American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 18 Kiln and Pottery Firing Test

"Guys, here's my plan: we need a kiln to fire terracotta bricks, so the first step is to find suitable clay and build a kiln!"

Lin Yu-an, carrying a camera, a logging axe, and a sharp wooden spear, began his journey to find soil.

He noticed while fishing that the lake water was eroding the north bank of the river. In such areas, fine clay layers tend to form more easily due to the erosion and sedimentation of the water flow.

Sure enough, on the inner side of a river bend, he found a patch of fine-textured, reddish soil.

He scooped out a piece and kneaded it in his hands.

"This clay has excellent ductility and almost no sand or gravel impurities. With a little processing, it becomes an excellent raw material for pottery!"

After finding the clay, the next step was to choose a site to build the kiln. He chose a vacant lot about 100 meters away from the river bend, which was slightly elevated and relatively flat.

It was easy to find firewood and clay here. Lin Yu'an used a wooden spear to roughly outline the shape of the earthen kiln on the ground, and he already had a clear blueprint in his mind.

He explained to the audience as he cleared out a flat, circular area about one meter in diameter.

"I plan to build the firebox and kiln chamber directly on the ground, creating a rising flame earthen kiln where the flames rise from the bottom."

With the blueprint completed, Lin Yu'an no longer hesitated and immediately threw himself into the intense work.

Before officially starting to build the kiln, it is necessary to test whether the clay here can be successfully fired into pottery.

Lin Yu'an was kneading and pounding a piece of clay repeatedly on a relatively flat stone, just like kneading dough.

Several hours later, after several failed attempts to shape it, a rough, round 'grind' finally took shape in his hands! Lin Yu'an set it aside to air dry.

The wind was a bit strong today, but it gradually subsided by evening. The grate had turned somewhat white, and it looked ready for firing.

Lin Yu'an started a fire in the U-shaped fire pit surrounded by stones. The flames immediately leaped among the dry firewood, making crackling sounds.

He carefully picked up the dried, round mud grate and gently placed it above the hearth, lying flat on the stones on either side.

"Let's start firing this grate now! If it can be successfully fired into ceramic, then we'll have a key component for our stove!"

Although the temperature of an open fire pit is not as high as that of an earthen kiln, it is still sufficient to fire a single piece of pottery that does not require high precision.

The fire gradually grew stronger, and Lin Yu'an kept adding dry, fine firewood to the fire pit, letting the flames lick the bottom of the grate evenly.

He dared not let the fire rage too fiercely all at once, fearing that a sudden increase in temperature would cause the grate to crack.

He explained to the camera, "The first step in firing pottery is to slowly remove the remaining moisture. Although this grate has dried out, there is still a trace of moisture inside."

As time passed, the color of the grate began to change subtly under the heat of the flames.

Lin Yu'an observed intently, occasionally stirring the firewood in the hearth to ensure the grate was heated evenly.

After about two hours, he judged that the remaining moisture inside the grate should have evaporated most of it.

He gradually increased the heat, adding more and thicker firewood to the fire pit.

The flames surged upwards even more fiercely, engulfing the entire grate, and the warm red light shone on Lin Yu'an's face.

He could smell a distinctive odor of burning soil, a sign that the clay was undergoing a chemical change at high temperatures.

This is a crucial stage where the minerals in the clay melt and recrystallize under high temperatures, forming a hard ceramic structure.

Lin Yu-an needs to maintain this high temperature for as long as possible to ensure that the grate can be fully sintered; conservatively, it will take until tomorrow morning.

He had managed his expectations and didn't intend to succeed on the first try. He just wanted to test whether the clay could be fired into pottery, even if it was just pottery shards.

After adding firewood for nearly two hours, the flames in the fire pit remained strong. Fortunately, we had prepared plenty of dry firewood, enough to last until tomorrow morning.

Night had completely fallen.

The flames in the hearth became the only flickering light source in the darkness.

Lin Yu'an would occasionally stand up to stretch his somewhat stiff limbs, then sit back down by the fire pit. He would carefully pick out a few pieces of dry firewood of suitable size from the mountain of firewood beside him and add them to the fire. Each time he added firewood, he would carefully observe the state of the flames to ensure that they were neither too intense, lest they crack the clay, nor too weak, thus affecting the temperature.

Time slipped away quietly amidst the crackling of the firewood.

From midnight to dawn, and until the sky began to lighten, Lin Yu'an barely closed his eyes, keeping his eyes fixed on the fire pit.

He had used up most of his stockpile of firewood, and the pile of firewood next to him was noticeably shorter.

Lin Yu'an's tone was full of anticipation: "It's dawn, I feel it's about time."

"To make sure it's thoroughly cooked, I plan to put in extra effort and cook it until noon."

He added firewood several more times to keep the fire at a moderate level.

Around noon, Lin Yu'an stopped adding firewood. Since yesterday evening, the earthenware grate had been burning in the high temperature for more than fifteen or sixteen hours.

Such a firing time should be sufficient for a single piece of pottery fired in a fire pit to achieve proper sintering.

Lin Yu'an announced, "Alright, the high-temperature calcination stage is over!"

Instead of immediately removing the grate from the flames, he allowed the remaining firewood in the hearth to burn out naturally, turning into a pile of blazing charcoal.

These charcoal embers will continue to provide a steady residual heat, allowing the earthenware grate to cool down in a relatively slow process, a crucial step in preventing it from cracking due to sudden temperature changes.

He stretched wearily, feeling exhausted from not sleeping all night and the continuous physical exertion.

I went back to the stone shelter and had a good night's sleep.

Lin Yu'an slept very soundly, overwhelmed by the exhaustion of not sleeping all night.

He slept for about three hours before being woken up by a chill.

He sat up abruptly, shook his head in a daze, and his first thought was of the ceramic grate that was still cooling down!

He rubbed his sleepy eyes and strode towards the hearth where he had stayed the night before.

After being cooled by the natural wind for most of the day, the thick layer of charcoal ash that had covered the earthenware grate had become lukewarm.

Lin Yu'an squatted down and carefully used a stick to remove the surface wood ash. As the ash was brushed away little by little, the pottery grate buried underneath gradually came into view.

When the entire ceramic grate was fully exposed to the air, Lin Yu'an's eyes lit up with surprise! The ceramic grate in front of him far exceeded his expectations!

This pottery grate not only retained its shape quite well, but also did not show the serious cracks or deformation he had worried about.

Although it is far less bright than modern glazed pottery, its delicate roughness is definitely within the scope of pottery!

Lin Yu'an carefully lifted the ceramic grate from the ashes. It was more solid than he had imagined. He gently tapped the surface of the grate with his knuckles.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

The crisp, melodious sound it produced undoubtedly proved that it had reached an extremely high degree of sintering!
"Incredible! It worked on the first try!"

Lin Yu'an excitedly held up the pottery sieve and said to the camera, "Did you see that? It not only proves that it can be used to make pottery, but the overall texture far exceeded my expectations!"

"I was just conducting an experiment to determine whether it could be made into pottery, and I was fully prepared for it to crack and break."

"I never expected it to actually come together perfectly! It was such a wonderful surprise!"

He carefully put away the precious pottery grate, intending to use it when building the kiln.

This successfully fired ceramic grate not only confirmed the feasibility of firing ceramic bricks, but also greatly boosted Lin Yu'an's confidence in completing this major project!

Everyone should know what a sieve and a comb are, right?

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(End of this chapter)