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The Clay Hole University · Firing and Fixing

Loading and Unloading a KilnPrintable pottery guide

Kiln loading, on paper: which firing you are packing, how shelves and posts go in, where the cones and the wash go, how a load comes out safely, what each failed load is telling you, and a log for your own kiln.

$12.505 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Intermediate
  • 24 printable pages
  • 6 video picks
  • 8-question quiz + answer key

Flip through the free sample
  • Instant download
  • Prints on any printer
  • The lesson stays free
The printable, at a glance

What is the Loading and Unloading a Kiln printable guide?

It is the free “Loading and Unloading a Kiln” lesson rebuilt for paper: bisque packed and glaze spaced, the bottom shelf and the posts, witness cones and kiln wash, the unloading rules, six ways a load goes wrong, six videos of kilns being loaded, and how it works when our staff load yours. Built to be printed, taped beside a kiln and written in.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Loading and Unloading a Kiln” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 24printable pages, US Letter
  • 8quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 6hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 9glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For anyone about to fill a kiln, or wondering what happens to their work

A good load is decided before the lid closes.

Loading a kiln is a puzzle with rules, and the two kinds of firing want opposite things from you. A bisque is packed and nested. A glaze is spaced from everything it could weld to. Most ruined loads come from treating one like the other.

The guide puts the whole skeleton in one place: the bottom shelf on short posts, three posts in columns, an inch from the wall, cones on two shelves, and nothing opened while the kiln is still hot. It also says what goes wrong when each one is skipped.

And it gives you a page to write on. Which firing it was, how the shelves went in, what the cones did and what came out. After a few loads you will know which gaps you keep getting wrong.

Look inside

Real pages, for the kiln room

These are actual pages from the guide, shown here with the sample watermark.

  • Page 6 of the “Loading and Unloading a Kiln” printable guide: which firing is this, shown with the sample watermark
    Which firing is thisWhat you need at the kiln, and the first step: bisque is packed, glaze is spaced.
  • Page 11 of the “Loading and Unloading a Kiln” printable guide: when it goes wrong, shown with the sample watermark
    When it goes wrongSix ways a load fails, each with the cause and what to do next time and this time.
  • Page 13 of the “Loading and Unloading a Kiln” printable guide: how it works at our studio, shown with the sample watermark
    How it works at our studioWhat happens to your work between the drop-off table and the pickup shelf, and why the rules are what they are.
  • Page 17 of the “Loading and Unloading a Kiln” printable guide: every load you pack, shown with the sample watermark
    Every load you packA log to write in: bisque or glaze, how the shelves went in, what the cones did and what came out.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

A plan and a log are things you tape beside the kiln

Loading happens on your feet, with dusty hands and a shelf in the air. Paper suits that.

  • The plan where you can see it

    The six moves, the tick lists and the one page reference sit on pages you can tape to the kiln.

  • A reason for every rule

    Three posts, an inch from the wall, nothing opened hot. Each rule comes with the reason behind it, so you can tell a rule from a habit.

  • A log for your own kiln

    Columns for the firing, the shelves, the cones and what came out. A few loads of notes beat a memory of what you did.

  • It does not mind dust

    A page stays where you put it, and it does not lock its screen while you are holding a shelf.

How this one is built

Rebuilt for paper, not printed from a web page

Every guide in the series is set from scratch for print. Here is what that meant for this one.

  • Read against the studio’s own rules

    We checked the lesson against our other firing and glazing lessons and the studio’s own drop-off rules. Where the lesson was out of step, the guide now says what those pages say.

  • Safety said the same way everywhere

    Grinding is wet, with glasses and a real respirator. Shelves are cleaned with a damp sponge or a HEPA vacuum. Nothing is opened above the safe temperature.

  • Video notes that say only what the video shows

    Every video has a short note, a link and a code. Each note was checked against the video’s own description and chapters, and says where a video is mostly about something else.

  • Tick lists you can use

    Each of the four steps ends in a tick list, and the whole load is one page you can keep by the kiln.

  • A quiz that explains itself

    A short quiz, and an answer key that gives the reason behind every answer rather than only the letter.

  • Codes that keep working

    Every link is a short Clay Hole address. If a page moves, we repoint the address and your printed copy still goes to the right place.

Why the University is free

The lesson is free. It always will be.

All of the teaching in this guide comes from the free “Loading and Unloading a Kiln” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

Loading a kiln is a puzzle with rules. The rules fit on a page. The feel for it comes from watching someone good do it, and then doing it badly a few times yourself.

And if you ever get a kiln of your own, your first load will have a shelf an inch too low. Everybody’s does. Tape a plan to the kiln, and it gets better fast.

Dan Pearce, founder of The Clay Hole
The series

Build a little pottery library

Every printable guide in The Clay Hole University series takes one free lesson and rebuilds it for paper, with workbook pages, a glossary and a quiz with a worked answer key. Each one keeps its number for good, so a guide you buy today is the same guide in the same place next year.

Put any five printable guides in your cart and the cheapest one is on us. Put in nine and the two cheapest are on us. It happens automatically at checkout, no code to remember.

See every printable guide

  • 5guides in your cart1 on us
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Sits next to

Three lessons that pick up where this one leaves off

Each one is free to read online, and the codes in the guide take you straight there.

Questions

Good to know

How is this different from the free lesson?
The teaching is the same, and the free lesson is not going anywhere. The guide is that teaching rebuilt for paper: a learning dashboard at the front, a log to write in, a one page reference, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
Is this only for people who work at The Clay Hole?
No, and it is written mostly for people with a kiln of their own. At The Clay Hole our staff load and unload every kiln, so the guide also explains what happens to your work between the drop-off table and the pickup shelf, and says where a rule is only ours.
Will it teach me to load the kilns at the studio?
No. Staff load our kilns, every load. The guide is so you understand what they are doing and why, and so you can load a kiln of your own well.
Do the videos play from the paper?
Each video has a short note, a link and a code. Scan the code or type the short address and it opens the video.
Is this too early for me?
It is marked Intermediate. You do not need a kiln to read it, but you will get the most from it with one in reach. The glossary fills in the vocabulary.
What do I need besides a kiln?
Shelves and plenty of posts, kiln wash, witness cones, cookies and catchers for glazed work, and a plan. The dashboard lists it all.
Do I need a fancy printer?
No. It is set for an ordinary home or office printer on regular US Letter paper, with nothing important near the edges, so normal printer margins cut nothing off.
Does it print in black and white?
Yes. Nothing in it depends on color to make sense: the text, the tick boxes and the tables are black on white, and color is used for headings and small labels.
Can I print just part of it?
Yes, and most people do. The one page reference is the one worth taping beside the kiln. The pages are numbered like any other, so you can print that and leave the rest on a screen.
How does delivery work?
It is a digital download. The link arrives by email and on the order confirmation page right after checkout, so you can have it printed and beside the kiln the same evening.
What happens if the guide is updated?
Every edition carries its version number on the last page. When we correct or improve one, the new edition replaces the old one in the shop, and we can send the updated link to anybody who already bought it.
Can I share it?
It is licensed for your own use. Print as many copies for yourself as you like, on as many of your own devices as you like. Please do not pass the file on, upload it or use it with a class or a group without asking us first.

Pack it, space it, and wait for it to cool

Know which firing you are loading, put the shelves on three posts, read the cones and give the kiln time. The guide keeps the whole load in front of you at the kiln.

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We work hard to make The Clay Hole University accurate, useful, practical, and ridiculously thorough. But pottery is a hands-on craft involving countless variables that no written guide can completely control or anticipate.

Depending on what you are doing, ceramics may involve extreme heat, kilns, electricity, gas, flame, sharp tools, spinning machinery, heavy equipment, pressurized equipment, silica-containing dust, fumes, chemicals, raw materials, stains, oxides, glazes, combustible materials, hot surfaces, breakable objects, and other hazards capable of causing serious injury, illness, property damage, fire, or worse.

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Terms version 2026-09-19b