Kiln Fire Blog
Whether you are an aspiring potter, or a business-minded individual, our blog aims to provide insights, knowledge, and appreciation for art and entrepreneurship within pottery and ceramics. Let's see what we can discover at the intersection of clay, creativity, and commerce.
Chemical Changes in Clay Firing
A plain grayish lump of clay seems an unremarkable thing, but contained within is astounding potential for transformation. By applying fire, human ingenuity reshapes earth itself into exquisite and functional artforms. Yet the true alchemy unfolds at a molecular scale...
Understanding and Utilizing Kiln Alternatives
Commercial electric and gas-fired kilns provide the most accurate results when firing clay or glazed ceramic pieces. However, with creativity and resourcefulness, potters lacking proper kilns can approximate similar effects using standard ovens and other easily obtained tools.While improvised firing...
The Implications of Silica Dust in Pottery
Working with clay may seem like a tranquil, earthy pursuit, but hidden dangers lurk in clay's dusty breath. Without proper precautions, pottery studios can accumulate harmful levels of airborne silica particles that deposit deep in artists' lungs. However, straightforward controls...
Understanding the Duration of Various Firing Processes
When first starting out in pottery and ceramics, it’s easy to underestimate just how long the firing process takes from start to finish. Unlike quick small projects, firing clay into durable, usable ceramic requires extended stays inside the kiln to...
What Happens to Clay When It's Fired
Firing is a critical step in the ceramic process that irreversibly transforms clay into a hard, durable material. During firing, the clay pieces are subjected to intense heat, usually in a kiln, which causes chemical and physical changes. At lower...
Understanding Ceramic Cones and Firing Temperatures
Ceramic cones play a vital role in monitoring kiln temperatures during firing. These slender pyrometric cones precisely deform at specific temperatures, providing a visual cue that firing milestones have been reached.Understanding how to use cones ensures your clay and glazes...
Ceramic and Clay Firing Without a Kiln: An In-depth Guide
While modern electric and gas-fired kilns provide the most consistent ceramic firing methods, they can be cost-prohibitive for amateur potters or developing studios.Thankfully, there are many ways to successfully fire clay and ceramics without investing in a traditional kiln. Primitive...
Bisque Firing: Understanding Its Process, Temperatures, and Requirements
Bisque firing refers to the initial kiln firing cycle for greenware or unfired pottery to convert clay into a permanent, usable ceramic material. It prepares the clay for subsequent glazing and decoration prior to a final glaze firing.What happens during...
Low-Fire vs High-Fire Clay: Properties, Uses, and Firing Temperatures
Ceramic clays fall into two broad categories - low-fire and high-fire. The key difference lies in the temperatures at which the clays vitrify and become non-porous ceramic material, affecting their material characteristics and suitable uses.Here we’ll examine low-fire and high-fire...
An Introduction to Air-Dry Clay
Air-dry clays provide easy molding and shaping without kiln firing for crafting and amateur ceramic work. Simply allow your finished pieces to dry in the open air, and the clay will solidify into a permanent form overnight.Air-dry clays open modeling,...