An introduction to Salt firing
18th – 20th July 2025
Cost – £320 per person
places – 5
Location – Wobage Farm Craft Workshops, Ross-on-Wye HR9 7QP
To book a place place use my Eventbrite page here
An introduction to salt firing is a three day long firing course at Wobage farm workshops in beautiful rural south Herefordshire aimed at introducing you to the materials and techniques of salt firing whilst offering you a chance to take away salt glazed wares of your own.
The course will focus on the use of salt slips, the packing and firing of the salt kiln along with technical presentations around the materials and chemistry of salt firing. You will be invited to bring a selection of bisque fired pots in a pale stoneware clay that we will decorate with a range of supplied slips and glaze. These pots will then be wadded and packed into the kiln to be salt fired to 1280c.
If you book onto the course you will need to bring 15-30 small to medium size pots. We recommend making two heights of around 10cm and 20cm tall of varying widths and shapes. This parameter ensures a smooth and fair packing of the pots into the kiln. All pot must be made from stoneware clay. We recommend these pots are made from a pale clay with less than 3% iron such as white st Thomas as this will offer the best results. All pots must be biscuit fired to 1000c no raw pots will be firing as part of the course.
Refreshments and a vegetarian lunch will be offered over all three days.
Schedule
Day 1 – slipping and packing
9 – 9.30am – meet and greet
9.30 – 10am – presentation on the effects of salt firing and the slips and glazing we will be using
10am – 1pm – Slipping, glazing and wadding
1 – 2pm – lunch
2pm – 5pm – packing
Day 2 – firing
8am – lighting the kiln
1pm – reduction
3pm – presentation on the firing of a gas salt kiln and salt kiln design
4 – 5.30pm – salting
7pm – top temp then crash cool
8pm closing up
(please note you will not have to be present for the entire days firing if you choose to instead join for the the second more eventful half of the firing)
Day 3 – unpack and tidy
2pm – unpack and feedback
3pm – tidy kiln, furniture and kiln site
4pm – packing up pots