*The Die* seems to have been omitted in the edit. It fired OK. I'll show it in part 4. *Observations & Analysis* Firstly and foremostly, *this can't be impossible.* People did this for millennia, before electric and gas kilns, before commercially prepared clay. *This IS possible. I will press on until it works for me.* My tentative conclusion is that the large pots were worked from clay that was too wet and soft - this made it seem more delicate than it should be, resulting in thick walls that were insufficiently compacted. Furthermore, I think the fire probably didn't stay hot enough, for long enough, for the larger pieces. *The (tentative) plan:* *Make more large pots from slightly dryer clay* - probably one sand tempered, two raw clay (I have loads of that) and one grogged with some of the reddest parts of the failed pots, ground up. Waiting until the clay is more firm before trying to work with it. *Make the pots with thinner, more compacted walls,* - achieve this by smoothing and pressing and compacting with a smoothing tool made from the clam shell. *Fire in a larger fire, in a deeper pit* - so it stays hotter for longer and so that the pots do not become uncovered and exposed to cooling crosswind until the fire has died down naturally (ie. leave them buried in the embers overnight to cool gradually)
The deeper pit will probably make the most difference due to the even heating and cooling. You might want to build a kiln around the fire with suitable air flow through the fire, something that'd be difficult in a deep pit.
Maybe a deep pit with a narrow sloping trench into it to allow air in. Trouble is if I dig too deep, I won't be able to manage the primary fire that warms and dries the pit.
Yes, way back when those lamps were the lamps that people used, burning as little oil as possible mattered. The oil was from pressing it out of seeds etc. Thus it was a valuable material.
Hey Shrimp, I am sorry i am a bit late! I went to school for two years for ceramics and i have to say you did amazing! I do have a few recommendations for you. 1. It is a good idea to let clay ferment. There is mold that is in stone clay that i would use in the studio, this mold helps with elasticity in the clay, the best way to get mold in the clay is to let it age. When i would recycle clay we would take the clay that was supper soft and let it sit on a concrete or plaster slabs to slowly dry out and age the clay. the clay could sit on the table for up to 2 weeks to get the mold in it and to dry it out. (the studio that i went to school and was a work study at mainly did wheel throwing so we went though a ton of clay) 2. another thing that could help you with mixing your clay up (when you added in the grogged shells/sand) is wedging. I highly recommend you look at videos for rams horn wedging it really helps work the clay, mixing it and getting any air bubbles out of the clay, there is also a type called conch shell wedging but rams horn tends to be easier. 3. My recommendation for your bigger pots is paddling; and it is exactly as is sounds, you place your hand on the inside and hold the pot steady and with a piece of wood lightly hit it. This compresses the clay, helps shape the pots, and helps with the surface texture. This helps a lot with coil pots/pinch pots. 4. You may want to fire them in a deeper hole so its more insulated (th-cam.com/video/qu_Bc-Gf3Nk/w-d-xo.html , this is an amazing video that explains it better than i can. 5. With the larger pots something that could have caused the cracking is not letting the clay get to a bone dry stage. When you combine the clay that still has some moisture with the high heats you where getting to it can cause fractures with the moisture tying to vaporize. 6. Dont handle the pots too much when they are dry, when clay gets to its bone dry stage it is its most venerable stage so your dont want to move it around too much. if you do get cracks in the clay that you can see take a small amount of white vinegar and an even smaller amount of your clay mix them together and use that to fill the cracks. I think its amazing that you broke your bigger pots more to see the inside walls. when ever a piece brakes it is always sad but also a very good way to evaluate your skills and what you need to work with. With what i am assuming is your first time in years working with clay, but your first time fully making clay you did an amazing job and have a knack for it! I am more than happy to help answer any questions you may have as i am trying to become a ceramics teacher!
I believe what’s most important for the large pots is that they not be _exposed_ to air even if you have to cover them with ash and coals or burn a lot of smaller items over them, rather than the area simply being hot. Leaving them covered until the ashes cool down is only going to help. In addition you should try to make sure the pots are hot enough by making sure they’re “glowing” in the fire; everything glows the same color at the same heat barring some weird chemical reactions (ie the charcoal itself glowing rather than the fire colors), what you have to be careful of is how that glow views in various levels of light can have a very extreme swing. On a bright day something that’s 2000f can look nearly cold, on a dark night any slight glow is visible. I believe you’re aiming for a general “orange” in a more medium light, ie hotter than red and cooler than yellow. Between the two, you’ll probably find where the failure point was; not getting quite hot enough compared to the other pots, and then being exposed. I think if the thickness or drying was off, or the issue was a rock in the clay or material, you’d have seen spalling which there was no sign of, or if it was too soft even slumping or deformation. Similar with water content, presumably they’d have exploded or spalled in the fire.
Yes, often smaller items are placed inside larger ones during the best firing as well as all items being very crowded around each other this is to help create a more even temperature throughout and to help make sure that he is drawn inside of the larger items evenly with the outside. I Believe by placing his larger pots upside down he not only limited the ability for the heat to evenly flow to the inside so that it would be the same and equal temperature to the outside but it also put the more fragile bottom facing up whereas typically in a woodfire the base would be down as well as the fire being kept around the object as you stated but I do believe this could be averted if you have smaller items on the inside that help raise the pot up a bit off of the ground allowing air to flow underneath the lip that is facing down on the pot.
Goin through such a hard time in life right now, but your videos are so chill and able to cheer me up :) Even if it's just for a bit, thank you so much
7:10 about the uneven sizes. My mother has a few cooking pots made of clay. I remember them being very, VERY thin. Even the big ones that are bigger than what you show here. They feel almost like glass. And I don't know if they're industrially made or what, but they're pretty even and decorated. They're also quite old I think. I love those pots. Cooking anything on them instantly makes the house smell like clay.
@atomicshrimp my wife is a potter and she said the pots need to be even thickness, and the grog (crushed once fired ground up ceramic) is a great idea increases the strength. Also firing should be about 900 ish degreees for 6 hours plus, she has friends who wood fire and it’s a night process with lots of drink and banter round the kiln fire. Hope this helps
After many years of throwing pottery, it's taught me not to become attached to anything, because at any point in the process you can lose your piece. So I very much appreciate your apprehension at firing your dried pieces. I haven't finished the video yet, but I predict they will fire just fine. What makes pieces break is either using a runny glaze that winds up fusing the piece to the kiln floor (a non-issue for you), or an air bubble inside the clay, which I believe were mostly avoided in your hand building. Keep up the great videos, I love the variety of your channel and all the different kinds of stuff you get in to!
And, you hit upon another important draw of making pottery, one that's inspired me for over 20 years -- that you're making something functional and useful from earth. It's very satisfying!
I've gotta say that this has been one of my favorite series. The broken pottery reminds me of the Japanese Kintsugi (which would be cool for you to try). Even in failure, there is still beauty in the pottery.
You beat me to the suggested silver lining of using the broken pots as grog. I have a feeling your 'fireside curing' was far too short. I can't point to a specific video, but if you don't already follow Primitive Technology's channel, he's gone through a lot of the 'trial by fire' (pun intended) with similar resources to yours, with admirable attention to detail in notetaking à la prehistoric chemistry, inkeeping with his primitive MO. Note that captions are essential unless you want to simply appreciate his videos aesthetically. That's another reason I recommend his channel; I think his (very intentional) charm aligns with yours, especially Slow TV.
+1 on Primitive Technology. Great channel + probably some useful insights into pottery making. He's also had a bunch of cracked pots, and also a bunch of very large bucket sized pots that have been fine!
The other thing about the way reduction firing is done by the natives of the US's south west may also be worth considering. They do it by covering the fire to deprive it of oxygen. I think this also slows how fast it gets hot. This also means that the space where the pots are fired is still covered after the fire goes out. They leave the pots in there as the temperature cools meaning that they have also slowed the cooling.
This is just wonderful to watch. In your excitement and uncertainty and hope and fear, I can see a glimpse of the first humans learning how to make pottery - trying raw clay and finding it doesn't work so well, trying to refine it, adding different things, testing out what happens when it goes in a fire...it's like a brief voyage into a past so distant we really have no way of properly understanding it, except by doing what they did: trying from scratch and slowly improving the methods and materials until at last there was a magical moment when a pot finally emerged sound and strong from the ashes. I can't wait to see that moment happen for you. Edit to add: I know it's probably already happened in one of the later videos, but I'm not there yet and wanted to mention the wonder I was experiencing right now!
Something you could also do with one (or both) of the broken pots: There is a Japanese practice called Kintsugi, which is the practice of repairing broken pottery or china using gold (or gold paint) to highlight the cracks in the piece. Basically you glue the pots back together, and paint over the cracks with the gold paint to highlight the pattern that they make. I think it is a very beautiful practice, and very meaningful as well; just because something broke doesn't mean that it is no longer beautiful or valuable; in fact the break allows for even more beauty to be added to it. Just a thought for something you could try! I know they sell Kintsugi kits online but you could probably also find your own Atomic-Shrimpy way to do it :)
I love your attitude towards life in general. You're such a positive, good dude and even though you're obviously disappointed things didn't work out you don't let that deter you from trying again. You're a real insperation.
I don't usually comment, but I wanted to come back to this video, and this series, in particular. At the time, when the video came out, I knew things were going very badly at my job, and losing it was looking inevitable. When I heard you saying "in order to progress, we have to accept that the next step in the process might be a painful one", it was exactly what I needed to hear, just that the timing felt way too soon, and the sentiment was too raw and upsetting. I had to stop the video so I could compose myself before I could watch the rest. Coming back to it now, though, I can say you were exactly right, but what a powerful and hard to learn lesson this was! If I hadn't failed out of that job, I wouldn't have gotten the much better one I have now, and you saying this ended up being something helpful for me to think about! Thank you for continuing to make such interesting, varied and thoughtful content- it's always a highlight of the weekend.
I suspect it was a cooling issue - modern kiln cooldowns are the better part of a day, so perhaps covering them completely in the coals and then capping with earth and allowing a full 24-36 hours of slow cool would avoid the issues on the larger pots?
Came here to say this. I don't think that the coal bed was deep enough and should be covered for the cooling process to slow it down. Larger pieces need a longer cooling time.
As far as the lamp, if it were hot enough for long enough in the middle of the fire, it's possible the sheen is from the clay being partially vitrified (silica partway turned to glass on the surface).
Surprising but good use of those Kinder surprise egg containers. 🙂 Another use I learned during a first aid refresher course, two surgical gloves fit into one. So you can kind of always have some at the ready with you. Also good to have one such egg on a bike tour, in case of messy chain work, for example. ;-)
5:45 fully agree with you here and i entirely get the feelin of the magic of things like this. Ive nvr fired clay before, but ive made alcohol, vinegar, bread, and cheese; and each of those has its own feel of magic to it as well. Heck, i was makin cheese the other day even and my metamour came into the kitchen to make some food for themself, and i asked them if they saw the "magic that was happening in there" referrin to the fact id just poured the cider vinegar/lime juice mix into the near boilin temp milk and it was alrdy beginnin to separate out the curds and magically go from a white liquid into a yellowish clear liquid with tons of white chunks in it. Chemistry in action **is always magical**.
Really good result for your first try, all the intact pieces are great. The thicker walls and greater overall mass is exactly what I suspect broke those two big ones. Even with very dry pottery, moisture still remains, and especially in the inside of very thick parts. That moisture turns to steam and forces its way out as soon as it heats up, then you get cracks. A big piece will still need to be thicker than a small one, but less thick than this first try I think.
I wonder...does a piece of pottery need to be made in one go or is layering an option? Since that's what's usually suggested when a material needs to air dry. Would the layers fuse together or seperate during the firing?
Atomic Shrimp is the guy I'd want to be working with if the world were left with just natural resources. Talk about teaching a man how to fish. His catalogue alone shows so much of how to survive and create with just the bare necessities. Great job AS!
I think it made things even more interesting that it wasn't a complete success right away. It makes the series more interesting to see how you improve the next time!
This series must have taken a lot of time and effort to put together, but I love the small increments of progress through trial and error. It's more fun to discover these things along side you rather than just getting to see the finished project, or the one time that it worked.
Maybe you could place the big pots right side up and place some wood and then embers on top inside them? So they would eventually be fired from the inside as well as the outside? The little lamp is very pretty, though. Looks like something from an ancient burial side or something. If you told me, it's hundreds of years old, I'd totally buy that.
I've recently grew a interest in clay. So happy to see one of my favorite channels working with clay now. Thanks for the tips. Much better at it then I am.
Well, one suggestion. Add fine plant fiber to the clay. If Primitive Technology uses it to prevent kiln walls from cracking, maybe it will help with thicker pottery too?
Plant fiber would make it easier to form the pots and might prevent cracking, but it will also make the pots more porous, which would not be good when trying to cook with them.
Oh, I absolutely loved this series so far. Thank you for splitting it into manageable chunks - that seemed to enhance my watching pleasure, and I looked forward to the next one. I love the experimental nature of all your stuff and this was a great subject to get us interested in. And the little lamp will come in very useful for the threatened power cuts this winter 😂 it is quite gorgeous and decorative as well as useful. Can’t wait for the decorating, I’d you’re doing any, but certainly the cooking in the pots will be exciting. Thank you so much for the best TH-cam channel ever!
I think you can definitely count that as a success, especially as a first time experience. I'm glad the lamp came out so well. btw what happened to Part 2? I was going to go back and watch it again but it's vanished or have I somehow got my timelines mixed up? Easily done.
Since it looks like you're watching the videos before they're public (I haven't heard of Shrimp having a Patreon, so maybe he posts these to his Discord early or something?) I'm guessing that when you watched this, Part 2 wasn't in the public feed yet.
5:55 "Of course I'm not the first to do this" for some reason I find thay disclamer really funny. This is not only not a new thing it is one of the oldest things. Not that that takes away anything from what you did. Really cool!
I'm completely invested in your clay pots. I hope you're able to make at least one large one for cooking. I'd like to try my hand at making clay pots one of these days. Thank you for bringing some joy to my day. You're a ray of sunshine. 🌞
I think digging down or building up a wall would be good for even insulation. You can cook sticks to make charcoal and then use that as your fuel, piled around and in the pots. Burnishing may help work more air out. Thinner walls help with even firing. Grogging in the broken stuff sounds good.
I've done pit firing, much deeper than your surface fire, and I'd suggest that as a. possibility. It would probably allow for slower more even cooling, maybe better for the bigger pots. This series is your best yet, thank you for the journey and the calm acceptance of what happens.
This is something I've contemplated doing, we have heavy red clay here (I even live on 'Red Hill Road'). Thank you for tackling it first. I will also be attempting this now.
I'm finding this super intereresting, kept meaning to watch these and then not getting round to it, now there's like 4 videos so I'm binge watching them in one go. I'm little sad that the big pots didn't make it, but it's lovely to see how well the smaller items have turned out. I quite like Steph's unusual shaped pots, the wobbly shaped one looks like some creature you'd find under the sea. I look forward to seeing how the future efforts go.
As I mentioned in another comment, I've been a potter for over 20 years. I have never tried working with raw clay, but I do quite a bit of raku. The clay I use for raku is heavily grogged for exactly the reasons you mention. I fire raku to about 1750 F and remove it, glowing (the pot is glowing, not me), and immediately place it into combustibles of various sorts. I cover it, and let it burn itself out. Then remove it and immediately plunge it into water. The results can be anywhere from staggering beauty to soul-crushing heartbreak. I do suspect the thickness of your larger pots played a role in their breaking. I don't know if any of this helps, but I'm REALLY enjoying watching you explore. Best of luck, and may the kiln gods look upon thee with kindness. Edited to add: It IS magic. It's magic every single time, no matter how many times you do it. 😊
I'm kinda jealous. I have done wood working, and metal working, but never tried clay or pottery. Where would one in Myrtle Beach , South Carolina, even start ?
@@howiedavis2316 I have a friend in your area who took some pottery classes at the Myrtle Beach Art Museum. That would definitely be a great place to start. Even if you don't want formal lessons, they could help you acquire your supplies. And, you'd meet local potters and get all their tips. I hope that helps!
@@EastWind123 It does indeed, I am a retired air force vet so I have the time. I will get in touch with them on monday , and thank you for your reply and information
@@howiedavis2316 Happy to help! Best of luck on your journey, and thank you for your service! My husband is an Army vet, and he's taken up pottery, as well.
@@EastWind123 Thank you again. Tell him that I'm sorry he could not be real military 😉( just some good natured ribbing between the branches ) . I got out back in '91 after being hit by a semi ( I didn't know at the time there were easier ways lol) . But I love learning new things, so thank you and thank him from me for being a military brother.
great episodes, i wish i had some suggestions but im just watching your journey in this projects and it makes me happy seeing the progress, very exciting
Absolutely fascinating, Mike. I do like the uncertainty involved in firing clay - I loved pottery lessons at school, and seeing what would, and wouldn't work. I remember making some 'Beaker People' type pots, and, from the remnants of clay, made, for fun, with no intention of firing it, a figure of a Cyberman from the 1966 Doctor Who story, 'The Tenth Planet', about 8" tall. It was a kind of spindly, tall figure. I was going to crush it up, and drop it in the clay bin, but the teacher liked it, and said she wanted to fire it. I left it a week until the next lesson, when it was completely dry, and painted it with cobalt (doubt that would be allowed nowadays) glaze, to give it a bluish colour when fired. The teacher fired it, along with the pots. The pots did not survive. The Cyberman did, however, and stood in a display case near the school entrance for several years. I always wish I'd claimed it when I left school.
@@ByHerHand It's not a very pleasant element. It can cause heart problems, is very possibly carcinogenic, and the metallic form can cause contact dermatitis. The 'cobalt blue' that we used at school, is a compound of cobalt, oxygen and aluminium (Al2CoO4). It's toxic if inhaled or ingested. Protective gear should be worn when handling it.
I do think the big pots cracked because they were partially exposed to the cooler air. One side super hot, other side rapidly cooling. I think you might want to bury them deeper into the first set of ash loosely covering them then build fire directly over them. You want to create a kiln like environment in the wood and ash.
Truly inspirational. The creativity and problem solving you demonstrate is something to aspire to in our every day lives. Thank you. I want nothing more than to see your beautiful final pot but I appreciate the ability to learn with you along the journey.
I am from Brazil. I came for the Scam videos, but stayed for videos like this. I'm loving this series (and the food budget challenge). And tha stew looked very tasty!
I think the cracking probably happened in the cool down. Especially as it was on the exposed base. I also think it was slightly ambitious to fire so much at once haha Have you tried a pit fire? It can retain the heat over the taller pots better
If you enjoyed this or have the means you could build a small (temporary) wood kiln pretty easy. you pretty much just need the right bricks, a grate, and some kiln shelves. Theres a bunch of tutorials online on how to do it and you’re basically just building a little oven that you load with wood from the bottom and you have a chimney at the top. It would be cool to see since it would make really groovy surface effects on the pots and you would probably get a more regular and consistent result
I'm loving this series. This is something I've wanted to do for a while. I recommend the book 'Prehistoric pottery in Britain & Ireland' by Alex Gibson. It's a great introduction to forms, methods and regional variations. Looking forward to the next!
I love these,the lamp is absolutely gorgeous edit:those kababos are really nice but I resent the fact that the packaging makes me feel like they can't even be kept for more than a day after opening
This is an experiment that's after my own heart ❤️ I think your issue was more about equalizing heat through air flow with your pots being upside down as well as having your pieces space too far apart. I believe you can consolidate your pieces packing them together inside of each other and creating an insulated center for your fire where the pieces end up holding the heat working together and allowing that heat to maintain and become more even using the pieces to assist with each of the other pieces heating and cooling this helps reduce the temperature rising or falling too quickly as you have many pieces working together in both instances. I think if you dig your whole slightly deeper and repeat the process that you had done it will also reduce the issue with things heating or cooling too quickly. Another way you can help reduce the heating too quickly, especially with the coil method which can trap small air bubbles that expand and explode your pieces or create weaknesses, is to put them on a small fire in that pit that you've done and cover it even after you believe that they're completely dry. In places such as the where you live there is a lot of moisture in the air and while the piece can feel dry you want to drive out that last bit of moisture by slowly bringing up the temperature. This is usually done in a kiln by placing all of the pieces into a cold kiln and slowly turning your kiln on but leaving the lid propped open allowing that moisture to escape slowly and safely. Been loving your show for a long time because you do things such as this that are not necessary but the gratification that come from these experiments I believe is necessary to be a happy human and you certainly seem like wha one,
I'm loving the series. I have no idea about pottery whatsoever, but I like to think my own teories. it seems in the larger pots, it had like some sort of internal thermal shock, between the very center of the walls and the outer part. However it might be the small flint particles too that cracked up. Take care!
Hope you can fix the broken pots! I agree, going that extra step with something you've already worked hard on is very difficult and at least for me, it seems it never pays off 😅
*The Die* seems to have been omitted in the edit. It fired OK. I'll show it in part 4.
*Observations & Analysis*
Firstly and foremostly, *this can't be impossible.* People did this for millennia, before electric and gas kilns, before commercially prepared clay. *This IS possible. I will press on until it works for me.*
My tentative conclusion is that the large pots were worked from clay that was too wet and soft - this made it seem more delicate than it should be, resulting in thick walls that were insufficiently compacted. Furthermore, I think the fire probably didn't stay hot enough, for long enough, for the larger pieces.
*The (tentative) plan:*
*Make more large pots from slightly dryer clay* - probably one sand tempered, two raw clay (I have loads of that) and one grogged with some of the reddest parts of the failed pots, ground up. Waiting until the clay is more firm before trying to work with it.
*Make the pots with thinner, more compacted walls,* - achieve this by smoothing and pressing and compacting with a smoothing tool made from the clam shell.
*Fire in a larger fire, in a deeper pit* - so it stays hotter for longer and so that the pots do not become uncovered and exposed to cooling crosswind until the fire has died down naturally (ie. leave them buried in the embers overnight to cool gradually)
The deeper pit will probably make the most difference due to the even heating and cooling. You might want to build a kiln around the fire with suitable air flow through the fire, something that'd be difficult in a deep pit.
Maybe a deep pit with a narrow sloping trench into it to allow air in. Trouble is if I dig too deep, I won't be able to manage the primary fire that warms and dries the pit.
Good observations. I hope u find a solution because I'll definitely be watching this is too cool. I want to try it myself
@@AtomicShrimp Perhaps something as simple as a wind break around the fire pit might help with the differential cooling.
a failed firing today is just grog for tomorrow
I'm shocked you spent all that time rubbing that lamp, and didn't make a single joke about a Genie!
Heh. I actually had a little skit written where an unhelpful genie was going to appear, but I didn't have time to make it
It does look suspiciously like a miniature version of Aladdin's lamp, doesn't it?
@@AtomicShrimp An unhelpful genie... I can clearly see this as a throwaway joke in some scambaiting, weirdly enough.
Well, that's really just what oil lamps are like
@@physicalnova2965 Accusing the scammer of being a small unhelpful genie
That lamp is super cool!
Yes, way back when those lamps were the lamps that people used, burning as little oil as possible mattered. The oil was from pressing it out of seeds etc. Thus it was a valuable material.
It was my favorite piece, and I'm really glad it was successfully fired.
Many used animal fat in the lamps. Fish oil, whale blubber, seal fat and other fats.
@@pingASS_ Yes but that makes the lamps stink. I think only poor people used animal fat.
No, it's hot! :P
Hey Shrimp, I am sorry i am a bit late! I went to school for two years for ceramics and i have to say you did amazing! I do have a few recommendations for you.
1. It is a good idea to let clay ferment. There is mold that is in stone clay that i would use in the studio, this mold helps with elasticity in the clay, the best way to get mold in the clay is to let it age. When i would recycle clay we would take the clay that was supper soft and let it sit on a concrete or plaster slabs to slowly dry out and age the clay. the clay could sit on the table for up to 2 weeks to get the mold in it and to dry it out. (the studio that i went to school and was a work study at mainly did wheel throwing so we went though a ton of clay)
2. another thing that could help you with mixing your clay up (when you added in the grogged shells/sand) is wedging. I highly recommend you look at videos for rams horn wedging it really helps work the clay, mixing it and getting any air bubbles out of the clay, there is also a type called conch shell wedging but rams horn tends to be easier.
3. My recommendation for your bigger pots is paddling; and it is exactly as is sounds, you place your hand on the inside and hold the pot steady and with a piece of wood lightly hit it. This compresses the clay, helps shape the pots, and helps with the surface texture. This helps a lot with coil pots/pinch pots.
4. You may want to fire them in a deeper hole so its more insulated (th-cam.com/video/qu_Bc-Gf3Nk/w-d-xo.html , this is an amazing video that explains it better than i can.
5. With the larger pots something that could have caused the cracking is not letting the clay get to a bone dry stage. When you combine the clay that still has some moisture with the high heats you where getting to it can cause fractures with the moisture tying to vaporize.
6. Dont handle the pots too much when they are dry, when clay gets to its bone dry stage it is its most venerable stage so your dont want to move it around too much. if you do get cracks in the clay that you can see take a small amount of white vinegar and an even smaller amount of your clay mix them together and use that to fill the cracks.
I think its amazing that you broke your bigger pots more to see the inside walls. when ever a piece brakes it is always sad but also a very good way to evaluate your skills and what you need to work with. With what i am assuming is your first time in years working with clay, but your first time fully making clay you did an amazing job and have a knack for it!
I am more than happy to help answer any questions you may have as i am trying to become a ceramics teacher!
I believe what’s most important for the large pots is that they not be _exposed_ to air even if you have to cover them with ash and coals or burn a lot of smaller items over them, rather than the area simply being hot. Leaving them covered until the ashes cool down is only going to help.
In addition you should try to make sure the pots are hot enough by making sure they’re “glowing” in the fire; everything glows the same color at the same heat barring some weird chemical reactions (ie the charcoal itself glowing rather than the fire colors), what you have to be careful of is how that glow views in various levels of light can have a very extreme swing. On a bright day something that’s 2000f can look nearly cold, on a dark night any slight glow is visible. I believe you’re aiming for a general “orange” in a more medium light, ie hotter than red and cooler than yellow.
Between the two, you’ll probably find where the failure point was; not getting quite hot enough compared to the other pots, and then being exposed. I think if the thickness or drying was off, or the issue was a rock in the clay or material, you’d have seen spalling which there was no sign of, or if it was too soft even slumping or deformation. Similar with water content, presumably they’d have exploded or spalled in the fire.
Yes, often smaller items are placed inside larger ones during the best firing as well as all items being very crowded around each other this is to help create a more even temperature throughout and to help make sure that he is drawn inside of the larger items evenly with the outside. I Believe by placing his larger pots upside down he not only limited the ability for the heat to evenly flow to the inside so that it would be the same and equal temperature to the outside but it also put the more fragile bottom facing up whereas typically in a woodfire the base would be down as well as the fire being kept around the object as you stated but I do believe this could be averted if you have smaller items on the inside that help raise the pot up a bit off of the ground allowing air to flow underneath the lip that is facing down on the pot.
I love that oil lamp, I'm also impressed that you knew olive oil would burn with a clean flame. I've really enjoyed this series, thank you.
Well, that was commonly used in ancient lamps, so they must have preferred it over other oils for that reason.
Goin through such a hard time in life right now, but your videos are so chill and able to cheer me up :) Even if it's just for a bit, thank you so much
Stay strong and calm mate. It will get better in time.
Hope things take a turn for the better Lamo, your comment got an "arrrr" from this heartless old bugger 👍
I hope things are improving for you ♡
7:10 about the uneven sizes.
My mother has a few cooking pots made of clay.
I remember them being very, VERY thin. Even the big ones that are bigger than what you show here. They feel almost like glass.
And I don't know if they're industrially made or what, but they're pretty even and decorated. They're also quite old I think.
I love those pots. Cooking anything on them instantly makes the house smell like clay.
Is clay smell good?
@atomicshrimp my wife is a potter and she said the pots need to be even thickness, and the grog (crushed once fired ground up ceramic) is a great idea increases the strength. Also firing should be about 900 ish degreees for 6 hours plus, she has friends who wood fire and it’s a night process with lots of drink and banter round the kiln fire. Hope this helps
Man that little oil lamp looks absolutely lovely! Especially with the colors it took after firing
After many years of throwing pottery, it's taught me not to become attached to anything, because at any point in the process you can lose your piece. So I very much appreciate your apprehension at firing your dried pieces. I haven't finished the video yet, but I predict they will fire just fine. What makes pieces break is either using a runny glaze that winds up fusing the piece to the kiln floor (a non-issue for you), or an air bubble inside the clay, which I believe were mostly avoided in your hand building.
Keep up the great videos, I love the variety of your channel and all the different kinds of stuff you get in to!
And, you hit upon another important draw of making pottery, one that's inspired me for over 20 years -- that you're making something functional and useful from earth. It's very satisfying!
I've gotta say that this has been one of my favorite series. The broken pottery reminds me of the Japanese Kintsugi (which would be cool for you to try). Even in failure, there is still beauty in the pottery.
I can't believe I expected him to put the pieces in a modern kiln instead of building a fire in a field.
You beat me to the suggested silver lining of using the broken pots as grog. I have a feeling your 'fireside curing' was far too short. I can't point to a specific video, but if you don't already follow Primitive Technology's channel, he's gone through a lot of the 'trial by fire' (pun intended) with similar resources to yours, with admirable attention to detail in notetaking à la prehistoric chemistry, inkeeping with his primitive MO. Note that captions are essential unless you want to simply appreciate his videos aesthetically. That's another reason I recommend his channel; I think his (very intentional) charm aligns with yours, especially Slow TV.
+1 on Primitive Technology. Great channel + probably some useful insights into pottery making. He's also had a bunch of cracked pots, and also a bunch of very large bucket sized pots that have been fine!
That lamp is the best part so far!!!!....wasn't really interested in it at first, but now I want to give it a go myself!!!!....so cool!
I appreciate the time and effort you put into this. You, at least, have the lamp as a shining example of what could be.
Great stuff! The lamp is SO pleasing to look at! Beautiful object to hold and see.
The other thing about the way reduction firing is done by the natives of the US's south west may also be worth considering. They do it by covering the fire to deprive it of oxygen. I think this also slows how fast it gets hot. This also means that the space where the pots are fired is still covered after the fire goes out. They leave the pots in there as the temperature cools meaning that they have also slowed the cooling.
This is the greatest journey I've seen on youtube for some time. Brilliant. Hope you're enjoying it as much as we are!
Love that little oil lamp!
This is just wonderful to watch. In your excitement and uncertainty and hope and fear, I can see a glimpse of the first humans learning how to make pottery - trying raw clay and finding it doesn't work so well, trying to refine it, adding different things, testing out what happens when it goes in a fire...it's like a brief voyage into a past so distant we really have no way of properly understanding it, except by doing what they did: trying from scratch and slowly improving the methods and materials until at last there was a magical moment when a pot finally emerged sound and strong from the ashes. I can't wait to see that moment happen for you.
Edit to add: I know it's probably already happened in one of the later videos, but I'm not there yet and wanted to mention the wonder I was experiencing right now!
Something you could also do with one (or both) of the broken pots: There is a Japanese practice called Kintsugi, which is the practice of repairing broken pottery or china using gold (or gold paint) to highlight the cracks in the piece. Basically you glue the pots back together, and paint over the cracks with the gold paint to highlight the pattern that they make. I think it is a very beautiful practice, and very meaningful as well; just because something broke doesn't mean that it is no longer beautiful or valuable; in fact the break allows for even more beauty to be added to it. Just a thought for something you could try! I know they sell Kintsugi kits online but you could probably also find your own Atomic-Shrimpy way to do it :)
I love your attitude towards life in general. You're such a positive, good dude and even though you're obviously disappointed things didn't work out you don't let that deter you from trying again. You're a real insperation.
That little lamp is a thing of beauty. Sometimes the best things come from an unexpected direction.
@5:50 i can also recommend making fire yourself by "rubbing sticks". it's real hard work, but so magical and satisfying when you get a flame.
I don't usually comment, but I wanted to come back to this video, and this series, in particular.
At the time, when the video came out, I knew things were going very badly at my job, and losing it was looking inevitable.
When I heard you saying "in order to progress, we have to accept that the next step in the process might be a painful one", it was exactly what I needed to hear, just that the timing felt way too soon, and the sentiment was too raw and upsetting. I had to stop the video so I could compose myself before I could watch the rest.
Coming back to it now, though, I can say you were exactly right, but what a powerful and hard to learn lesson this was!
If I hadn't failed out of that job, I wouldn't have gotten the much better one I have now, and you saying this ended up being something helpful for me to think about!
Thank you for continuing to make such interesting, varied and thoughtful content- it's always a highlight of the weekend.
That lamp is a trully beautiful object.
That pinchpot reminds me of jelly ear mushrooms, maybe that was what you were thinking of.
I suspect it was a cooling issue - modern kiln cooldowns are the better part of a day, so perhaps covering them completely in the coals and then capping with earth and allowing a full 24-36 hours of slow cool would avoid the issues on the larger pots?
Came here to say this. I don't think that the coal bed was deep enough and should be covered for the cooling process to slow it down. Larger pieces need a longer cooling time.
Also make the fire in a pit about 1 or 2 feet deep and try to get a bed of coals all the way up before you cover with dirt or sand.
I'm disappointed the big pots broke but I am delighted to see the project.
Love the little oil lamp
It's going to be a long couple of weeks waiting for part 4!
As far as the lamp, if it were hot enough for long enough in the middle of the fire, it's possible the sheen is from the clay being partially vitrified (silica partway turned to glass on the surface).
The bowl with shells mixed in looks perfect for a mortar and pestle combination
Love the oil lamp.
Surprising but good use of those Kinder surprise egg containers. 🙂 Another use I learned during a first aid refresher course, two surgical gloves fit into one. So you can kind of always have some at the ready with you. Also good to have one such egg on a bike tour, in case of messy chain work, for example. ;-)
5:45 fully agree with you here and i entirely get the feelin of the magic of things like this. Ive nvr fired clay before, but ive made alcohol, vinegar, bread, and cheese; and each of those has its own feel of magic to it as well.
Heck, i was makin cheese the other day even and my metamour came into the kitchen to make some food for themself, and i asked them if they saw the "magic that was happening in there" referrin to the fact id just poured the cider vinegar/lime juice mix into the near boilin temp milk and it was alrdy beginnin to separate out the curds and magically go from a white liquid into a yellowish clear liquid with tons of white chunks in it.
Chemistry in action **is always magical**.
Really good result for your first try, all the intact pieces are great. The thicker walls and greater overall mass is exactly what I suspect broke those two big ones. Even with very dry pottery, moisture still remains, and especially in the inside of very thick parts. That moisture turns to steam and forces its way out as soon as it heats up, then you get cracks. A big piece will still need to be thicker than a small one, but less thick than this first try I think.
I wonder...does a piece of pottery need to be made in one go or is layering an option? Since that's what's usually suggested when a material needs to air dry. Would the layers fuse together or seperate during the firing?
@@raraavis7782 Glazes fuse things.
Atomic Shrimp is the guy I'd want to be working with if the world were left with just natural resources. Talk about teaching a man how to fish. His catalogue alone shows so much of how to survive and create with just the bare necessities. Great job AS!
I think it made things even more interesting that it wasn't a complete success right away.
It makes the series more interesting to see how you improve the next time!
The lamp looks great.
Shrimp solving the same problems as our ancestors thousands of years ago....fascinating
This series must have taken a lot of time and effort to put together, but I love the small increments of progress through trial and error. It's more fun to discover these things along side you rather than just getting to see the finished project, or the one time that it worked.
That's still an awesome outcome and learning opportunity 👍
Maybe you could place the big pots right side up and place some wood and then embers on top inside them? So they would eventually be fired from the inside as well as the outside?
The little lamp is very pretty, though. Looks like something from an ancient burial side or something. If you told me, it's hundreds of years old, I'd totally buy that.
Really enjoying this profession of soil to ceramics
I've recently grew a interest in clay. So happy to see one of my favorite channels working with clay now. Thanks for the tips. Much better at it then I am.
Well, one suggestion. Add fine plant fiber to the clay. If Primitive Technology uses it to prevent kiln walls from cracking, maybe it will help with thicker pottery too?
Plant fiber would make it easier to form the pots and might prevent cracking, but it will also make the pots more porous, which would not be good when trying to cook with them.
Oh, I absolutely loved this series so far. Thank you for splitting it into manageable chunks - that seemed to enhance my watching pleasure, and I looked forward to the next one.
I love the experimental nature of all your stuff and this was a great subject to get us interested in. And the little lamp will come in very useful for the threatened power cuts this winter 😂 it is quite gorgeous and decorative as well as useful.
Can’t wait for the decorating, I’d you’re doing any, but certainly the cooking in the pots will be exciting.
Thank you so much for the best TH-cam channel ever!
I love this series
I think you can definitely count that as a success, especially as a first time experience. I'm glad the lamp came out so well.
btw what happened to Part 2? I was going to go back and watch it again but it's vanished or have I somehow got my timelines mixed up? Easily done.
th-cam.com/video/P2qPI_cUF6M/w-d-xo.html
I still see part two up, but this is 9 days later
Pt 2 is there
Yo why 9 days ago
Since it looks like you're watching the videos before they're public (I haven't heard of Shrimp having a Patreon, so maybe he posts these to his Discord early or something?) I'm guessing that when you watched this, Part 2 wasn't in the public feed yet.
That little oil lamp is beautiful - if that was the only thing that you got out of this, I would have considered it a success
I've been waiting for this. Thanks Shrimp!
5:55 "Of course I'm not the first to do this" for some reason I find thay disclamer really funny. This is not only not a new thing it is one of the oldest things. Not that that takes away anything from what you did. Really cool!
I am so delighted about that oil lamp.
This project is so fun to watch! Thank you for sharing your experiment with us.
Sad because I have to wait for another part. Glad because the series isn't over yet.
I am loving the portable spice rack utilising old can and kinder egg hearts!
Definitely one of my favorite series of yours so far. Long time viewer. Excited to see how this all turns out.
Love the lamp! And the video!
I'm completely invested in your clay pots. I hope you're able to make at least one large one for cooking. I'd like to try my hand at making clay pots one of these days. Thank you for bringing some joy to my day. You're a ray of sunshine. 🌞
I think digging down or building up a wall would be good for even insulation.
You can cook sticks to make charcoal and then use that as your fuel, piled around and in the pots.
Burnishing may help work more air out.
Thinner walls help with even firing.
Grogging in the broken stuff sounds good.
Sad for your big pots, but you can make little tapitas to eat with the small plates.
That little lamp is plain gorgeous, beautiful.
Your magic lamp is honestly awesome
I've done pit firing, much deeper than your surface fire, and I'd suggest that as a. possibility. It would probably allow for slower more even cooling, maybe better for the bigger pots. This series is your best yet, thank you for the journey and the calm acceptance of what happens.
Nothing of value to really add to the discussion, just wanted to say i really appreciate this series and the thoughtful commentary as always :)
I liked the brief stew interlude, just something nice about it. More videos should include them.
It's not illegal to do that 😁
I love a beef strew. I mean, brief stew.
This is something I've contemplated doing, we have heavy red clay here (I even live on 'Red Hill Road'). Thank you for tackling it first. I will also be attempting this now.
That little lamp is beautiful
I'm finding this super intereresting, kept meaning to watch these and then not getting round to it, now there's like 4 videos so I'm binge watching them in one go. I'm little sad that the big pots didn't make it, but it's lovely to see how well the smaller items have turned out. I quite like Steph's unusual shaped pots, the wobbly shaped one looks like some creature you'd find under the sea. I look forward to seeing how the future efforts go.
Cute little lamp! I'd call that a success.
Really interesting. I believe that even folk like Wedgewood had failures back in the day
Congratulations on the succesful pots, and good luck for attempt 2 of the bigger ones! The lamp looks lovely.
As I mentioned in another comment, I've been a potter for over 20 years. I have never tried working with raw clay, but I do quite a bit of raku. The clay I use for raku is heavily grogged for exactly the reasons you mention. I fire raku to about 1750 F and remove it, glowing (the pot is glowing, not me), and immediately place it into combustibles of various sorts. I cover it, and let it burn itself out. Then remove it and immediately plunge it into water. The results can be anywhere from staggering beauty to soul-crushing heartbreak. I do suspect the thickness of your larger pots played a role in their breaking. I don't know if any of this helps, but I'm REALLY enjoying watching you explore. Best of luck, and may the kiln gods look upon thee with kindness. Edited to add: It IS magic. It's magic every single time, no matter how many times you do it. 😊
I'm kinda jealous. I have done wood working, and metal working, but never tried clay or pottery. Where would one in Myrtle Beach , South Carolina, even start ?
@@howiedavis2316 I have a friend in your area who took some pottery classes at the Myrtle Beach Art Museum. That would definitely be a great place to start. Even if you don't want formal lessons, they could help you acquire your supplies. And, you'd meet local potters and get all their tips. I hope that helps!
@@EastWind123 It does indeed, I am a retired air force vet so I have the time. I will get in touch with them on monday , and thank you for your reply and information
@@howiedavis2316 Happy to help! Best of luck on your journey, and thank you for your service! My husband is an Army vet, and he's taken up pottery, as well.
@@EastWind123 Thank you again. Tell him that I'm sorry he could not be real military 😉( just some good natured ribbing between the branches ) . I got out back in '91 after being hit by a semi ( I didn't know at the time there were easier ways lol) . But I love learning new things, so thank you and thank him from me for being a military brother.
This is one of my favorite projects you have done. As you say: magic
Theres something so simple and calming about watching these videos and you execute it perfectly. Great job.
great episodes, i wish i had some suggestions but im just watching your journey in this projects and it makes me happy seeing the progress, very exciting
Absolutely fascinating, Mike. I do like the uncertainty involved in firing clay - I loved pottery lessons at school, and seeing what would, and wouldn't work. I remember making some 'Beaker People' type pots, and, from the remnants of clay, made, for fun, with no intention of firing it, a figure of a Cyberman from the 1966 Doctor Who story, 'The Tenth Planet', about 8" tall. It was a kind of spindly, tall figure. I was going to crush it up, and drop it in the clay bin, but the teacher liked it, and said she wanted to fire it. I left it a week until the next lesson, when it was completely dry, and painted it with cobalt (doubt that would be allowed nowadays) glaze, to give it a bluish colour when fired. The teacher fired it, along with the pots. The pots did not survive. The Cyberman did, however, and stood in a display case near the school entrance for several years. I always wish I'd claimed it when I left school.
Why would cobalt not be allowed these days?
@@ByHerHand It's not a very pleasant element. It can cause heart problems, is very possibly carcinogenic, and the metallic form can cause contact dermatitis.
The 'cobalt blue' that we used at school, is a compound of cobalt, oxygen and aluminium (Al2CoO4). It's toxic if inhaled or ingested. Protective gear should be worn when handling it.
I do think the big pots cracked because they were partially exposed to the cooler air. One side super hot, other side rapidly cooling.
I think you might want to bury them deeper into the first set of ash loosely covering them then build fire directly over them. You want to create a kiln like environment in the wood and ash.
Truly inspirational. The creativity and problem solving you demonstrate is something to aspire to in our every day lives. Thank you. I want nothing more than to see your beautiful final pot but I appreciate the ability to learn with you along the journey.
I am from Brazil. I came for the Scam videos, but stayed for videos like this. I'm loving this series (and the food budget challenge).
And tha stew looked very tasty!
I think the cracking probably happened in the cool down. Especially as it was on the exposed base. I also think it was slightly ambitious to fire so much at once haha
Have you tried a pit fire? It can retain the heat over the taller pots better
If you enjoyed this or have the means you could build a small (temporary) wood kiln pretty easy. you pretty much just need the right bricks, a grate, and some kiln shelves. Theres a bunch of tutorials online on how to do it and you’re basically just building a little oven that you load with wood from the bottom and you have a chimney at the top. It would be cool to see since it would make really groovy surface effects on the pots and you would probably get a more regular and consistent result
This was very interesting. Thanks for not being remotely finished.
I'm loving this series. This is something I've wanted to do for a while. I recommend the book 'Prehistoric pottery in Britain & Ireland' by Alex Gibson. It's a great introduction to forms, methods and regional variations. Looking forward to the next!
what a great series thanks Shrimp for the top shelf content as always 👌
I love these,the lamp is absolutely gorgeous edit:those kababos are really nice but I resent the fact that the packaging makes me feel like they can't even be kept for more than a day after opening
wow you have the best content i have seen on clay usage...thankyou
This is an experiment that's after my own heart ❤️ I think your issue was more about equalizing heat through air flow with your pots being upside down as well as having your pieces space too far apart. I believe you can consolidate your pieces packing them together inside of each other and creating an insulated center for your fire where the pieces end up holding the heat working together and allowing that heat to maintain and become more even using the pieces to assist with each of the other pieces heating and cooling this helps reduce the temperature rising or falling too quickly as you have many pieces working together in both instances. I think if you dig your whole slightly deeper and repeat the process that you had done it will also reduce the issue with things heating or cooling too quickly. Another way you can help reduce the heating too quickly, especially with the coil method which can trap small air bubbles that expand and explode your pieces or create weaknesses, is to put them on a small fire in that pit that you've done and cover it even after you believe that they're completely dry. In places such as the where you live there is a lot of moisture in the air and while the piece can feel dry you want to drive out that last bit of moisture by slowly bringing up the temperature. This is usually done in a kiln by placing all of the pieces into a cold kiln and slowly turning your kiln on but leaving the lid propped open allowing that moisture to escape slowly and safely. Been loving your show for a long time because you do things such as this that are not necessary but the gratification that come from these experiments I believe is necessary to be a happy human and you certainly seem like wha one,
I'm sorry they didn't all make it. I love that little lamp. I can't wait to see the bowl with the lid. This series is very interesting.
I think it would be super cool if you could make something like an roman amphora for storing wine or olive oil!
I half expected you to build a kiln stove with bricks or something but the outdoor fire is much cooler.
Awesome! Fun fact: I also use plastic Kinder egg tiny containers when I travel and I place medicine or spices in them.
The lamp is gorgeous! But generally all the pieces are awfully interesting - I really look forward to seeing more!!
The little oil lamp is adorable!!
I'm loving the series. I have no idea about pottery whatsoever, but I like to think my own teories. it seems in the larger pots, it had like some sort of internal thermal shock, between the very center of the walls and the outer part. However it might be the small flint particles too that cracked up. Take care!
Hope you can fix the broken pots! I agree, going that extra step with something you've already worked hard on is very difficult and at least for me, it seems it never pays off 😅
I love this series! Can't wait what the rest of your experiments are going to bring
I would try this myself in a heartbeat. Maybe one day... Love your little oil lamp, it´s so precious.
What happened to the Dice?
the lamp is so cute!