Main Discussion Area > Primitive Skills

Pottery

<< < (3/3)

Zuma:
My best luck was accomplished by diggin a hole (3X pot).
I started a fire in the hole with fire wood bark.
I had already let the pot dry for over a week and it was leather hard
and not wet or cold when held to my cheek.
I let the pot rest near the fire (down wind).
I fed the fire more bark and slowly moved the coals around the pot.
Then added some coals into the pot that was filled with cedar bark.
I then gently slid the pot into the hole and covered it with more bark.
Before I went to bed I piled a big pile of bark on top of the pot and hole.
Walla, around noon I slowly moved the ashes away.
About an hour later I uncovered the pot slightly and moved the pot a little more into the air. The pot was still very warm an hour later but manageable.
Main ingredient----- don't RUSH
Zuma

dam_01:
Since there was already a pottery thread I hope you don't mind me crashing this one! I know it's old but anyhoo...

Is it strictly necessary to dry out your dug 'clay' only to slake it again to filter it?
Some stuff I've found is from a bank by a stream which looks like an old drainage ditch so it's fairly deep down already. However it's extremely solid and sticky (saturated) already.
Can you just add that to water and mash it down as it is?

Ranasp:
I've seen a few different methods of making clay, one of which was to use clear medicine jars so you could see the layers of sediment and just keep pouring off the water and mixing it until all the rocks went to the bottom and the organic stuff floated off.  There was a period of drying out the clay to workable consistency after that, but not to powder-dry. 

dam_01:
Thanks for that. I've had a look for that too now and have setup a trial jug in the kitchen now so we'll see how that works.
I guess it's all part of the fun. Lots of old ways, new ways, trial and error.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page