Harvesting/Refining Clay & Building An Earthen Oven

Wife and I are building a homestead. we would like to build an earthen oven, a kiln and a forge.

we want to harvest and refine the clay from our land. the house we built has left us with LOTS of excavated dirt.

our area seems to have a high clay content.

videos we have watched, show making "dirt soup" then let settle a bit, then pour off liquid clay, leaving heavy impurities behind.

any further reccomendations from *first hand* experience?

any first hand reccomendations on building ovens, kilns or forges?

forge will be run on coal, if that helps.

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  1. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >clay
    >earthen oven
    okay
    >a kiln
    ookayy
    >a forge
    not okay
    Require three different materials.
    You're going to need to find and make some fire clay.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Yes, but there's simply too much to say. Highly recommend a book "Pioneer Pottery" by Michael Cardew. As far as I know it is the most complete text on ceramic technology that takes you from wilderness to a functional pottery. It is replete with basic geological surveying, chemistry, machine-building, kilns, clays, and glazes. This book stops at around 1950-1960 level technology, and does not go into specific ceramic topics where most working potters are at today. There are other books for that. For instance: that primitive technology video guy has essentially worked through the first couple chapters of this book and that's where we were about 5,000 years ago. You see, free clay sounds like a blessing, and it may be in some cases; however, it is not always as points out kilns and forges capable of sustaining higher temperatures to work you (most likely) lower temperature clays and metals are made of refractory materials that took thousands of years to build upon. It sounds romantic to start with nothing, but we do not live long enough to frick around with that. You're better off using modern IFBs, refractory castables, and ceramic fiber blankets to build your kilns and forges because you cannot even test your clay to see what it is capable of without a kiln. These things are not expensive anymore.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        is that how he makes the roof tiles

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Book sounds great. Thanks for the recommendation

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      You're wrong. Look up what a pit forge is.

      Yes, but there's simply too much to say. Highly recommend a book "Pioneer Pottery" by Michael Cardew. As far as I know it is the most complete text on ceramic technology that takes you from wilderness to a functional pottery. It is replete with basic geological surveying, chemistry, machine-building, kilns, clays, and glazes. This book stops at around 1950-1960 level technology, and does not go into specific ceramic topics where most working potters are at today. There are other books for that. For instance: that primitive technology video guy has essentially worked through the first couple chapters of this book and that's where we were about 5,000 years ago. You see, free clay sounds like a blessing, and it may be in some cases; however, it is not always as points out kilns and forges capable of sustaining higher temperatures to work you (most likely) lower temperature clays and metals are made of refractory materials that took thousands of years to build upon. It sounds romantic to start with nothing, but we do not live long enough to frick around with that. You're better off using modern IFBs, refractory castables, and ceramic fiber blankets to build your kilns and forges because you cannot even test your clay to see what it is capable of without a kiln. These things are not expensive anymore.

      Stop over-thinking shit. Too many words, reads like a boomer post.

      >refining clay
      Bruh what the frick

      Clay in the ground has rocks and sand in it. Gotta get that out.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        a pit forge is what I'm after. I'm not trying to be a bladesmith, or make and sell crafty hipster items. I just want a basic forge to shape some metal for the occasional homestead tool.

        just a large home made bellow attached to a tube, feeding a clay forge bowl, that holds coal.

        kiln, I'm not so sure on. again, we just want to be a able to fire Terra cotta pots, ollas, and perhaps eventually a basic storage vessel.

        my primary concern is the oven.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >pit forge
        Special/trivial case not related to OP question.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      is right about not being able to make anything other than a bread oven out of native clay. its just not the right material for anything hotter.

      I just got done processing some river clay for pottery use, heres what I did:

      >Fill 5 gallon bucket half full with dirty clay slop, top off with clean water
      >Use a drill mixer to make a thin, homogenous slurry. Consistency should be like milk
      >Pour through something that is ~60 mesh. I use disposable paint strainer bags
      >Let settle, decant off clear water
      >Scoop clean clay on to plaster slab to dry, or put in a pillowcase to drain off remaining water
      >Continue to let dry untl the right consistency for your project

      I'd also recomend test firing a small sample to see if you even have clay before you processs a bunch. Just make a small 1" cube, let it dry completely, and hit it with a weed torch until red hot. Let it cool and drop it in some water. If it re-dissolves, you dont have clay.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >fire clay
      https://www.traditionaloven.com/articles/101/what-is-fire-clay-and-where-to-get-it

  2. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >refining clay
    Bruh what the frick

  3. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Glad to see you've gotten out of the mal adaptive day dream cycle

  4. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Yeah, I'm done helping people. Figure it out by yourselves. Have a good one, OP.

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Yes.
    >that spacing
    Go back.

  6. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    TFW I live on the shore of a swampy lake and could easily dig up highest quality clay in Finland by the ton from its shores.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >Finland

      Thats too bad, you have my condolences.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Heyyy!!! Its not all bad! Very few Black folk around...for now.

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