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The Clay Hole University Ā· Surface and Decoration

Melting Glass Into PotteryPrintable pottery guide

The whole job, in the order you do it: why glass is a liquid at stoneware heat, how to build a well that holds it, which glass to use and how little, and what to expect when it cracks.

$10.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Intermediate
  • 19 printable pages
  • 2 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 Melting Glass Into Pottery printable guide?

It is the glass lesson on paper: why most tutorials are written for a cooler kiln than a stoneware firing, how to build a well with real walls, which glass is safe to use and which never is, how little glass is enough, why glass cracks and what you can and cannot control, and what a glass piece can never be. Built to be printed, read before you make the piece and kept where you glaze.

Prefer to read it online first? The ā€œMelting Glass Into Potteryā€ lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 19printable pages, US Letter
  • 8quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 2hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 15glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For a pool of glass that stays where you put it

The photo is not the recipe

Almost every picture of melted glass in a pot was made in a kiln much cooler than a stoneware firing. At that heat glass pools deep and sits still. At ours it is a liquid, and it goes to the lowest point of the piece and keeps going.

What makes a glass piece come out is unglamorous: a well with real walls, far less glass than you think, a catch under the piece, and being straight about what it is when it changes hands. Each one is easy to skip when the marble looks so small.

The guide puts each rule next to the step that needs it. It also has a page to write down every glass piece: how much glass you used, how deep the well was, what lay under it and what you found when it came back.

Look inside

Real pages, for the table where you glaze

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

  • Page 3 of the ā€œMelting Glass Into Potteryā€ printable guide: before you begin, shown with the sample watermark
    Before you beginOne page before you touch clay: what you will learn, what to have ready, what is worth knowing, the common pitfalls, what success looks like, and where to log every glass piece.
  • Page 5 of the ā€œMelting Glass Into Potteryā€ printable guide: six rules that keep it on the pot, shown with the sample watermark
    Six rules that keep it on the potThe end of the heat section and the six rules, from the well with walls to the catch underneath, each on its own card.
  • Page 9 of the ā€œMelting Glass Into Potteryā€ printable guide: what went wrong, and what caused it, shown with the sample watermark
    What went wrong, and what caused itThe end of the list of what a glass piece can never be, a note on what it is good for, and six cards for what goes wrong: it ran out, a thin film, cloudy, cracked, lifted or bubbled.
  • Page 12 of the ā€œMelting Glass Into Potteryā€ printable guide: every glass piece, and what the glass did, shown with the sample watermark
    Every glass piece, and what the glass didA log to write in: the glass, the amount, the well, the glaze under it and what happened, with two questions under it. A few rows in and the next piece starts from a measurement, not a photo.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

Read it before the marble goes in

Glass in a pot is a decision you make at the bench and cannot undo in the kiln. Paper suits that.

  • The rules sit beside the steps

    The well, the amount, the catch and what never goes in are each next to the step that needs them, not somewhere in a long video.

  • It holds still

    A page stays where you put it while you crush glass in a bag with gloves on, and it does not mind a damp cloth.

  • Amounts to write down

    The log has columns for the glass, the amount, the well and the glaze under it. The next piece starts from a measurement and not a hunch.

  • One page where you glaze

    The one page summary has why heat matters, the well, what goes in and what to change when it goes wrong, for when your hands are full.

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.

  • Corrected, in the guide and the lesson

    The lesson listed spoon rests as a good use for glass, said little about crushing glass safely, and told members to cool and open the kiln themselves. Those and a few more are fixed in the guide and in the free lesson.

  • Video notes that say what the video shows

    We checked every note in the free lesson against the videoā€™s own description and chapters, and rewrote the ones the videos do not bear out, in the guide and in the lesson.

  • Written for any studio

    Where the lesson talks about The Clay Hole, the guide says so, so a reader working somewhere else knows which line is a Clay Hole fact and which is a rule of the craft.

  • 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 video moves, we repoint the address and your printed copy still goes to the right place.

  • A page to keep where you glaze

    The one page summary is the whole job on a single sheet: why heat matters, the well, what goes in, and what to change when it goes wrong.

Why the University is free

The lesson is free. It always will be.

All of the teaching in this guide comes from the free ā€œMelting Glass Into Potteryā€ lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

Find out what heat a tutorial was made for before you copy a single step of it.

Saying out loud what it is, and what it is not, is part of making it well.

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
  • 9guides in your cart2 on us
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 summary, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
Can I put glass in a pot fired at a studio?
That is up to the studio you work in. The guide covers the craft: a well with real walls, a small amount of glass, a catch under the piece, and telling staff it holds glass. At The Clay Hole the lesson says yes on those terms.
Will it look like the photos online?
Probably thinner and paler. Most of those photos are low fire results, around cone 06, and a stoneware firing is several hundred degrees hotter, so the same glass spreads further. The guide explains why and what to expect instead.
Is a piece with glass in it safe to eat from?
No. It is decorative only. The guide says why, and how to say so when the piece changes hands.
Is this too early for me?
It is marked Intermediate. You need a finished piece with a recess you can glaze and to be comfortable handing work in for firing. The new skills are building a well with real walls and judging how little glass it can take.
What do I need besides clay?
Marbles or clean bottle glass, glaze, a kiln cookie or glaze catcher, and eye protection, gloves and an N95 or better if you crush glass. The guide lists all of it on the dashboard.
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 tables and the log 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 summary and the log are the two worth having where you glaze. They are numbered pages like any other, so you can print those and leave the rest on a screen.
Can I read it on a screen instead?
Yes. It is an ordinary PDF and it reads fine on a tablet or a phone. The workbook pages are the ones that want paper, because you write on them.
How does delivery work?
It is a digital download. The link arrives by email and on the order confirmation page right after checkout.
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.

Build the well first

Give the glass a well with real walls, use half what you think, and put a catch under it. Those three habits take a few minutes and decide whether the glass stays where you put it. The guide keeps them in front of you.

Get the guide · $10.00

The Clay Hole University Printable Guide Terms

Licensing, safety, digital delivery, and refund terms

Your copy is yours. The guide is not.

Your purchase gives one individual purchaser a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license for personal use only. You may download the guide to your own devices, print copies for your own use, write all over them, spill clay water on them, replace a coffee-damaged copy, and generally use the heck out of what you bought.

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That means you may not share, forward, email, upload, post, publish, copy, reproduce, resell, sublicense, redistribute, or otherwise provide the guide, or any substantial portion of it, to another person. You may not place it in a shared drive, group chat, membership library, online community, file-sharing service, studio resource folder, classroom packet, employee handbook, course, workshop, or other shared collection. You may not make copies for students, members, employees, friends, classes, studios, schools, groups, or organizations.

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If you would like to use one of our guides with a class, studio, school, team, or other group, contact The Clay Hole about permission or group licensing. Please do not make twenty copies and call it manifesting.

Pottery is wonderfully unpredictable. It also carries real risk.

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.

These guides are provided for general educational and informational purposes. They are not a substitute for hands-on training, competent supervision, your studioā€™s safety procedures, applicable laws or codes, Safety Data Sheets, or the instructions and warnings supplied by the manufacturers of your clay, glaze, chemicals, tools, kilns, equipment, protective gear, or other materials.

Studios, kilns, clay bodies, glazes, firing schedules, electrical systems, ventilation systems, equipment, environmental conditions, application thicknesses, material formulations, and individual techniques vary enormously. Something that works beautifully in one situation may fail spectacularly in another. That is part of pottery. Occasionally, it is a very expensive part of pottery.

You are responsible for determining whether any technique, material, combination, firing schedule, tool, or process described in a guide is appropriate and safe for your specific circumstances before using it.

Use appropriate protective equipment. Use adequate ventilation and dust control. Read manufacturer instructions and Safety Data Sheets. Follow your studioā€™s rules. Obtain qualified instruction when a process or piece of equipment requires it. Test materials and techniques before committing important work to them. If you do not understand how to perform something safely, do not proceed until you do.

Never assume that a ceramic surface, glaze, clay body, firing method, finished vessel, repair, decoration, or other result is food-safe, microwave-safe, dishwasher-safe, oven-safe, structurally sound, chemically stable, or suitable for any particular purpose solely because it appears in or is discussed in one of our guides. Verify suitability independently when it matters.

Ceramics also refuses to sign contracts promising beautiful results. Colors change. Glazes move. Kilns have opinions. Pots crack. Materials interact unexpectedly. Manufacturers reformulate products. Equipment behaves differently. The Clay Hole does not guarantee any particular aesthetic, functional, firing, glazing, structural, or other result.

By choosing to use the information in a guide, you accept responsibility for your own materials, equipment, workspace, safety decisions, testing, methods, and results. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, The Clay Hole and its owners, employees, contributors, and affiliates are not responsible for injury, illness, property damage, lost work, failed projects, kiln or equipment damage, financial loss, or other loss arising from or related to your use of, or reliance upon, the guide.

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Terms version 2026-09-19b