speaking countries. Anyway, I'm always excited and grateful to learn new things about language and culture, but I don't always know what to do with that new information!
Nice build an great tutorial, but i a realy scared about how careless you interact with the ceramic fibers… these are realy dangerous and harmfull so you should handle them too much and ware respirators and maybe some gloves
Audience: this guy is NOT an expert, he is not having much experience in raku kilns... and sizes etc. are silly... Try to find some better videos before building! The silicon cloth is hazardous to lungs etc... I don't know why he did this video. ... Really not!
This channel exemplifies the DIY mentality for both practical and artistic purposes. It must be really satisfying to find and dig your own clay, process it yourself, make the pottery pieces, build your own kiln, mix your own glazes, and fire your own pots. Low budget, high art. Bravo.
THANK YOU ! GREAT CONTENT! +1SUBCRBR
Exactly. This channel should be EVERYTHING the DIY and minimalist type communities should aspire to
Agree with possible reuse of a gas hot water heater. We just got rid of one, and cutting it apart to recycle it, I was impressed with how thick it was! Also no chance of having oil in it.
Sounds like a great option!
The tank is thick steel lined with porcelain, might do quite well.
I usually put a lid on the can with the pot in it and then cover with an old wet towel. It really helps cut down on the smoke.
I know this video was made 2 years ago and that there has been at least 1 comment below that briefly touched on the danger of this ceramic wool but I highly recommend you coat that wool with some sort of heatproof cement or rigidizer. When loose and exposed the stuff is truly appalling for your lungs. It is even worse when exposed to high heat with a blowing gas flame. Little pieces easily bake and break off and can potentially give you silicosis of the lungs. If you've been using it for the last year or two with the exposed fibres you might want to treat and cover them very soon. This sort of stuff causes a lot of lung issues in the home blacksmithing community and is as deeply unpleasant as asbestos, if not worse in some instances.
Thanks for this!
If you don't know how to read an MSDS then you shouldn't be playing with tools.
www.insulationindustries.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/MSDS_-_Kaowool_Blanket_and_Bulk_Products.pdf
No official documentation on kaowool or cerawool or any other brand name mentions being "appalling for your lungs". They all say - and have always said - that if you inhale it you should move into fresh air. That's it.
No mention of silicosis.
No mention of being anywhere close to asbestos.
It's a blacksmith myth, just like galvanized steel welding fumes killing you instantly.
And the best part is, the rigidizer is silica that you spray mist your kaowool with, so if there is a danger of silicosis the thing everyone recommends to "fix" the kaowool actually is a vector for it.
But the rigidizer is very important, because this stuff has a looser consistency than cotton balls, and if you're moving it around and manipulating it and bumping into it, you're going to destroy it, and it was ****ing expensive so the rigidizer is to protect your forge/kiln from getting wrecked so quickly, especially if you're shoving pieces of steel and tools into it. It's not there for any other reason.
Totally love this! I built something a bit similar to build a gas furnace for melting and casting bronze and aluminum. I might repurpose my specially built burner to try your version of this kiln! Thanks!
In case you didn’t know, basalt is basically a glaze all by itself…it just needs to be heated to a certain temperature to make a glaze, depending on the type of basalt which temperature you would use for glazing. Basalt and many rocks are used by those of us interested in using some or all natural materials in our ceramics. But you have to be careful which rocks you calcine in the kiln in order to break it up to use it, because some can explode, so you need to know how to identify (at least to some degree) the rocks and what you plan to use them for. Also, for the buttons, it is actually recommended in a almost all guides/books etc to make the buttons out of porcelain, not stoneware (although I guess you could say that porcelain can fall under the category of stonewares). You don’t want a groggy clay for the buttons, you want a tight clay that fires to very high temperatures like porcelain, which some porcelains can go above cone 13, and stonewares in general tend to be a bit more open or groggy, which is great for firing pieces in the raku kiln with, but porcelain is much better for the buttons. And you can actually fire porcelain in raku kilns, although you are more likely to lose more ware than most other clays (even raku and fireclay clay you have a high percentage of loss with even if you are the best ever raku firing guru), it is typically recommended to make porcelain more likely to survive by wedging some grog, or mullet/kyanite or pyrophyllite into your porcelain, or make it paperclay porcelain (which opens it up much like grog and the other things do, although the other things do special stuff that regular grog does do as well) or to just wedge in probably at least 30% of raku or fireclay stoneware into your porcelain. Great Lakes Pottery Supplies apparently used to make a porcelain specifically for raku, it looks gorgeous in books, and I heard from my mentor they had fantastic clay in general, but sadly they closed in 2019 and I don’t know of any other places that make porcelain specifically for raku. But some do put molochite, a kind of fine grog specifically used in porcelain, or kyanite or pyrophyllite in porcelain and not advertise it for raku, it is to help them make taller pieces and generally be better for certain activities like sculpture, so if you can find some of those they are great for using in raku. Just thought it would help people to know some of this stuff.
Hi from Japan. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your idea with us. I would add a couple thoughts, if I may... 1. Glad you mentioned Simon Leach-- his grandfather's name is revered here. His idea for an off-set flue is a good one, and I wonder if a few smaller ones instead, scattered along the rim, might be more efficient. 2. Many of us use a shichi-rin pot （七輪陶芸）for raku-type firings. Are they available there in the US? Again, thank you, and I look forward to seeing more of your videos.
Could you elaborate on the shichi-rin pot for firing?
@@SIG-AD It is a pot usually used for barbecuing. There are many examples available for viewing on TH-cam. (Sorry I can not explain very well... : (
@@mikeu5380 It's fine, thank you!
My brother has been wanting to make a safe kiln for a while, I think this might be a good option for him to look at. Good stuff, very informative : ) Very pretty pots.
Thanks! If he has any questions, I'm happy to answer as best I can.
Fudging the cost? Not at all. I could easily cobble together a model that would last any one for years, just from the junk around the property I live on. You have inspired me to get busy. From my point of view, the biggest cost would be the insulation and a few connectors for the gas supply which ( If I look close, I may have readily available).
Suggestion, Metal barrel of the Kiln could be the inner tank of an old water heater. It is heavier steel than the barrel top and already clean and environmentally safe for cutting and altering. Split it in the middle, 2 for one, with your desired exhaust hole or holes on the domed top. Closures could be simple plates of an inferior metal beaten into shape over the surface of the dome in needed position, add a screw to one side and you would have your choice of two exhaust vents for desired operation. The heat entry port could be 2 holes drilled over lapping, producing the needed shape for a variety of angles of operation and a strip of the of the inferior metal beaten into shape over the surface of the cylinder, producing the desired curve to make a sliding fixture of the needed curve, allowing any angle of operation for the torch head, leaving the port more securely closed limiting excess air from entering, increasing the efficiency of the heating and limiting the undesirable oxidation reactions with the body and surfaces of the pieces. The torch head will be already be vented in manufacture to allow maximum efficiency of the burner head. If this is not desired you can always slide the vent piece back to allow air in.
Yes, I Babble, I'm allowed to, I'm old as dirt. Again Thank You, Tinker & Think, for this inspiring Video.
Absolutely! I hope other people can do the same as you, take this as a guiding or motivating video, and use what is available to them to meet their needs. I love it. I hope you'll share your results with me!
Can't you just use pavers or even mud/clay/sand/straw? Brings cost down to basically $35
Really awesome. I’ve been wondering about how to fire pottery at home.
I’m hoping that you explain everything in detail including recipes on future videos. I don’t use Instagram and Facebook anymore.
Thanx so much!
I definitely will, and soon! I can appreciate staying off most social media sites
Well, that's pretty interesting.
I've just inherited a kiln which I'm re-making as a gas fired kiln. It already has the insulation in it. I was going to put firebricks around the edges, but maybe I can use it as it is.
4:30 before putting the grinding wheel on the drum, fill it with water then drain it
YES! Kilns are a great exploration. I will watch all of them.
You could cut another hole in the new spot and then patch the other hole with a metal plate and a brick on it.
How much fuel does it use per firing?
I’ve always been fascinated with clay. I’ve never been so giddy about living in a canyon surrounded by clay . Lol
It would be good if you explained more about what you are attaching to the gas bottle, the torch thing and where to buy this, also it would be good if you told us what we can use instead of an oil drum having warned we will possibly die if we use that... lol. It's very interesting but I was left scratching my head over these two things.
you can look up weed torch, or burner. If you have a Atwoods you should be able to find them there. You could use anything metal as long as it was tall enough.
Um comentário na entrada do queimador no forno, poderia modificar o angulo de entrada da chama para 45 graus ao invés de 90 graus (direto nas peças), o que daria uma circulação melhor no calor. Sem dúvida uma prateleira para o 1 piso é muito bom. Parabéns!
A standard, galvanized garbage can works well for a support structure as well. That's what mine is.
Anyone attempting this should use caution with fiber blanket. It should be cut and handled in a well ventilated area, and a mask should be worn. The tiny fibers can dmage the lungs when inhaled.
Also, the glazes on your pieces look slightly underfired. The glazes boil and release gases when fired, and they need to be allowed to smooth back out. Generally glazed raku pieces should look "wet" when they reach maturity.
I don't recommend bisque firing in a Raku kiln. It can be done l, but isn't efficient, since bisque firings are relatively slow (Several hours), while Raku firings are fast (An hour our less).
But yeah, Raku kilns are relatively cheap and simple to build.l, and the results are visually interesting.
Agreed on the PPE re: ceramic fiber, and on bisque firings being inefficient (but a great fallback option when no electric kiln access is available.
What makes you say the glazes look underfired? It's definitely been a trial and error, and I have underfired some, but I think the ones in this video are matured. What are you seeing?
@@tinkerandthink From the video, they look a bit "bumpy" or "cratered". It could just be the video. If it is the glaze, they just need to be fired a bit hotter and/ or longer to allow bumps to smooth out. What are you using to monitor temp? I started with an analog pyrometer and recently upgraded to a more accurate digital one. Some potters use Pyrometric cones like in a standard kiln too.
You're totally right on the texture, but with these pots it is because I'm using an unprocessed wild clay I dug, and all the stones left in the clay make those bumps and craters as the clay shrinks around them. I'm still experimenting to get that rough look to be complemented by the form and glaze.
I'm just monitoring temperature based on color and the appearance of the glaze. Just playing around with totally low-consequence test pieces, so I'm not worried about any particular piece turning out great. Instead, I'm trying to get a feel for firing clay without being tied to numbers--though if I had access to a good pyrometer I think that would be helpful in the learning process, just like using a torque wrench was helpful when I was learning to wrench on vehicles, and helped me develop the feel for how tight different fasteners ought to be. Just not something I've invested in, yet.
This is incredible! I was wondering if you have any videos showing how much smoke the kiln lets out during a firing? Thanks!
no smoke! the propane burns very clean
“You gotta use common sense, and, well you know there is a shortage of that” i laughed so hard
Love it! ‘Common sense…there is a shortage of that.’ My question, if you have the ability to control the heat, is there any reason I couldn’t bisque fire in there? Anyone feel free. Also, any reason I could not use glass in here? The temps are very similar
I have used this kiln for bisque firing, so absolutely you can! As for glass...I have no experience with that, but I don't see why you couldn't use a similar principle for making a glass kiln or a forge of some kind. Though I know nothing about the particulars of how such kilns/forges out to be designed, this principle of insulation and flame should carry over just fine.
Any idea what temperature you're getting in the kiln?
Excellent video and explanation. Thank you VERY much for sharing your knowledge.
Mr. Tinker & Think: would you describe your bisque firing in your kiln? Just full blast on the gas for X hours or what?? Please share!
I'll be coming out with videos soon on the entire process, but the short version is this: I start on as low a flame as possible, and every 30 minutes I turn it up just a little. It take about 3-4 hours to get the pots glowing red (about standard bisque temperature). I do it partly by feel, and I'll turn up the heat more or less depending on what seems right. I'll get into the details of why it takes so long in the video, but apart from being inefficient with your fuel and time, it's better to err on the side of going more slowly. And always make sure your pots are totally bone dry before, or they'll blow up in the kiln as the moisture boils out! By comparison, a raku glaze firing can be as quick as 30 minutes.
weed burner
propane
insulation
oil jug
metal wire
oven plate
metal bucket
tongs
Nice. Thanks. This is almost too simple..... But gonna try this and find out. Just curious. (or missed this in the video) How much do you spend on gas to do one batch of Raku?
It is surprisingly simple, let me know how it goes! I didn't count, but I think I fired about eight times on one 5-gallon tank (4 bisque and 4 glaze). I found that a bisque firing takes about three hours, because it has to heat up so gradually. But one great thing about raku is a glaze firing take only 30 minutes. So obviously you can do many more glaze firings than bisque.
Great video, looking to do this
I hope you'll share the results!
Since you don’t recommend people using a drum, what do you recommend? I was excited until you said not to do as you did, but did recommend an alternative.
Well, a drum like this works. You just have to decide for yourself if you feel comfortable enough doing it safely. Otherwise, some comments here have recommended other things. I think one person used the drum from inside an old dryer; someone used an old metal trash can, and so on. You might find an oil drum that's already been cut open, or if you find a place with used drums maybe someone there has done it before and would cut it for you, safely. You could also wire together a kind of 'frame' with metal mesh, or chain link, and attach the fiber to that.
Does that studio do the labor of firing the pottery for you, or do you need to manage it as well? Its a steep price either way, but theres a value proposition of SOME form if theyre adding labor
I have to assume they do all the work. From a business perspective, I reckon it's a 'fair' price. But, honestly, I find that doing the firing myself is quite fun and super rewarding. It takes time, but it's certainly not hard! I'll post a video relatively soon about the actual firing process details.
Thanks for the video. So, how long will it be before you switch to a taller oven. Can you use bricks to elevate the firing table?
Bricks would absolutely work! Kiln bricks would be ideal
Hi, do you use ridigizer spray on the ceramic blanket
I am excited to try this out. Those pieces you show from the kiln - are they glazed? Do you fire once, then glaze and fire again?
They are glazed, and yes, I do a bisque fire then a glaze fire. Someday I want to tackle single firing, but I haven't made the time to learn it yet.
Thank you for this informative guide! Wonderful video
You didnt show how you finished off you Raku pottery. I believe you said in another video that there were pine needles in your bucket. Did you put some kind of lid on it, did you burp it after covering, how long did you leave it in the can and did you use any water or alcohol? Also how did you clean it when you finished? Thanks
Yep, pine needles in a metal bucket, then cover with a lid. Experiment with how long you leave it, and how fully you cover it with combustibles...it makes a difference, but not predictably enough for me to make suggestions right now. But at least several minutes. You can leave it until it fully cools, or you can remove it after a few minutes and dunk in water to stop the color from continuing to change. Clean with a stiff plastic-bristled brush and water.
@@tinkerandthink Thank you very much, is your glaze a crackle?
Not specifically, no. My wild clays are all quite coarse, so the glaze isn't smooth on them. But on a smooth clay, these should be pretty free from crazing.
Such alchemy. Great factual but warm manner. By the way you look like the young Ernest Hemingway. Just sayin'
That's pretty good hack for a first go around. Def some opportunities here for improvement. But a real good initial effort.
Fun to watch and inspiring.
Been really enjoying your videos.
Is a kiln of this sort of design only suitable for raku firing, or can it do the "normal" (for lack of a better term) way?
I'm really interested in getting into pottery but the cost of hiring kiln use is a deal breaker for me, and a pit firing method like in your other video isn't possible where I live.
Thanks :)
I reckon you're referring to a higher temperature firing, like cone 6 (typical in studios where you'd rent electric kiln space). The short answer is "possibly," but it wouldn't be very efficient. I explain why below, but let me ask you this: why do you want to fire to higher temperatures?
There are a few things about raku that make this kind of firing efficient--first, the lower temperature simply requires less fuel to achieve it. To achieve higher temps, you'd likely want thicker insulation (ideally kiln bricks) and a second burner (and to make a bigger kiln). All this adds cost and makes the kiln a more permanent fixture.
Second, because raku clay bodies are made to withstand thermal shock, you can fire on a much quicker schedule. With stoneware clay bodies, you need to increase temperature gradually to avoid cracking. This would mean burning more fuel for longer.
Obviously, people fire stoneware and porcelain in gas kilns all the time. It is by no means impossible to make your own gas kiln to fire to cone 6 or even cone 10, but it will necessarily be way less efficient than firing raku (which fires to bisque temps, cone 06 or thereabouts), and more expensive.
@Wrongthinker I wouldn't put, say, raw chicken in a raku bowl, because I wouldn't feel confident it would wash out of the pores easily. But for something like drinking tea, it's not really an issue, because you're constantly adding scalding water, and the tea itself isn't introducing lots of dangerous bacteria. There's bacteria literally everywhere all the time, so it isn't necessarily bad to have bacteria. Just my thoughts!
@@tinkerandthink As for food safety, wouldn't occasionally baking the piece in a home oven kill everything in it? Save energy by doing that after cooking, while the oven is already hot, of course.
I was hoping for temperature information.... Did you in any way measure peak temperature?
Just by color, and look. It's easy to do...when the glaze has healed its bubbles and looks liquid, shiny, and wet, it is melted and can be removed.
When do you plunge the piece into ice water?
Yeah but do you bisque fire it first ? If so can that be done in the gas kiln you made ? That’s great video.
Absolutely!
@@tinkerandthink I planning to make a gas kiln now lol have half the parts so far lol
Outdoor fires and pits are illegal here (other than certain types of food BBQ grills certain times of year when wild fire risk is low). I'm wondering if possible and if so waiting for someone to come up with way to fire pottery indoors using fireplace or more specifically a large vintage cast iron/metal wood burning Schrader fireplace.
The problem is that a fireplace or wood-burning stove is small. It's hard to practically build a fire and put pottery inside. If you use a very thermal-shock resistant clay, you could do a different style of firing--put chicken wire around the pot so that falling wood doesn't break it, then build a fire around the pot. This way, the fire gradually heats the piece at the center.
@@tinkerandthink The one I have is vintage and much larger than the ones they make now. However, I did finally a video in which they fired same type earthenware I wish to make again and did so in a smaller one than I have as well as in a standard fireplace. So I finally found exactly what I needed and was looking for. :) :) :) But thanks for the tip -- might be able to try it sometime with something else.
Please do not use the ceramic wool on its own. The fibers are terrible to breath in. You should use a ceramic wool stablizer and castable refractory on top of the wool.
thanks for making this video!!!
Will it work for detailed clay models like characters and stuff??? Thinking about getting into clay modeling/moulding whatever it's called
Absolutely. Most glazes tend to cover up very fine details, as it runs and pools into low spots. But there are plenty of ways around that
@@tinkerandthink awesome! Thanks
What do we use instead of a shelf from a kiln? And what do we use instead of an oil barrel?
A kiln shelf is best, even a broken one, which you should be able to find at any pottery or pottery store. A kiln brick would also work. You can make kiln shelves, which I've been meaning to make a video about, but you can read about it on digitalfire.com
Instead of an oil barrel, use anything metal that gives you the size and shape. You can use metal fencing, or a metal garbage can, or whatever. Use your imagination, it's just there to give shape and structure.
Use an old barbecue - cast iron - lots on the side of the road during garbage day.
Is that the same as rockwool insulation?
Rockwool is a brand, and I don't know if they make this kind of material. What this is NOT is normal insulation you find in a house. It's specific for use in kilns and forges.
Dank video! Many many thanks!
Thanks! 🙏
Awesome video, super informative/helpful.
His hair though!!!!!
Can I eat on these bowls?
Can this kiln get hot enough to vitrify clay?
Probably not, and definitely not efficiently. It's good for lowfire, so clays that mature (but aren't vitrified) at cone 04 or so, or else for raku (where the clay isn't meant to be vitrified).
Would you recommend cone or digital gauges to get your temperature?
Cones are cheap and reliable. Pyrometers are surprisingly affordable, but not really necessary for raku. I just look in the kiln and visually assess when the glaze is mature
@@tinkerandthink about how long does it take to reach that point?
What would you use instead of the oil drum?
You could use a metal trash can, the inside drum from a broken dryer, metal mesh, etc. Anything metal that will hold a shape so you can attach the fiber.
@@tinkerandthink thank you!!
cool.... way better than spending hundreds or thousands on a shop bought thing.
The ceramic fiber is hazardous to breathe. There is a product that you spray onto the ceramic fiber that makes it rigid and less friable. It's called rigidizer.
It is indeed bad to breathe. Sodium silicate works to glue and harden it, too
Is this suitable for cone 6 clay or is it too hot for that?
Cone 6 clay and glazes won't mature in a kiln like this. But you can add sand or grog to a cone 6 clay and use raku glaze (check out my other raku videos for details).
looks like i blew up and died after trying to cut an oil canister with a angle grinder thanks alot bro
What a terrible way to go
I don't have Instagram, where else are you?
My website, benshane.com, where you can see all of the pottery I make, and here on YT
yo you look like robert patterson fr
Awesome 👍👍🙏
Poderoso
Mazing
Noice!
I wonder.. can I make it out of clay bricks? I can harvest my own clay from our property, but if I can make a kiln out of clay brick, it'll be next to free for me.
Absolutely!! I'm going to do that this spring, I hope.
Didn't have to be pretty, just hot :)
Kaowool is your friend. Lol
LoL, was going to say something but decided not to.
Considering "common sense " is in very short supply...
You might want to mention the danger of breathing in the micro fibers from the ceramic fiber...Especially when cutting and fitting into your kiln. Cough cough choke. Much like asbestos fibers entering your lungs.
I use a good mask when handling this material. 👍😎
Cheers for opening up people to thinking on diy v $50 per small firing fee! However those who can't pay attention to detail should avoid working with temps in excess of 2000 F. Or not?🤔
Yes, the ceramic fiber insulation is pretty nasty to work with. Won't kill ya one time, but it is a major irritant. As for the high temps...yeah, you can definitely screw up without common sense. But what can ya say? People can screw up putting on pants...
@@tinkerandthink I hear you, but if you put your pants on backwards at worse you just look dumb.
Mess up with the kiln and your toast.
But then it does clean up the gene pool, right?🤔✌❤
not 'ra-ku' like raccoon, but 'raw-ku'
It's a constant internal struggle for me, as a well-traveled American who has studied several languages other than English, deciding if I want to pronounce foreign words like Americans do, or like they are pronounced in the original language. You risk being both ignorant and self-absorbed in the former case, or pretentious bordering on unintelligible in the latter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In this case, I always hear Americans say ra-ku the way I do in the video. And, in truth, I haven't studied Japanese (only studied Mandarin as far as Asian languages go), so I couldn't make an informed decision about accurate, authentic Japanese pronunciations. Though, in my experience, the idea of an 'authentic' pronunciation is elusive, anyway--when I lived in China, I found wildly varied pronunciations from region to region. Same with Spain and France, or between Spanish-speaking countries.
Anyway, I'm always excited and grateful to learn new things about language and culture, but I don't always know what to do with that new information!
Nice build an great tutorial, but i a realy scared about how careless you interact with the ceramic fibers… these are realy dangerous and harmfull so you should handle them too much and ware respirators and maybe some gloves
Agreed!
Hahahaha shortage of common sense! Indeed. Thanks
cool. can you do meth lab next please
Audience: this guy is NOT an expert, he is not having much experience in raku kilns... and sizes etc. are silly... Try to find some better videos before building! The silicon cloth is hazardous to lungs etc... I don't know why he did this video. ... Really not!
wordbto chanel locks
Such a clutch tool
👍