Use a Charcoal Grill as a Pit Fire Pottery Kiln

If you or a friend are trying out pottery as a hobby but are dismayed at the cost of an electric kiln you can utilize a standard charcoal grill as a basic pit fire kiln?the results won't be quite as professional and you'll have smoke marks on the finished product but it will sufficiently harden the clay.

Ceramic weblog Ceramic Arts Daily points out that you'll need to have pots with walls around ?-inch thick throughout to work properly on a pit fire kiln. Start the charcoal in your grill just as you would for a barbecue and when the coals start to smolder add the pots to the cooking grid to preheat. After 15 minutes of this, remove the pots and cooking grid and spread the coals out evenly, nestling each pot within the coals. Cover the grill, but keep on side slightly open and use a fan to help increase the temperature of the coals.

After another 30 minutes of high heat the clay should be fired; you'll be able to tell by tapping the outside (its ready when it rings) and the surface can't be scratched with your fingernail. The source link also gives alternative options for DIY kilns as well as other techniques to increase the temperatures in your grill.

Grilling Season: How to Pit Fire Pottery Using a Good Old-Fashioned Charcoal Grill | Ceramic Arts Daily via Homestead Survival

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/SD3oYBJIHW4/use-a-charcoal-grill-as-a-pit-fire-pottery-kiln

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