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The Clay Hole University · Other Ways to Find, Fire, and Form

Microwave Kilns, Honestly AssessedPrintable pottery guide

A straight answer on paper: what a microwave kiln is, the one number that limits it, what it is good for, what the videos leave out, and a safe order of work if you already own one.

$5.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Beginner
  • 27 printable pages
  • 7 video picks
  • 6-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 Microwave Kilns, Honestly Assessed printable guide?

It is the free “Microwave Kilns, Honestly Assessed” lesson rebuilt for paper: how the device actually heats, the temperature that limits it, what it is built for, six claims that are not true, what the videos cut out, the order of work if you have one, and why we do not keep one in the studio. Built to be printed and read before you buy, and written in once you own one. It is decorative work only.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Microwave Kilns, Honestly Assessed” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 27printable pages, US Letter
  • 6quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 7hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 10glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For anyone whose feed just showed them a tiny kiln

Know what you are buying before the box arrives.

A microwave kiln looks like a shortcut to firing your own pots. It is a small box with a black lining that glows when the microwave runs, and it was built to fuse glass. What it can and cannot do comes down to one number.

The guide gives you that number and everything that follows from it: what the device is good for, six claims you will read that are not true, what the videos cut out, and a safe order of work if you already own one. It is neither the hype nor the sneering.

It also gives you what a web page cannot: a firing log to write in. The right time is a property of your microwave and nobody else’s, and a few lines of notes beat a guess.

Look inside

Real pages, for reading before you buy

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

  • Page 3 of the “Microwave Kilns, Honestly Assessed” printable guide: before you begin, shown with the sample watermark
    Before you beginOne page before anything gets plugged in: what you will learn, what you would need, what is worth knowing, the common pitfalls and what a good result looks like.
  • Page 5 of the “Microwave Kilns, Honestly Assessed” printable guide: the deciding number, shown with the sample watermark
    The deciding numberA chart of the kiln’s ceiling against raku and our own firings, drawn to scale, and what the gap costs you.
  • Page 10 of the “Microwave Kilns, Honestly Assessed” printable guide: six claims that are not true, shown with the sample watermark
    Six claims that are not trueThe things you will read in product listings and comment sections, and what is actually the case.
  • Page 21 of the “Microwave Kilns, Honestly Assessed” printable guide: every firing, and how it came out, shown with the sample watermark
    Every firing, and how it came outA log to write in: the wattage, the minutes, what came out and what to change.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

Read it cold, before anything gets plugged in

A microwave kiln is a purchase and a setup, and both go better when you have read the whole picture first.

  • The setup, where you can find it

    Where it goes, what it needs and what never to do are on the page in order, so you are not scrolling a phone with gloves on.

  • A reason for every rule

    The kiln peaks around 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit, and each limit in the guide follows from that, so you know what you are looking at when something does not work.

  • A log for your own firings

    Columns for the wattage, the minutes, what came out and what to change. Your microwave’s numbers are yours, and notes are how you find them.

  • A page stays where you put it

    Set it on the bench beside the setup and glance at it. Nothing times out or locks.

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 The Clay Hole’s rules and our other lessons. Where the lesson was out of step, the guide now says what those pages say.

  • Plainer about safety

    Heat gear, eye protection, fiber dust and fumes are spelled out, and the guide says to fire outdoors on a microwave nobody cooks in.

  • Decorative, and plainly so

    Nothing fired in one is food safe, and the guide points you at our Food Safe Lookup for anything you plan to eat or drink from.

  • Numbers checked

    The temperature chart was checked against a standard cone chart and our own firing lesson, and corrected where the lesson’s figure did not match.

  • Video notes that say what the videos say

    Every video is another maker’s work, printed with its own QR code. Each note was written from the video’s own description and chapter list, so it claims no more than they show.

  • 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 “Microwave Kilns, Honestly Assessed” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

Members ask us about microwave kilns all the time, usually after a video comes across their feed. This guide is our honest answer, and it is neither the hype nor the sneering.

Come and ask us anything this guide does not answer. We are glad to talk it through.

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.

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Sits next to

Three lessons that sit beside this one

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 firing log to write in, a one page summary, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
Does the guide tell me to buy a microwave kiln?
No. It tells you what you would be buying. Bought as a small format for tiny fired objects, outdoors on a dedicated appliance, it is a real tool. Bought to avoid needing a kiln, it will disappoint you.
Can I fire pottery to a normal bisque or glaze in one?
No. It peaks well below our bisque and glaze firings, and the guide explains why that is a property of the device, not a technique problem.
Is anything fired in one food safe?
No. The body stays porous, so it is decorative. For anything you eat or drink from, fire it in a normal glaze firing and check the glaze in our Food Safe Lookup.
Can I bring microwave kiln work into the studio to be fired?
Show it to the team first. Low fire and raku glazes never go through our glaze firings, and staff decide where anything goes.
Can I use it indoors?
The guide says no. It belongs outdoors, or in a garage with the door open, on a microwave nobody cooks in. Fumes and a red hot box inside a kitchen appliance are the reasons.
Are the videos yours?
No. Each one is another maker’s work. The guide prints each with its own QR code and a short note on what the video shows, and nothing in the guide depends on watching them.
Do I need to be a member of The Clay Hole to use it?
No. The guide is for anyone thinking about a microwave kiln. Where a line is only ours, such as why we do not keep one, the guide says so.
Is this too early for me?
It is marked Beginner. The guide is for deciding and for staying safe, and the glossary fills in the words.
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. The text, the tick boxes and the tables are black on white, and color is used for headings, small labels and the chart bars.
Can I print just part of it?
Yes, and most people do. The one page summary and the firing log are the two worth having with you. They are numbered pages like any other, so you can print those 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 read 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.

A real tool, at its real size

Know what it is, what it cannot do and how to run it safely before the box arrives. The guide keeps all of it in front of you.

Get the guide · $5.00

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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 studio’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 studio’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.

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Terms version 2026-09-19b