Natural Pottery

[Runs With Beer]

Iv been looking for some natural clay for some time to try making hand made pottery. Well I found some the other day, So Im going to give it a try. I made a small oil lamp and fired it today and it held togeather fine, so Im going to try something a little bigger. Will take some pics of the project and see what happens. Does any one here do this kind of thing, I think it is a good skill to have under your belt.

[pgvoutdoors]

I've done a bit of clay work. I got some of the best natural clay from down on the North Carolina/South Carolina boarder when I was doing some backpacking. The clay was so pure and a beautiful color of red.

[crashdive123]

Looking forward to the pics.

[pgvoutdoors]

Check this site for some basic info. http://www.visitchapala.com/culture/...experiment.htm

[Runs With Beer]

I've done a bit of clay work. I got some of the best natural clay from down on the North Carolina/South Carolina boarder when I was doing some backpacking. The clay was so pure and a beautiful color of red.

The clay here is gray, and when fired is a mixture of blacks and grays, the sane as the peaces of pottery I find in the springs, and this stuff is super sticky, almost like peanut butter. I filled up a 30 gal. trash can with this clay so I have enough to last a while. I cant wait to see how this turns out.

[pgvoutdoors]

The clay up here in northeast Ohio is more a gray color. We have a lot of soft gray shale, I would guess that's why the clay is gray.

[pgvoutdoors]

If the clay is really soft and sticky it may need to be worked a bit to remove some of the water. Otherwise it will crack when fired. If your first test went well, your more than likely on the right track.

[rebel]

RWB,

Have you thought about doing a wood firing?

I'm saving my hard wood saw scrap to do a firing. It'll be dark but, that's cool.

[Runs With Beer]

RWB,

Have you thought about doing a wood firing?

I'm saving my hard wood saw scrap to do a firing. It'll be dark but, that's cool.

Yes, Im doing this as natural as posable, I like the natural colors that the wood fireing gives the clay.

[tennecedar]

Anybody got any ideas/plans for a home made kiln?

[snakeman]

http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/surv.../aafiring.html
I haven't tried that way but it looks good. For the one I made, I just put it next to the fire and slowly moved it inward and rotated it a little and it seemed to work fine.

[tennecedar]

Thanks. I think I'll try the pit firing method. Maybe by next year I'll build a real kiln like Rebel linked to. The black color reminds me of pieces of pottery i've found digging around under bluffs.

[Runs With Beer]

OK, I finely got some pics, This harder than I thought, but is very doable. The large one did not make it through the firing, but had pretty good luck with smaller containers and beads. has any one else tried to do this?

[crashdive123]

Really nice work RWB. As a thought, since you do a lot of tile work, have you thought about making some tiles so that you could add a unique, personal touch to some of your work?

[Runs With Beer]

Really nice work RWB. As a thought, since you do a lot of tile work, have you thought about making some tiles so that you could add a unique, personal touch to some of your work?

NO I havent, And thats not a half bad idea. And thank you.

[erunkiswldrnssurvival]

OK, I finely got some pics, This harder than I thought, but is very doable. The large one did not make it through the firing, but had pretty good luck with smaller containers and beads. has any one else tried to do this?

that is exactly the sort of things that i need to complete some of my stone sets. I need the bowl sets that are shaped like vidalia onions with the tops cut off do you make that design?

[Runs With Beer]

that is exactly the sort of things that i need to complete some of my stone sets. I need the bowl sets that are shaped like vidalia onions with the tops cut off do you make that design?

If you show me a pic I think I could come up with something, or you come by one day and we can try it, or I can give you some clay

[erunkiswldrnssurvival]

alwright, lets do that in a couple weeks. i have an exact copy of the bowls that i need so were good there. i need to jump on that.

[LowKey]

You've got some nice work going there.
We used to do Raku firings in school out in the parking lot. The kiln body was placed on top of a fire brick base with a gas torch heating it. The body was some kind of fire brick itself with an expanded steal skin to keep it from exploding. We'd fire the pieces, lift the kiln, pull out the pieces with long tongs and throw them into trash cans full of wood shavings, then finish cool them in water. Probably lucky we weren't kill by the shrapnel when a piece went blooey but it was usually in the trash can when that happened. Be real careful about trapped air when working your clay pieces.

We had some nice glazes that went metallic in the smoke cure. Wish I could find the notebook with the notes. Moving sucks.

Here is the type of kiln we used
http://www.milehiceramics.com/raku_kiln.htm

[Rick]

That's cool work, RWB. Nice job.