OK, I have not finished the video yet, but I want to say that Raku pottery is not “fully functional.” It should not be used for things like food or drink. Functional for a candle maybe, or functional as a nice piece to look at, but Raku is not intended to be used with food.
Grog is bisqued clay broken into fragments and added to your clay body. Anytime I have participated in a Raku firing, we have warmed the pieces up first to @ 3 or 400 degrees before being placed into the raku kiln. There are raku glazes for sale, and we did use commercial ones (as opposed to making them ourselves.) After firing to temp, the objects were taken from the kiln and immediately placed into a metal bucket that was filled with either newsprint or other flammable substances (wood chips, etc) and a lid was put on to reduce the oxygen. Once the object had cooled somewhat, it was placed into a water bath to continue cooling. I have to admit that I lost a lot of objects to the clay gods, but the ones that survived are so worth it!!
That's so cool, I'm really enjoying exploring raku! I might have go try the warming them before trick, might help especially in the microwave. I feel like it heats up too fast, I can control the heat more in my barrel kiln thats in a different video though ;)
@@BrevaCreative it can also be sand, diatomaceous earth, or anything non-plastic that can withstand those temps :D. I work with homemade clay, I add sand and diatomaceous earth to my clay. Also, don't feel limited to small pots! You can fire big ones in real fires! Look at the channel Andy Wards ancient pottery...
For Raku, I just drilled a hole in the bottom of an old electric kiln like you bought, stuck in a weed burner and fire great with a tank of LPG. I can even get stone ware up to cone 10.
Let your raw raku air dry for a day or so and then continue drying in a conventional oven at around 200 degrees for an hour or two. I always ping the piece for 30 seconds, then 2 minutes and wait a minute or so in between before doing the bisque. Same with glazing, warm it up bit by bit. Raku WILL explode if it is not dry enough before you put it in the MW kiln. I'm surprised it didn't crack when you took it out while it was so hot. If you use glaze, you will sometimes get cracks if you don't let it cool down before you open the kiln.
Gotcha, yeah it's a bit iffy, but with these little pieces I don't get too attached so it's only a little heartbreaking to lose them, will definitely try the oven trick though! Thanks for the tip.
Raku pronounced like rack, put that on the rack! Oo. Rack oo. The pottery itself won’t stick, it’s the glaze you have to worry about sticking. Only put the glaze on the top and not the bottom. Yes the clay has to be very very absolutely dry!!
I like very much (a lot!) your pottery pieces, in spanish the kind of clay you're using it's called ¨chamote¨ and is very very textured and yes, it's calcinated clay pulverized what they add (also called ¨chamote¨) to obtain the consistency and texture, also to give it more endurance whithout a very high coocking temperature in a traditional (like... prehistoric?) way Again, beautiful pottery and raku!
I’ve always heard Raku still has to be bisque fired. There’s chemically boned water modules that have to hit the quartz inversion point to evaporate. One British potter throws a tiny pot; dries for a couple of hours; bisque fires in the microwave kiln, then does a glaze firing (or feathers/fur). He’s very skilled.
Ok, this was a great idea and video. It reminded me of a cauldron that we made to melt Aluminum and and mold into various shapes. We used an old fire extinguisher!! The result of this experiment was beautiful!!
We're going to get that kiln working at some point so we don't want to drill a hole into it, but we will be making a large raku kiln sometime this summer!
you have just got a new super fan hahaa i loved this video so much, and i am very jealous! I so want to do pottery, but my hands are too painful and i cant take the cold - so watching vicariously is okay for me!
man the kiln for microwaves are so tiny. I've looked for pottery places or kiln near me rentals but the closest one is hours and hours away. I had no idea pottery was so impossible for the average person, that's such a bummer. I appreciate you sharing info about it though!
Yeah it can get expensive! We refurbished a wheel we found on fb marketplace for $20 (that was a steal), and we ended up building our own raku kiln out of a barrel, propane torch, and $100 of insulation. Granted, with raku you can't make water-tight objects, but you can do some really beautiful decorative pottery like the horsehair pottery. Thanks for watching!
@@BrevaCreative I found some used Kilns a few hours away for only 200, but idk how big they are and our electricity here kinda sucks. I wish there was ones big enough for plates/cups instead of just jewelry, but not so huge and highly electrical that it's like 1k+ xDD Ofc that's true, I just like mugs and cups that can be food safe! thank you for sharing! I love your work! Looks so cool x)
Absolutely! We didn't here for simplicity, but definitely possible. However, I would not use that microwave for any food related purposes after using it for glaze.
Unfortunately no, the clay needs to be able to withstand a significant temperature swing without breaking which most clays can't handle. Clays with grog or sand work best if you can't find a raku specific clay. I have seen people just add grog to their favorite clay body but I haven't done it myself, would probably take some trial and error to figure out how much to add to maintain the clay's integrity.
These are made with a raku clay that bisque fires around cone 05 - I would not use a standard clay body in the microwave because of the temperature swings it would likely shatter. These are unglazed but we are doing a glaze video very soon so come back if you want to see that. If you do glaze in a microwave I would again use raku glazes and make sure it's not a microwave you would use for food after! 😁
Hi! The microwave kiln is incredibly lightweight! It can fit in your hand. The one we used is roughly 6" in diameter, the one we have linked below in the description is an 8" one. We recommend the 8" because it'll give you more flexibility. Thanks for watching!
Not gonna lie, saw the human hair come out and was like ewww, but then again, why not try different textures from around the house? Thanks for humbling me, your pots turned out beautiful ❤
We had a nasty preacher demand my sisters Kiln, when he spoke at her funeral. My mom gave in and handed it over. Another reason I hate religion. Wish I could have kept it and made projects.
OK, I have not finished the video yet, but I want to say that Raku pottery is not “fully functional.” It should not be used for things like food or drink. Functional for a candle maybe, or functional as a nice piece to look at, but Raku is not intended to be used with food.
What did people used thousands of years ago for eating, cookibg and storing oils?
Grog is bisqued clay broken into fragments and added to your clay body. Anytime I have participated in a Raku firing, we have warmed the pieces up first to @ 3 or 400 degrees before being placed into the raku kiln. There are raku glazes for sale, and we did use commercial ones (as opposed to making them ourselves.) After firing to temp, the objects were taken from the kiln and immediately placed into a metal bucket that was filled with either newsprint or other flammable substances (wood chips, etc) and a lid was put on to reduce the oxygen. Once the object had cooled somewhat, it was placed into a water bath to continue cooling. I have to admit that I lost a lot of objects to the clay gods, but the ones that survived are so worth it!!
That's so cool, I'm really enjoying exploring raku! I might have go try the warming them before trick, might help especially in the microwave. I feel like it heats up too fast, I can control the heat more in my barrel kiln thats in a different video though ;)
@@BrevaCreative it can also be sand, diatomaceous earth, or anything non-plastic that can withstand those temps :D. I work with homemade clay, I add sand and diatomaceous earth to my clay. Also, don't feel limited to small pots! You can fire big ones in real fires! Look at the channel Andy Wards ancient pottery...
For Raku, I just drilled a hole in the bottom of an old electric kiln like you bought, stuck in a weed burner and fire great with a tank of LPG. I can even get stone ware up to cone 10.
Cool 😎 sounds awesome 🔥
Let your raw raku air dry for a day or so and then continue drying in a conventional oven at around 200 degrees for an hour or two.
I always ping the piece for 30 seconds, then 2 minutes and wait a minute or so in between before doing the bisque. Same with glazing, warm it up bit by bit.
Raku WILL explode if it is not dry enough before you put it in the MW kiln.
I'm surprised it didn't crack when you took it out while it was so hot. If you use glaze, you will sometimes get cracks if you don't let it cool down before you open the kiln.
Gotcha, yeah it's a bit iffy, but with these little pieces I don't get too attached so it's only a little heartbreaking to lose them, will definitely try the oven trick though! Thanks for the tip.
Raku pronounced like rack, put that on the rack! Oo. Rack oo. The pottery itself won’t stick, it’s the glaze you have to worry about sticking. Only put the glaze on the top and not the bottom. Yes the clay has to be very very absolutely dry!!
Wax applied to bottom before glazing will keep glaze from contacting surfaces, thus no sticking.
Glad you said this! My British ears were hurting every time I heard 'ray-koo' - I'd assumed it was just American pronunciation...
I never saw such a small kiln. Very interesting.
It's so cute! 😍
OBSESSED. I love how in depth this is! Thank you for sharing 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Thank you! 😊
I like very much (a lot!) your pottery pieces, in spanish the kind of clay you're using it's called ¨chamote¨ and is very very textured and yes, it's calcinated clay pulverized what they add (also called ¨chamote¨) to obtain the consistency and texture, also to give it more endurance whithout a very high coocking temperature in a traditional (like... prehistoric?) way
Again, beautiful pottery and raku!
Wow awesome info! Thanks! 😁
i know its old, but a little clay slip might be nice on it, really really watered down clay to work as a glaze
Thermo shock or sudden change of temp
Moisture content and too much heat are the reasons behind pottery breakage during firing process
I’ve always heard Raku still has to be bisque fired. There’s chemically boned water modules that have to hit the quartz inversion point to evaporate. One British potter throws a tiny pot; dries for a couple of hours; bisque fires in the microwave kiln, then does a glaze firing (or feathers/fur). He’s very skilled.
Ok, this was a great idea and video. It reminded me of a cauldron that we made to melt Aluminum and and mold into various shapes. We used an old fire extinguisher!! The result of this experiment was beautiful!!
Love it! ❤️
You are a real problem solver!! Such a cool idea. Yeas, make a trash can raku firing thingy!
Haha thank you! 💚
I imagine this would be brilliant if I could hear it!! Ah sound at 2:14
If you cut a hole in the lowest part of your old kiln, you can stick a gas burner in it and will have a big raku kiln.
We're going to get that kiln working at some point so we don't want to drill a hole into it, but we will be making a large raku kiln sometime this summer!
you have just got a new super fan hahaa i loved this video so much, and i am very jealous! I so want to do pottery, but my hands are too painful and i cant take the cold - so watching vicariously is okay for me!
Yay!! Welcome, good to have you, thanks for watching! 💚💚💚
man the kiln for microwaves are so tiny. I've looked for pottery places or kiln near me rentals but the closest one is hours and hours away. I had no idea pottery was so impossible for the average person, that's such a bummer. I appreciate you sharing info about it though!
Yeah it can get expensive! We refurbished a wheel we found on fb marketplace for $20 (that was a steal), and we ended up building our own raku kiln out of a barrel, propane torch, and $100 of insulation. Granted, with raku you can't make water-tight objects, but you can do some really beautiful decorative pottery like the horsehair pottery. Thanks for watching!
@@BrevaCreative I found some used Kilns a few hours away for only 200, but idk how big they are and our electricity here kinda sucks.
I wish there was ones big enough for plates/cups instead of just jewelry, but not so huge and highly electrical that it's like 1k+ xDD
Ofc that's true, I just like mugs and cups that can be food safe!
thank you for sharing! I love your work! Looks so cool x)
Who knew you could make microwave popcorn and the bowl for your popcorn at the same time?
Haha!!!
So you don’t have an electric stove or dryer? Because they are both 220
Gas stove & gas dryer with a 110 🙂
Can you glaze in this type of setup?
Absolutely! We didn't here for simplicity, but definitely possible. However, I would not use that microwave for any food related purposes after using it for glaze.
Will any clay work?
Unfortunately no, the clay needs to be able to withstand a significant temperature swing without breaking which most clays can't handle. Clays with grog or sand work best if you can't find a raku specific clay. I have seen people just add grog to their favorite clay body but I haven't done it myself, would probably take some trial and error to figure out how much to add to maintain the clay's integrity.
Whoa, this is really cool! I want such kiln too!
Link to it below! 😁
what a cool idea. keep experimenting!
Thank you!!! 😀
Yeah way to go I love it
I like simplicity and cheap
To make my mini pots cheers
STE LIVERPOOL ENGLAND
When you go buy that kiln what do you ask for?
There's a link below in the description for the kiln we bought. You can also find others by looking up 'Microwave Kiln' :)
@@BrevaCreative , thank you very much. I did Google search and found to call it microwave kiln. Thanks again
The power.. How many watt your microwave are..? And what about with voltage..?
It's pretty standard 1000w idk about voltage but it's just a standard 110 plug, nothing crazy just 70$ from target
Hello after decoration, you put it into water ? ?
Thanks
I did not put them in water. There are types of raku glaze that do cool stuff in water but these are unglazed so no water.
@@BrevaCreative thanks a lot :)
very cool! thank you :)
Are you using low fire or mid fire clay and glazes?
These are made with a raku clay that bisque fires around cone 05 - I would not use a standard clay body in the microwave because of the temperature swings it would likely shatter. These are unglazed but we are doing a glaze video very soon so come back if you want to see that. If you do glaze in a microwave I would again use raku glazes and make sure it's not a microwave you would use for food after! 😁
Meant to mention, there is a bigger size kiln too.
What size microwave kiln are you using , and is it heavy? Thanks
Hi! The microwave kiln is incredibly lightweight! It can fit in your hand. The one we used is roughly 6" in diameter, the one we have linked below in the description is an 8" one. We recommend the 8" because it'll give you more flexibility. Thanks for watching!
Not gonna lie, saw the human hair come out and was like ewww, but then again, why not try different textures from around the house? Thanks for humbling me, your pots turned out beautiful ❤
Haha SAME!!! It was kinda nasty, the smell was horrible, but dang it turned out pretty cool 🤷♀️
Omg this is so cool!
Haha YES!!! 😄
you are great
if you try applying glaze on it and see the result
Thank you! We just released a glazing video, check it out! 😀
A new subscriber here and since I don't know what backyard trashcan Raku is of course I want to see it :-)
🤣
Cool video! Love your experiments with different textures!
Thanks!!!
i LOVE your earrings!!!!😻😻😻
Made by our friend 'Trancendental.Creative', find her on IG!
👌👍
Why is there a hard pan left?!?!
What?
@@BrevaCreative In the intro, the audio is left channel only. Very hard to listen too. Cool content though, going to look into my own microwave kiln.
Grog is temper, no?
Yeah same thing from what I understand, but grog is fun to say 😄
Wonderful results, but please wear protection next time, woman! You could have burned yourself doung this with bare hands and a kitchen appliance!
I wish people would pronounce Raku properly :/
If that's the case, you'll enjoy our videos after this one because we corrected the pronunciation in those.
We had a nasty preacher demand my sisters Kiln, when he spoke at her funeral. My mom gave in and handed it over. Another reason I hate religion. Wish I could have kept it and made projects.
😢