Pottery is one of the oldest handcrafts around. Clay figurines have been found dating back to 29,000 to 25,000 BC. The first pottery was fired in open bonfires, but as technology progressed, early potters soon learned to control the fires for more even firing through the use of wood-fired or charcoal-fired pottery kilns. These days, those early firing techniques are back in vogue again, thanks to the unique character that the smoke, soot and ash of a wood fire gives to the pottery. Additionally, anyone can build a wood-fired pottery kiln within a few hours using inexpensive materials.
Instructions
1. Level the ground on which you will construct your wood-fired kiln. To prevent a fire hazard, dig out any nearby vegetation that could catch fire.
2. Dry stack bricks three-layers deep in a long, horseshoe shape. Set your topmost layer slightly off center to the others to make a shallow lip or shelf.
3. Create a grate by dry stacking bricks crosswise across the shelf layer of your horseshoe. You will burn your wood over the top of this grate. As the wood burns, the ashes will fall through the grate into the ash pit. Air will also circulate through the ash pit below the fire and allow the fire to burn hotter.
4. Stack another 3 to 4 layers of bricks over the top of the inset brick shelf. This will be the firebox.
5. Stack bricks crossways, starting with the open end, in a layer over the top of the firebox to form a roof. Make sure the bricks touch each other, as this is a roof and not a grate. Leave an open space at the other end for the fire to vent upward.
6. Continue laying bricks in the horseshoe shape another 4 to 5 bricks deep. Your pottery will go in this topmost space. If you have larger pieces of pottery, you will need to add more layers of brick to make room for them.
7. Create a chimney by laying an inner wall of bricks inside of the back of the kiln area after you have layered in 2 to 3 layers of brick for the pottery firing area. Hot air will vent through the opening at the bottom of the chimney.
8. Continue stacking bricks around your chimney until it is 2 to 3 feet higher than the rest of the kiln.
9. Start a fire in the fire box using dry wood. It should take 30 minutes for the kiln to heat. If you used either wet wood or bricks, it will take longer. You can increase the temperature of the fire by adding an accelerant to the wood or by reversing a shop vac so it blows air out and vents the air into the kiln through the ash pit.
10. Place your pottery into the kiln and close off the top by dry stacking over it with a layer of bricks. It should take around 2 hours to fire the pottery. Wait for the kiln to completely cool before removing pottery.
