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Termite clay? Australian YouTube sensation @primitive_technology “Primitive Technology” has a hobby building things in the wild from scratch- a wattle and daub hut, tiled hut, forge blower, cord drill, and stone adze etc… Here he builds a kiln and pottery using nothing but a rock, stick and basket. Note that I’ve shortened his original 11:29 min video down to 1 min, so go watch the whole thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZGFTmK6Yk4, it’s worth it. Also read his blog in which he goes into great length about how he constructs things. You’ll see in this video that he’s taking clay from a termite mound. From his blog, “Termite clay is good material for making furnaces and an OK substitute for good pottery clay should it be difficult to find a better source. The termites have already processed the clay by the fact that their mouths are too small to include sticks and pebbles into their structures. As a result, the clay is very smooth and plastic. Too smooth for my liking, in fact, I’m used to working with coarser clay that has silt mixed into it naturally. I find that termite clay is either too runny when wet or cracks too easily when drier. It was difficult to form into complex shapes and it took me 2 attempts to make the urn. But for forming objects like tiles it’s OK, it can be pressed into shape and it will hold without difficulty. In future, I’d be likely to use termite clay for mass producing formed objects such as bricks, tiles, simple pots (formed over a mould) and possibly pipes, thereby conserving the dwindling clay supply from the creek bank which I’ll save for more intricate pottery. In summary, termite clay is able to be used to produce basic pottery if no other source can be found. If you have a termite nest you can make basic pottery from it.” He must have some background in ceramics, because he’s fairly adept and knows the lingo. Kudos to him for reminding us that clay doesn’t come out of plastic bags and that common sense and skill go a long way. Thanks to @stephenbrownell for the heads up. -@ayumihorie #PIAhostayumihorie #potsinaction #pottersinaction #primitivetechnology

A post shared by Pots In Action (@potsinaction) on Mar 29, 2017 at 5:25pm PDT