If You Need Information On Clay Oven Then This is The Best Untapped Resource On The Web
 |
 105 uF High Voltage Microwave Oven Capacitor 2100V Includes Diode  US $9.99
|
 Large Wine Chiller Neher Clay in Motion Pottery Desert Sand Glaze Handcrafted US $16.50
|
Is it safe to fire natural clay in the oven?
I don't have a kiln or access to a kiln. Is it safe to use natural clay in a standard Kitchen Oven, Toaster Oven, or over an open fire? If not, then how did people fire things back in ancient times before modern kilns were invented?
Is it safe to bake natural clay in an oven? Yes. Will it fire the piece? No.
The lowest firing ceramics need temperatures of 1800-1850°F. This is cone 06. Depending on what's in your clay, you may need to fire it much hotter. Is there anyone else who uses this sam clay source you can talk to about this?
The hottest your home oven is going to get is about 900°F. Baking clay at these temperatures will dry it out and burn out all the stuff that makes clay pliant, without forming the bonds that make it into a ceramic. You'll end up with something that has the strength of cigarette ash. A toaster oven won't even much above 500°F.
An open fire won't get hot enough either. To really fire it, you'll need to build something that will hold the heat in. You could bury this in hot coals, or build a basic earthen kiln out of your clay source.
A quick google on "kiln archeology" turned up this link.