Ceramic Firing In A Campfire

A pit fire is the oldest known method of firing your pottery dating back to 29 000 bc.

Ceramic firing in a campfire.

Pit fire clay a traditional method of firing pots in a pit. Although individual clays vary in their maturation temperature most clays will become earthenware ceramics at around 700 celsius or about 1300 fahrenheit. Understand why clay needs firing. Initially you need to set a campfire that has glowing red heat.

Things to know all of the above methods require low firing clay school pottery clay is fine. As a ceramic major in school i was looking for ways to fire pieces at home and finally decided to try doing a fire pit firing the piece. Smoke firing in a dustbin this is the method we tried. This process is done typically in a hole in the ground or a pit pots are placed in the pit and burned.

When you first make a model it is called greenware. It is a sign that the fire is super hot up to. It works as a kiln using a hole in the ground as insulation and fuel to reach temperatures around 2000 degrees farenheit. A first firing of this creates bisque or biscuit ware.

When there is no equipment to measure such burning temperature here is the simple trick to know. Pit firing is an atmospheric process all of the colors and patterns are derived from the process and what is consume in the fire. Pit firing is the original method for baking clay. This is the first firing i have ever tried to do at home.