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

Naked Raku PotteryPrintable pottery guide

A bare pot with a smoked black crackle on it, on paper: what every coat is for, the pull and the can, the shell off wet over a bucket, what causes each fault, and a log for every pot you take to a workshop.

$12.505 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: Advanced
  • 29 printable pages
  • 8 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 Naked Raku Pottery printable guide?

It is the free “Naked Raku” lesson rebuilt for paper: the four layers and the two that come off, one coat or two, a pot shaped to survive the fire, slip and glaze coat by coat, the pull and the can, taking the shell off wet, and nine faults with the single cause behind each. Built to be printed, kept beside the bucket and written in. It is preparation for a supervised outdoor workshop, not a replacement for one.

Prefer to read it online first? The “Naked Raku” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 29printable pages, US Letter
  • 8quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 8hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 16glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For anyone who wants a pale pot with a black line drawn on it by smoke

Everything you put on the pot is thrown away.

This is the odd one among firing methods. You spend a day building coats on a bisque pot, fire them, smoke them, and then wash the whole shell into a bucket. What is left is bare clay with a crackle burned into it, and nobody gets to say exactly where the lines will go.

That is the appeal, and it is also why early pots get lost. The good news in the guide is that almost every fault has one cause you can point at: a thin spot in the slip, a coat that varied from place to place, a lid that did not seal. The guide walks the layers in order, says what each one is for, and puts the cause next to the fault.

It also gives you what a web page cannot: a log to fill in at the table. The pot and the clay, how the coats went on, how the pull and the can went, and what you saw once the shell was off. A few firings of notes show you which step made which fault.

Look inside

Real pages, for beside the bucket

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

  • Page 3 of the “Naked Raku Pottery” printable guide: before you begin, shown with the sample watermark
    Before you beginOne page before any slip is mixed: 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 “Naked Raku Pottery” printable guide: four layers, and two of them come off, shown with the sample watermark
    Four layers, and two of them come offA magnified slice through the pot wall, with each layer numbered and explained, so you can see why the shell lifts away and the black stays.
  • Page 6 of the “Naked Raku Pottery” printable guide: one layer or two, shown with the sample watermark
    One layer or twoThe two methods side by side: what goes on, what cracks, how much you can aim the pattern and where each one goes wrong.
  • Page 22 of the “Naked Raku Pottery” printable guide: every pot, every coat, every can, shown with the sample watermark
    Every pot, every coat, every canA log to write in: the pot and the clay, slip coats and glaze thickness, the pull, the minutes in the can and what you saw when the shell came off.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

A wet table, gloves and a bucket

This process is done with messy hands, outdoors, one step at a time. Paper suits that.

  • The order, on one sheet

    The whole method, from the shape of the pot to the shell coming off, fits on a single page you can keep next to the bucket and check with a wet thumb.

  • A cause for every fault

    Gray haze, black dots, a shell that will not budge, a pot that cracked. Each has its own page entry with the step that caused it and what to change next time.

  • Pictures of the layers

    A magnified slice of the pot wall, labeled layer by layer, so the idea that two of the four coats are scaffolding stays in your head after the screen goes dark.

  • It does not mind slip on your fingers

    A page stays where you put it. It does not lock its screen or drop out when your hands are covered, and you can wipe the table around it.

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.

  • A workshop process, said plainly

    Raku happens only at a supervised outdoor workshop, after a safety meeting everybody attends. The guide says so at the front and does not stand in for that meeting.

  • Decorative only, never refired

    A pot made this way is porous and not food safe, and a second firing burns the carbon out. The guide says both on the cover and again in the steps.

  • Gear and smoke, spelled out

    Goggles, a welding apron and full length gloves, cotton or wool next to the skin, a breath of fresh air before you lean over a can. The guide lists them where you will need them.

  • Video notes that say what the videos say

    Each video note was rewritten from the video’s own description and chapter list, so it claims no more than they show. Every video belongs to somebody else and is credited by name.

  • 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 “Naked Raku” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

That is the whole appeal, and it is also why early pots get lost. Almost every failure has one cause you can point at: a thin spot in the slip, a coat that varied, a lid that did not seal. This guide walks the layers in order and names the cause of each fault.

Come ask us when you are ready for your first one. We would love to see what comes out of your first can.

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 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 of the whole method, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer.
Can I do naked raku at home after reading it?
At The Clay Hole this happens only at a supervised outdoor workshop, with the team running the kiln. The guide is about preparing the pot and understanding each step before you go. It does not replace the safety meeting everybody attends, and it is not a how to for firing alone in a garage.
Is a naked raku pot food safe?
No. The pot is unglazed, porous and low fired, and the surface is carbon. It is for dry flowers and display, not for anything you eat or drink, and it should never be fired again. The guide says this on the cover, in the steps and on the one page reference.
Will it tell me why my pots fail?
It gives you nine faults and the cause behind each one, from a shell that will not come off to black dots, gray haze and a cracked pot. It also gives you a log, so after a few firings you can see which step your own faults come from.
Is this too early for me?
It is marked Advanced, because the process is. It helps to have thrown or built a few pots and had them bisque fired first. The guide is good for beginners who want to understand every step before a workshop, 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 and the tables are black on white, and color is used for headings and small labels. The illustrations lose a little in black and white, and every page still reads.
Can I use it on a screen instead of printing it?
Yes. It is a normal PDF that opens on a computer, tablet or phone. It is built to be printed, so the QR codes are there for the paper copy, and the short address under each code is printed in full if you would rather type it.
Can I print just part of it?
Yes, and most people do. The one page summary and the log are the two worth having beside the bucket. 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 ready 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.

Thin, even and patient

Keep the coats thin and even, seal the lid, work the shell off wet. The guide keeps every step in front of you at the table.

Get the guide · $12.50

The Clay Hole University Printable Guide Terms

Licensing, safety, digital delivery, and refund terms

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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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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.

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.

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Terms version 2026-09-19b