Firing Pottery...in a Fireplace (HD)

[@AFCAWorldBodybuildingArchive]

This is getting scary now. Just this day I thought damn I gotta re watch all your videos and boom you come up with TWO! Please don't stop making them. Most straight forward channel on KZbin 💪🙏

[@jsmythib]

After finding some local clay deposits, refining them, and then firing in my existing wood stove....I think I found a new hobby :) Works great! No cost...just labor :)

[@robinsmith8846]

Oooh.. I have both a fireplace and a small wood stove too. This opens lots of possibilities. What tem and how long in wiodstove?

[@jsmythib]

@@robinsmith8846 I would set them on a redhot bed of coals in the back of the woodstove(on a new piece of wood) then pack the woodstove with smaller pieces of wood, filling it. Then just open the flu and draft and let it burn off. Usually before bed. Next morning, still hot but I was able to take them out.

[@robinsmith8846]

@@jsmythib thank you!!!!

[@chinupduck4849]

Am about to stick some local clay in my woodstove right now. It's winter, so there's no letting it die down and cool off, unless we want frozen pipes. No idea how long to leave it in. Trial and error ftw!

[@jsmythib]

I always put my clay in the woodstove at night after I pack it to go to sleep. In the morning after it burned down as much as possible I just scoop it out of the hot ash and coals. Works good. Always small pieces, nothing larger than a coffee mug. In the back of the stove, on top of some wood, but near the chimney exit where it gets the hottest.. The clay will sinter. Entry level ceramic. @@chinupduck4849

[@Chocoholiclady66]

THANK YOU! Illegal here for outdoor fires, fire pits, etc. (other than food BBQ grills certain times of year when wild fire risk is low) but everything found (until now) only shows outdoor firing of pottery. Figured there had to be a means and technique for doing it indoors via fireplace. Much simpler and less complicated than digging or building a fire pit too!

[@PaleoBushman]

That was simple but very clever. Good video brother.

[@bowmaster619letschug6]

Can't wait to see a hunter/gatherer primitive cooking video using some of the pots you've made

[@nvm5016]

What clay would be good for this? I really dont wanna buy a kiln.

[@primitivepathways]

I believe any local clay you can find will fire in a fireplace. Essentially you are making earthenware and low-fire clays are what work best for that because they will vitrify and become a ceramic at the temperatures that a campfire can reach. The trick is finding the right clay with the right properties that are plastic enough so they they can be formed into pottery and not crack. You'll need to get out there and experiment with different clay, and also play around with the amount of temper it requires to stabilize the clay so it won't crack when fired. There's a lot of trial and error that goes into it, but once you discover the right combination, it's a lot of fun to make and fire pots from clay you collected yourself.

[@RangerJeni]

@@primitivepathways How do you know if it's vitrified or if it's just bisque?

[@wowitstinehill]

what kind of clay are you using?

[@BHeisler59]

It took a hefty bit of organic material to produce that heat. Imagine if you will, ancestros of ancient antiquity sitting where you are in that den in front of a simple fireplace. Except their outside, its a beautiful day and one, just one of the groups artisans has an epiphany. Instead of looking at a fireplace or forge or hand metal tools which didn't exist, he's gazing over at the valley and the darn volcano is releasing lava again. It slowly lets gravity pull it down thru the depressions and ravines, little fingers branch off here and there, just a typical day in mesoamerica. Except this time, he has an idea. He grabs his stone spade and a buddy and they scurry down alongside a slow shallow flow, they scratch a diversion channel out front and throw up a small rock berm. At the end of their hand dug channel they dig out an earthen mold. His buddy says make it polygonal to show off but the artisan says lets keep it simple and tells his buddy to bring some sand. We're gonna make a sand casting. They dig a round earthen mold, 36 inches in diameter by 6 inches deep. Dump in the sand and the artisan impresses the sand with beautiful symbols and shapes, sorta like a calendar with zodiacal symbols just for fun. They take their stone spades and help the basalt in its gooey fluid state which nature provided into the sand casting. They dam off the trench, screed the top of the mold and pour sand over it to cool. They run back and announce that tomorrow they will present the tribe a beautiful gift. They pry the basalt piece up and transport it back to the Patron. He is bewildered and confused as to how two loin cloth wearing, stone age men with zero metal tools carved such intricacy into solidified igneous rock in such a short time. They told him for his birthday, they'd deliver a stylized enormous head of solid basalt for their Olmec Patron, he laughed because his birthday is in 2 days. He had no idea the hole is already dug and the sand in place, the lava is poured, just waiting on it to cool. Their only worry is he wont like the minute eruptions all over the surface of the face from the bubbles inside fluid basalt erupting into many little divots as it cools. Time will tell. Wait till they show him other igneous rock they've farmed and formed while it flowed to them as lava, the obsidian "hand sculpted" pieces are out of this world beautiful.

[@dgundeadforge17]

when is your primitive white wood bow making dvds coming out.

[@thefeatheredfrontiersman8135]

Yeah me too, I'm waiting for my copy of fire dancer. Much anticipated......

[@billyberger2462]

It should be within the next few days...we have the DVDs done and in hand...we're just tweaking Keith's website

[@dgundeadforge17]

@@billyberger2462 thank you for replying,. Is it on your website or another, please make release video, people just waiting. Thank you.

[@laprimaveraproductions]

would this work with a small ceramic chiminea

[@primitivepathways]

Yes I would think so. the key is getting the pottery totally dry so there's no residual moisture left within the pottery before you ramp up the temperature. Once you do, then you can build up the fire and get the pottery red hot.

[@FloraArs]

do you know something about doing that in a gas stove?

[@primitivepathways]

I don't think a gas stone gets hot enough.

[@FloraArs]

@@primitivepathways Thanks for your anwer, yes I think so too, I will try firepit in a metal wood stove so I dont burn down my terrace

[@gbennett58]

@@FloraArs I have used a metal stove to fire low fire pottery. It can be done, but if you run it too hot the heat can soften the steel and it will deform. I also have fired in an outdoor stove made from an oil can for the purpose of boiling maple sap, and it works as well, again the metal softens with heat and deforms. My indoor electric oven can go to 900F in a self-clean cycle, but I don't think that is hot enough. You can also dig two deep pits outside in the earth, connect the two pits with an air tunnel at the base. Build a fire in one pit and the other will siphon air underneath the coals. You can get hot enough to forge steel that way, I made an iron spear point this way.

[@FloraArs]

@@gbennett58 thankyou so much, for the answer is really complete and educative! I will keep trying I bought a metal can so I can do it in my terrace (the only space I have) but I keep breaking stuff or to be not cooked well, I think I will try again with your advice

[@tshawnjohnson]

Did you bisque fire these pots first? Or did you add them to the fireplace when they were greenware?

[@primitivepathways]

No they were just heated slowly in a kiln to about 500 degrees F to ensure there was no trapped moisture in the clay, then transported still hot directly into the fire.

[@tshawnjohnson]

@@primitivepathways thank you so much for confirming this! The sound on the video made me wonder if they were already a bit bell-like in tone. So this is great to hear that they were greenware!

[@travisbrady3593]

Happy holidays billy

[@billyberger2462]

Thanks Travis you too!

[@leathorns1751]

I know this is an older video, but Ive done something similar. Used clay from the garden & made teeny tiny pots & bricks, put them (dried first over a day or two) in the hot coals/ embers & left them overnight. They did turn that terracotta colour but I haven't tried anything bigger, as the fire dies down, they moved around.

[@robinsmith8846]

You didn't have to kiln predrilled like he did? I am looking to do small pieces with children I work with and using just air dry then cure in fireplace. Thanks

[@leathorns1751]

@@robinsmith8846 i don't have a kiln, I left them to dry for a day or two indoors, nearer the fireplace or on the stone/tiles in front of the fire once they were looking dry already (so they didn't dry too fast?), Then put them in the fire. One pot I had to do twice as it was more urn shaped & the inside didn't seem as done. Ive done little medallions where I made a stamp on it. My first batch all blew up because I fired them same day, i thought being flat it dried faster & they looked dry outside. So two days drying, Ireland is mild & quite damp, might be different if you are elsewhere! His method of laying it out better might be better to do, I put mine in the hot embers/dying fire, added kindling & left it overnight as the fire died down, i suppose it kept hot enough to fire pottery? There are lots of outdoor/bury them firing that might work. A bbq? Or one of those Aldi campfire/patio hanging fire tripods might be options too if you keep the fire going?

[@glassmosaic]

that's amazing. what cone do you think it fired up too? getting ideas for my new fireplace!

[@primitivepathways]

I'm not sure...I think a typical campfire gets to around 1200 degrees F. This is considered low-fire cookware and although it's a ceramic, it's not fired at a high temp like china or other more glassy wares.

[@alexwang982]

@@primitivepathways Orange hot glow is probably hotter though.

[@markspc1]

Great idea !

[@Sheepdog1314]

it also depends what kind of clay - high fire /high temperature clay won't work this way

[@gbennett58]

The first time this kind of firing was used was about 30,000 years ago. They didn't have low fire or high fire clay at the time, just used what was available.

[@seansersmylie]

Hi, approx how long did you fire the pottery in the hearth?

[@primitivepathways]

I fired it for about 1 hour...then let the fire burn down on its own and the pot cooled down slowly for a few hours until it was cool enough to handle.

[@seansersmylie]

@@primitivepathways Thanks v much, I tried firing a small pot but left it in for 9-10 hours and it chipped. I'll try again:)

[@SurvivorTchano]

Very good LIKE!!!

[@VanishingNomad]

Love it!

[@joeroganofficial5433]

Niiiiiiice