Ceramic Link

A beginner's guide to pottery

From a lump of clay to a pot you can use every day

Plain guides to the whole process: picking a clay, shaping it by hand or on the wheel, drying it slowly, firing it twice and looking after the finished piece.

A freshly thrown terracotta clay bowl on a pottery wheel in a sunlit studio, with glazed pots on a shelf behind

Where to start

Pottery has a lot of new words and a few rules that only make sense once you know what heat does to clay. The guides below follow a pot from start to finish, so you can read them in order or jump to the step you are stuck on.

Pick a clay body

Earthenware, stoneware and porcelain, what grog does, and how to read the firing range on a bag of clay.

Build by hand

Pinch pots, coils and slabs, plus scoring and slipping so joins hold together through drying and firing.

Learn the wheel

Wedging, centering, opening, pulling walls and trimming, with the problems most beginners meet in the first month.

Dry it slowly

Leather hard, bone dry and why uneven drying is behind so many cracks.

Understand firing

Bisque and glaze firings, what pyrometric cones measure, and what happens inside the kiln at each stage.

Glaze with care

What glaze is made of, how to apply it, keeping it off the kiln shelf, and what food safe means.

The firing ranges at a glance

Most of the confusing advice in pottery comes back to temperature. A clay or glaze is made for a certain range, and every stage of a firing has its own risks. This chart puts them on one scale.

Firing ranges on one scaleApproximate temperatures. Cones measure heat over time, so the exact figure depends on how fast the kiln climbs.
  1. Last water leavesAbout 70 to 212°F (20 to 100°C)

    Damp clay turns to steam. Heat slowly here, or thick pieces can crack or burst.

  2. Burnout and bound waterAbout 570 to 1,470°F (300 to 800°C)

    Organic matter burns off and water locked in the clay minerals is driven out. Vent the kiln.

  3. Quartz changeAbout 1,063°F (573°C)

    Quartz in the clay changes size suddenly at about 1063°F (573°C), on the way up and on the way down.

  4. Bisque firingAbout 1,730 to 1,945°F (945 to 1,065°C)

    Clay turns hard and permanent but stays porous, so it can soak up glaze.

  5. Low-fire glazeAbout 1,830 to 1,945°F (1,000 to 1,065°C)

    Earthenware and many bright commercial glazes.

  6. Mid-fire glazeAbout 2,165 to 2,230°F (1,185 to 1,220°C)

    Mid-range stoneware and porcelain. A common choice for electric kilns.

  7. High-fire glazeAbout 2,300 to 2,345°F (1,260 to 1,285°C)

    High-fire stoneware and porcelain, often in gas or wood kilns.

The firing guide explains each row, and the clay bodies guide covers how to match clay and glaze to the same range.

The path of a pot

  1. Choose a clay that fires in the same range as your glazes and your studio's kiln.
  2. Wedge the clay so it is even, then shape it by hand or on the wheel.
  3. Let the piece dry slowly and evenly, trimming or adding handles at the leather-hard stage.
  4. Bisque fire it once it is bone dry. The clay becomes hard but stays porous.
  5. Glaze it, clean the foot, and fire it again to the glaze's temperature.
  6. Use it, wash it and store it in ways that suit the clay and glaze.

Kilns get hot enough to cause serious burns and fires. Read the kiln safety basics, then follow your kiln maker's manual and your studio's rules. Those two sources always come first.

Common questions

Do I need a wheel to start pottery?

No. Pinch, coil and slab methods need only clay, a few simple tools and a table. Many potters keep hand building as their main method. A class or community studio is the easiest way to try a wheel before buying anything.

Can I fire pottery in a home oven?

No. A kitchen oven gets nowhere near hot enough to turn clay into ceramic. Oven-bake and air-dry clays exist, but they are different materials and are not suitable for food or water. Real ceramic needs a kiln.

How long does it take to make a finished pot?

Usually a few weeks from shaping to the final firing. Drying alone can take days to over a week, and most studios fire on a schedule, so plan for waiting time between steps.