Pit Fire Pottery In Your Backyard | NO Kiln!

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I haven't been able to throw or fire pots in the studio because...pandemic. So I've been teaching myself handbuilding and alternative firing techniques--specifically, pit firing. Here's what I've learned so far! You can do this anywhere you're able to build a fire, and you don't need any equipment--just the clay.

Sorry the video is so long--it contains all the information I think is necessary to have a successful pit fire and to understand what makes the difference between success and breakage. If you don't know what you're doing, all your pots will blow up. If you know what you're doing, things turn out beautifully. If you watch this video, you'll know what you're doing!

0:41 What is clay

1:33 What happens when you fire clay
2:49 Making pots--what to consider
4:55 After the pots are made--prep for firing
5:43 The pit
6:29 The fire--initial fire, fuel
7:11 Warming the pots
8:16 Colorants

10:25 Adding pots to fire
11:40 Bonfire!
13:02 Covering the fire
14:19 Using your pots
14:58 Pit fire reveal

[punkydoggear]

We had some Native American potters come show us how to make pottery their way. I was in 4th grade... 45 yo now. They had us rub the pottery with a smooth rock and I remember they burned our pottery in a dug pit behind the school. My mother still has my pot. It is the most beautiful color I've ever seen.

[justinthiessen]

"I'm not an expert by any means" and then proceeds to teach me more in 18 minutes than my art teacher did in 5 years

[baibalowther]

Melt beeswax, and rub it onto the pots as you take them out. This gives a wonderful, soft lustre or sheen to the work, especially if it has been burnished.
Great work. Your video is succinct, easy to watch and learn from. Cheers from an old potter in Australia 🙏

[Brainhoneywalker]

Excellent lesson!! Items for color in firing: seaweed, banana peel. hemp twine, eucalyptus leaves, copper shavings or small wire scraps.

[ekosh]

In the past non vitrified pots were used to hold water. As it leaks through the pores and evaporates, it cools the water inside (a lot) so it's perfect for cool water in hot climates and no electricity.

[dinatale]

As a ceramic major I can say you’ve approached this in the most accessible wonderfully educational way! Would love to see more 😊

[PseudoPhlegm]

I like your approach and screen presence. No frills or click baiting nonsense. No over the top fake personality.

A genuine representation of you and your knowledge/ experimentation. Thank you for being sincere.

[lakshmirane]

The calmness in this video..no music...no anxiety.. just peace..I love it❤️🌻

[samTollefson]

Back on the commune in Western WV in the 70's we fired local clay in a similar way using sawdust. There were many mobile sawmills that worked in the area and we would gather large burlap bags of sawdust and dry it out on plastic tarps, it was a mix of hardwoods but largely oak which gave beautiful earth tones to the fired pots and plates. The pottery was stacked in the greenhouse to dry for months over the summer than we built dry brick kilns spacing the bricks an inch or so apart for airflow during the burn. Everything was stacked on a layer of sawdust, each item filled with sawdust and layered with more sawdust and pottery ( about 3 maybe 4 items high) finished with about 6" of packed sawdust on top. We would start a fire on the top and let it burn to coals and spread the coals around evenly to get all the sawdust burning than cover the brick pile with tin roofing so it would just smolder. Started in the morning it would often smolder all night and into the next day. the whitish clay would take on all different beautiful colors. I don't remember a lot of breakages although there were some. Thanks for bringing back those old days.
Great video!

[aprilclark]

I love this... I teach High School Ceramics and am honestly considering leaving this for students to watch when I am out. Nice job.

[ServantKing]

Fire Safety Tips, Make sure the pit is 10 feet + away from all structures and trees, also make sure the ground you dig your pit in is not made up of roots, debris and other in ground burnable materials, you can have ground fires happen in certain areas, be mindful that just because you are in a hole, that doesn't mean it is fire proof!

[mikedumas]

Very cool, going to add it to the list of a 1, 000 other things I would like to do.

[StolenSweetroll]

I don't think I can do any of the steps required in this process without my neighbors calling the cops on me, but this was very informative and it seems like a fun and rewarding hobby.

[yaronimus]

wonderful video. if you use wooden pallets, make sure they are marked HT (Heat Treated) and not MB (Methil Bromide) which is toxic.

[ViKee]

Those bowls tell a story and it’s a better one than if they had been teased from the earth with all the latest gadgets. You are a natural teacher. Thank you for imparting your wisdom. 👍🏼🤍

[celestesantos]

I have loved and worked with ceramics for most of my life and coming from Africa, I especially love traditional methods of making and firing. I am so very pleased to have come across your caring and clear guidance aimed at those who are attempting these beautiful old and creative methods. All too often details are skimmed over and small but important considerations and proceedures are left out, leaving learner to discover the hard way and often disheartened. Thank you for putting in all the extra effort and info. Parabens! from Portugal

[Lowlitstudio]

Hugely appreciated this video. My dad was a well known artist (he taught pottery at a few different colleges and university) eventually the silica dust from all his years doing pottery gave him COPD. He died in 2017. I didn't know him well and never had the chance to learn from him, and so I'm learning now. When he was dying, and I was scared to lose him and all his knowledge he told me to learn "from YouTube"

[wigglesworth]

Wow, I’ve been looking for a video like this. I have a vain of natural clay here in the mid-Willamette Vally in Oregon. This stuff is weirdly clean and fires into a dark burgundy color with sparkles. My friend made a small sculpture from it and fired it in a small dental kiln and I was very surprised it looked so refined. Thank you for the data, I’m all in!

[ClaLu]

Oh yes, I'm from Chile and here is how it's done by treasure women that preserve the traditional techniques like Quinchamalí and Pomaire, personally I enjoy using them a lot more than other more "sophisticated" utensils...From a sensory point of view the sound of this ceramics is so much gentle ❤️

[HawkMan]

Great video. You're a calming teacher.