DIY pottery kiln

Selfmade pottery kiln from an oil barrel, Simon Leach style ;-).

Quite a fail actually. Hoped I could bake till raku temperature without any insulation.

I tried a pit fire before and hoped that this barrel would held the heat more in one place. Didn't do that much better though...

The pots inside the barrel are quick-thrown from thick to thin, just to see the effect.
As u can see, surprise surprise, the thickest one cracked due to thermal shock.

My apologies for misspells and bad video quality.

ENJOY!

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• selfmade
• diy
• pottery
• kiln
• oven
• wood
• firing
• oil
• barrel
• potten
• bakken
• olie
• vat

[bshreve100]

I know nothing about clay...do you use low or high firing clay?

and If you would use propane is would that be high or low firing clay?

Thanks :)

[BeTheGr8]

@bshreve100 This was high firing (1250°C). And I think if u used propane it doesn't matter. Normally you can adjust the temperature so you can fire either low or high firing clay.. As far as I know :-), I'm no expert. Thx fr the comm

[BeTheGr8]

Thx for the tip! you got the same type 'kiln'? Just a barrel with no extra insulation.. And I think i'm gonna need a non-plastic fan if I'm gonna try that :-).

[jokaz82]

do you know what cone that gets up to?

[BeTheGr8]

@jokaz82 I have absolutely no idea! Don't think it even came close to 700°C or so..

[notawuss]

Did you use a DIY camera as well?

[BeTheGr8]

@notawuss lol.. No just my cellphone with 2MP camera, plus some video rotating olso messed it up. Thats why the barrel goes from slim to wide sometimes..

[andromeda1892]

i use a fan for my kiln. i use wood for fuel and i can melt aluminium easily. try moving the fan closer.

[BeTheGr8]

@afatdutch If you mean, how I build this barrel; unfortunately I have no footage of me making it, altough I think it's unnecessary because you can see all the important details on the vid.

If you mean posting a video of how I build a better one; perhaps in the future ;-).

And yes I think im forced to use propane but I dont have a burner.

I like the idea of using wood though because I like to be shop-independent, down to earth.

Thanks for the comment

[afatdutch]

you should post a detailed video of you building it right. I believe propane is the best idea for fuel too.