How To Make Raku Pottery - A Step-by-Step Beginner Guide

[@allenfitz1]

Hi Maria. Thank you for another video. I did Raku years ago, and our process was a bit different. We fired the pots till there were red yellow. No pryrometor, just the look of the pots. Then we took them out and set them on the ground in straw. we covered them up with more straw and covered it in dirt. We waited a few min for the reduction and then started uncovering the piece. We watched, and as the color started to change, we sprayed it with water. We worked our way around sprawing until the piece was completely uncovered. Let it cool a while, then washed it off in a sink. This was 30 years ago

[@PotteryCrafters]

Wow, Allen, that sounds really cool. Yes, there are different ways of doing it. Tomorrow we are going to do horse hair. I used Terra Sigillata on the pots I also have dried leaves for the other pots 😃

[@luci1st43]

I am about to go to my first Raku firing session today. Glad I watched this since I tend to glaze very thin.

[@PotteryCrafters]

You are most welcome.

[@scideas9737]

Fabulous! Thanks for the thorough explanation of the process!!!

[@PotteryCrafters]

You are most welcome. Glad it helped 😊

[@GeoVespa]

Thank you so much for your videos! I’m just starting my pottery journey and have found your videos very educational and inspiring.

[@PotteryCrafters]

That is Great! Welcome to the wonderful world of crafting pottery. I try to make them as simple to understand as I can because I know how complicated making pottery can seem. 💖

[@brokenredflag]

I love your videos. Their easy to understand instructions! Very detaild to. Thank you. God bless

[@PotteryCrafters]

It is always nice to hear from. You are so welcome. 😍💖

[@sachalaprasad1110]

I have a question, what happens to the pottery if they are left open to cool down, without moving them into the reduction chamber?

[@PotteryCrafters]

That is a good question. The pottery will not change to the different colors that the reduction chambers create. The cover picture of this article shows the raku pot that was just left out to cool. Here is the link for you to see the picture. potterycrafters.com/is-raku-pottery-expensive-to-make/ The Horse hair Technique is done this way also. 😊

[@DouglasMosley759]

Thank you for this wonderful resource! I have a question; how should I schedule the incremental increase in temperature using a small, non-programmable jeweler’s kiln? I was thinking I should divide the target temperature by the # of hours for a medium fire, 7 hours. That’s an increase of 278 degrees per hour for 7 hours to reach a temperature of 1946 or cone 04. Am I anywhere near correct? Thank you!

[@PotteryCrafters]

You are most welcome. If it is bisque firing I would go even slower. if it is Raku firing I would go faster 😊

[@calumwalker1010]

thank you!

[@PotteryCrafters]

You're welcome!

[@rachellister2245]

Hi can you please tell me how long I have to let my glaze dry before I can fire it thank you and I like your videos

[@PotteryCrafters]

Thank you! Good question. I wait at least 4 hours to make sure the glaze is dry in the pores of the bisqued clay. Most of the time I wait overnight because of my firing schedule. Happy glazing 😊

[@zebibabr]

thank you so much for this video! I am researching pottery for a writing project and new to ceramics. For this writing project, I was wondering how it might work to do terracotta pottery, with wood firing, and raku? Is it only feasible with an electric or gas kiln? thank you, hard to answer this question with my research so far!

[@PotteryCrafters]

Yes you can. I think Andy Ward's videos will help. Here is the link for you. www.youtube.com/@AncientPottery

[@zebibabr]

@@PotteryCrafters thank you!!

[@Mollyedmonton]

How do I make my pieces food safe with vitrified cone 6 inside the mug

[@PotteryCrafters]

Good question. If the cone 6 clay is fired to cone 6 the clay should be vitrified. With Raku the clay can not be fired that high because Raku is a low fire technique. These 2 post may help potterycrafters.com/is-pottery-food-safe-without-glaze/ potterycrafters.com/is-raku-pottery-waterproof/ 😊

[@Mollyedmonton]

@@PotteryCrafters My question may be unclear. I wonder if I can raku fire a mug that has gone through cone 6 firing. Because I want the inside to be food safe. The process would be bisque fire, then cone 6, then raku fire with raku glaze outside for the beautiful effects. Have you tried it?

[@PotteryCrafters]

Yes I was wondering the same thing when learning about Raku firing and asked my Raku teacher. He told me you can't because the pottery is no longer porous and the raku glaze will not adhere properly to the vitrified clay. 😊

[@Mollyedmonton]

@@PotteryCrafters Thank-you for that info. I was wanting to try it out, but maybe not.

[@Godjbehdk]

wow the time and all the effort it must have taken to make this video - and you made it look effortless. Thank you! and this video came in at a perfect timing for me. I am a beginner who has a small home studio. I was playing with just a simple white stoneware clay for a while and needed some variation. That's when I came across raku clay at a local clay shop. I didn't necessarily had raku firing in mind when I bought it because I only have access to electric kiln. so I am wondering... (1) will mid-fire firings work with raku clay? (2) when doing it at mid-fire (not raku fire) will I be able to use it for dinnerware? (someone told me that raku clay might not get completely vitrified) I would really appreciate your insight... thank you.

[@PotteryCrafters]

Thank you, Flyn. That is great to hear. That is a very good question. If the Raku clay is a low-fire clay body, then it can not be mid-fired. However, you can low fire with low fire food safe glaze. If your Raku clay is mid or high-fire, you can use a mid-fire food-safe glaze. I use laguna soldate 60, for both regular mid-fire pottery and Raku. Just make sure you know how high you can fire the raku clay to. It should state on the label. Welcome to the wonderful world of crafting pottery. 😊

[@1959Berre]

Please explain the meaning of the word "raku". Never heard of it.

[@PotteryCrafters]

Yes, I will be happy to. Here is a link to my post that explains what Raku pottery is. potterycrafters.com/what-is-raku-pottery/ 😊

[@patconroy1874]

Lol what? look it up It’s Japanese for lazy boomer

[@PotteryCrafters]

I could only find this definition 😊 Raku - Definition & Meaning (Merriam-Webster) www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › raku The meaning of RAKU is Japanese hand-modeled pottery that is fired at a low temperature and rapidly cooled.

[@philmorton4590]

Why are you not cycling down inside the kiln? 900 is only earthenware, you need 1100 to 1250 degrees to get stoneware.

[@PotteryCrafters]

That is a good question. Because Raku is a low fire process and stoneware can take the fast firing and thermo shock better.

[@C-M-E]

I rather like using shredded junk mail for my combustible media, and occasionally get some interesting effects with the semi-glossy ads that I normally leave out (depending what base paper its on). Makes for an entertaining method to get rid of those persistent credit card offers, and I can usually find something more constructive to add the ashes to afterwards to boot!

[@PotteryCrafters]

That's a great idea. My teacher told us not to use glossy ads. Now I'm going to try it. Thanks for sharing. 😊

[@C-M-E]

@@PotteryCrafters I get ideas, good bad or indifferent, from just about everything. Thank you for the absolute piles of good ideas! The one thing I will supplement about the glossy ads worth mentioning is the poly coating tends to 'yellow' whatever it touches in reduction, but it's usually a really pleasant golden-hued color that leaves interesting patterns depending on the torn or shredded edge. I've heard from others who experimented with wrapping paper and the glossy topical surfaces that they've had sticky residue while also using a disposable saggar in raku, but mine have all charred on the most topical surface and cleaned up just fine (thus far; not to discount the chance for disasters and unintended effect of course!). To me, using a saggar inside a relatively controlled environment kind of defeats the purpose, but to each their own!

[@PotteryCrafters]

Thank you. I'm glad I can help. That is what pottery is all about, getting ideas, trying different things, and experimenting with different materials. I like yellow so I will try the glossy paper. 😊

[@gato_fofo]

😻🙀🙀🙀...❤🇧🇷

[@PotteryCrafters]

Thank you 😊

[@terranovarubacha5473]

Why isn't the glaze harmed by the tongs when moving pots between the raku kiln and the reduction buckets?

[@PotteryCrafters]

That is a very good question. Because of the temperature of pot at the time. That is why it is best to get the pot in the reduction chambers ASAP. 😊