Turning up the heat is part of a pottery firing process called Raku, and it is part of a class offered by the Craft Shop. Raku originated in Japan during the Sixth Century to produce dishes used in ceremonial tea parties. The pottery has a unique metallic glaze, which is the result of an oxidation reduction process. A shelf system is built with brick stilts over a brick base. Fiberfax, an insulation material used in spacecraft, is lined on the bottom.
Pottery is placed on the shelf, and an inverted trash barrel is placed over it.
A propane tank at the base of the kiln fires the pottery at 1,200 degrees at the most for 30 minutes. The glaze is what it's all about. The metallic luster comes from the next part of the process. The ceramics are placed in trash cans filled with sawdust. The heat from the pottery causes the sawdust to ignite, and the lid is placed to burn up all the oxygen inside.