Digging soil with a hoe made from a tree with a 90 degree buttress root
Making mud
Palm leaves for fiber to stop mud cracking as it dries
Forming the firebox
25 cm wide
About 50 cm long
Banks are added to support grate bars
Grate bars made of clay (25 cm long)
Dry it out
Install grate bars
Start the floor of the ware chamber leaving a 6.25 cm gap from the back for the entry flue
Use wood to support the clay floor
Plaster over the wood to form the floor
Leave a gap for the entry flue
Firebox complete
Start the ware chamber
Leave a 12.5 x 12.5 cm square hole for the exit flue
Continue the walls upwards
Bridge over the exit flue
Form arched roof profile 12.5 cm high and 25 cm long
Form the roof
Ware chamber completed
Cut a door into the side
Make a door from clay to close the kiln during use, the hole in the door acts as a peep hole and a hold for a stick to lift it out
Now build a chimney to increase the draft
Chimney completed (about 1.5 m total height)
Flame forms an arch as it moves through the ware chamber
Flames come in through the entry flue
Up into the ware chamber
And then back down through the exit flue (hence the name down draft)
I enlarged the exit flue so it now behaves more like a cross draft hoping it will draw a stronger draft
Digging clay for pots
Preparing to levigate clay to remove impurities
Add water
Release clay water slip into lower pond
Wood shavings stop twigs/leaves flowing into the pond
The upper pond has gritty, impure clay
The lower pond has smooth, pure clay
Scooping out the clay
Crushing pot shreds for grog
Mixing clay with grog (stops clay from cracking when fired)
Forming a simple pot over an previously fired pot
Stacking the kiln with pots
Sealing the kiln with door
Fire by friction
Starting the fire under the grate
Adding wood on top of the grate
The wood catches fire and the kiln starts to draw a draft
The pots can be viewed through the peep hole in the door
In about an hour the pots are this hot
The door is opened later when it is cool
The pots were fired well but the clay was poor quality. Next time clay from the river should be used