How to Build a Smoke Fired Kiln

Build a smoke fired kiln from an old cast iron cook stove.

Smoke fired pottery is made by packing burnished greenware pottery in sawdust inside a kiln area. The sawdust is packed around the outside and the inside of each pot. The heat from the kiln causes the sawdust to smolder and turn to smoke. The smoke leaves a random design pattern on the surface of the pottery. A simple, homemade smoke fired kiln is made out of an old cast iron cook stove, brick and sheet metal.

Things You'll Need

• Cast iron cook stove
• Tape measure
• Paper
• Pencil
• 1/8-inch sheet metal
• Sawzall
• Refractory caulking
• 50 to 100 bricks
• Sawdust
• Pottery

Instructions

1. Measure the top of the cast iron stove. Do not include the chimney opening in the dimensions. Leave this area open. Write down the dimensions. Example: The top measures 18 inches wide and 24 inches long.

2. Measure, mark and cut two pieces of 1/8-inch steel to the measured dimensions. Cut the 1/8-inch steel with a Sawzall.

3. Seal all holes on the stove with refractory caulking, to make the chamber air tight.

4. Find a safe open location to place the cast iron cook stove, and place the stove in that location. Put one piece of 1/8-inch metal directly on top of the wood stove. Place a brick over the chimney opening.

5. Put a layer of bricks over the top of the 1/8-inch steel. Build a double wall around the outer edge of the kiln, eight bricks high.

6. Place one inch of sawdust on the bottom of the chamber. Sit the burnished clay pots on the sawdust. Fill the chamber and the clay pots with sawdust.

7. Place the second cut 1/8-inch sheet of metal over the top of the brick wall. Put a layer of bricks over the top of the sheet metal.

8. Begin the firing process slowly. Heat up the cook stove with a small to medium fire for the first two hours. Gradually increase the intensity of the fire until the chamber with the pottery is glowing red. The red glow will show through the bricks and the seal between the sheet metal and the bricks. Keep the chamber red hot for six to eight hours. Allow the fire to die down, naturally.

9. Remove the items from the chamber, carefully.

References

• Build Your Own Kiln

Resources

• Lockett Pots: Stoneware, Raku and Smoke Fired Pottery