Firing bricks
Unloading kiln
White wood ash left over from firing kiln (must be from a high temperature, well oxygenated fire)
Sifting charcoal out of ash
Adding water to white wood ash
Mixing water and ash (nothing else added)
Forming the rim of the pot
Adding new layers
Build up into a dome, wait for layers to stiffen slightly before adding new layers
Adding last layer
Turn over the next day
Use a snail shell to polish the pot (this is called burnishing)
The finished pot made of 100% wood ash
Leave pot in the sun for 3 to 7 days to dry (I left it for 7 to make sure it sets properly)
The pot has now set due to the lime in the wood ash, time to test it
The pot is put in water to prove it won't dissolve
24 hours later the pot is taken out still intact
The pot is left for another 24 hours with water in it
After a day about half of the water seeped out but it still had some in it
Collecting bark to make more ash
Burning the bark in the kiln
Getting the new ash
This time mixing sand into the ash
Water
The mix warms up when water is added indicating the chemical reaction that causes the ash to start set
Forming a brick
Here's one I made earlier
It also passes the water test
The next day
Brick and pot
Brick, pot, hammer and storage pellets of ash