Kiln © 2026

Manifesto.

We believe the best glaze notebook is one you share.

That a pulled handle is worth more than a purchased one.

That failure in the kiln is just tomorrow's lesson.

That community is a kiln — it transforms what you put in.

For the hobbyist wedging alone in a garage studio at 11pm. For the MFA student whose Instagram is all wood-fire kiln shots. For the retired teacher who found the wheel at sixty and never looked back.

Scroll to beginChapter I — The Wheel
Chapter IBelonging

The Wheel

"You throw alone. But you don't have to learn alone."

Most ceramicists spend years in isolation — refining their pull, testing their glazes, and Googling "why did my bisque crack" at midnight. The knowledge is out there, scattered across forums and YouTube comments and the margins of dog-eared library books.

Kiln is where it collects. Where the garage studio thrower and the MFA program graduate sit at the same table — and both leave with something they didn't have before.

4,200+Active membershobbyists to professionals
18KForum threadssince launch in 2024
94%Return monthlynot just lurking
67Countriesclay knows no borders
Diane Okonkwo, Hobbyist — Detroit, MI — Kiln community member
Wheel Throwing2 years in
"I threw my first centered bowl at 58. Kiln showed me I wasn't starting late — I was just starting."

Diane Okonkwo

Hobbyist — Detroit, MI

Marcus Thayer, MFA Ceramics — Portland, OR — Kiln community member
Wood Firing12 years in
"The critique forum here is sharper than any crit I had in grad school. And nobody is trying to impress a professor."

Marcus Thayer

MFA Ceramics — Portland, OR

Priya Nair, Hobbyist — Austin, TX — Kiln community member
Glaze Chemistry5 years in
"Someone posted a glaze recipe with a pencil sketch of the results. I tried it. It works. That's the whole thing."

Priya Nair

Hobbyist — Austin, TX

Robert Svensson, Studio Potter — Minneapolis, MN — Kiln community member
Kiln Building20 years in
"I finally logged my anagama firing properly. Three months of preparation, 36 hours of stoking. Now it lives here."

Robert Svensson

Studio Potter — Minneapolis, MN

Chapter IILearning

The Kiln

"The kiln doesn't forgive — it teaches."

Ceramic kiln glowing with heat during a firing — showing the transformation process
Firing Log #0047Cone 10 Reduction

Anagama, 36-hour firing. 4 cords of oak, 2 of pine for the final push. Peak temp 1305°C. First time the back chamber reached even heat.

↑ Robert Svensson·Feb 18, 2026·38 responses
Sample Thread

"Why does my tenmoku crawl on the shoulder?"

Posted by Diane Okonkwo · 47 replies · 312 views

Tomás Reyes's profile photo
Tomás ReyesKiln Firing2 days ago

Your top temp looks right but I'd slow the climb between 1000–1100°C. That's where your iron saturate wants to move. Give it 30 min soak and you'll stop the crawling.

14 found this helpful
Yuki Tanaka's profile photo
Yuki TanakaTroubleshooting1 day ago

Same issue last winter. Turned out my thermocouple was reading 20° high. Worth checking before you adjust the schedule.

9 found this helpful
Fatima Al-Rashid's profile photo
Fatima Al-RashidProcess18 hours ago

I keep a paper firing log taped inside my kiln lid. Low-tech but it's never failed me in 8 years. The pattern of failures tells you everything.

22 found this helpful
Chapter IIIKnowledge

The Glaze

"Someone else's recipe, scrawled in pencil, that actually works."

Kiln's glaze database is built by members, annotated by members, and tested in real kilns. Every recipe carries the honest notes of the person who developed it — including what went wrong.

Over 2,400 tested recipes. Searchable by cone, atmosphere, clay body, and color. With a pencil-sketch notation system borrowed from studio notebooks.

2,400+Tested recipes
840With photo results
38Cone ranges covered
100%Member-contributed

Shino Variation No. 3

by Marcus Thayer

Cone 10 Reduction
Materials
Nepheline Syenite40%
Soda Ash20%
OM-4 Ball Clay20%
Silica 32510%
Spodumene10%

Add 5–8% iron oxide for carbon trapping. Fire slowly through 900°C.

Works beautifully on textured surfaces — the carbon trapping follows the texture

Creamy white with orange flash on iron-bearing clay
142

Tenmoku Base

by Yuki Tanaka

Cone 10 Reduction
Materials
Custer Feldspar35%
Silica30%
Whiting15%
Iron Oxide (red)12%
EPK Kaolin8%

Crawls on thick application. Keep to 1–2mm. Test on vertical piece first.

This is the one that started the whole thread — see The Kiln chapter

Deep iron black to rust-red break on edges
89

Celadon Soft Blue

by Priya Nair

Cone 6 Oxidation
Materials
Custer Feldspar27%
Whiting22%
Silica 32522%
EPK Kaolin18%
Iron Oxide (red)1.5%

Cone 6 electric. Very forgiving. Works on porcelain and white stoneware.

Electric kiln accessible — finally a good celadon for those of us without gas

Soft pale blue-green, pools darker in texture
203
Chapter IVCommunity

The Table

"You came in alone. Now you're part of the firing."

Member Marketplace

Buy and sell directly within the community
Faceted Yunomi Set (4) by Tomás Reyes — handmade ceramics for sale in the Kiln marketplace

Faceted Yunomi Set (4)

$185

Tomás Reyes · Oaxaca, MX

Cone 10 Wood
Shino Sake Bottle by Yuki Tanaka — handmade ceramics for sale in the Kiln marketplace
Sold

Shino Sake Bottle

$120

Yuki Tanaka · Portland, OR

Cone 10 Reduction
Celadon Bowl Series by Priya Nair — handmade ceramics for sale in the Kiln marketplace

Celadon Bowl Series

$95 each

Priya Nair · Austin, TX

Cone 6 Oxidation

Everything inside the studio door

Critique Forums

Post your work. Get honest, specific feedback from people who've thrown the same problems.

Firing Logs

Document every firing with temperature curves, atmosphere notes, and photo results.

Glaze Database

2,400+ tested recipes, searchable by cone, atmosphere, and color outcome.

Member Marketplace

Buy and sell work directly. No commissions. No algorithms. Just ceramicists.

Studio Visits

Virtual and in-person meetups. See how other members have set up their spaces.

Monthly Challenges

Themed throwing and glazing challenges with community voting and prizes.

"Membership is free. The obsession you already have."

No credit card. No algorithm. No ads. Just a well-lit table where the work gets better because other people are watching — and caring.

Free forever · No credit card · Leave anytime