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The Clay Hole University · Firing and Fixing

The Pottery Failure AtlasPrintable pottery guide

Every way a pot goes wrong, on paper, sorted by what you see and when you saw it: a drawing of each failure, the causes that fit it, the evidence that tells them apart, what can still be rescued and the experiment that stops it happening again.

$20.005 guides, 1 free
  • Skill level: All levels
  • 81 printable pages
  • 2 video picks
  • 8-question quiz + answer key

Flip through the free sample
  • Both versions included
  • Instant download
  • The lesson stays free
The printable, at a glance

What is The Pottery Failure Atlas printable guide?

It is the free “The Pottery Failure Atlas” lesson rebuilt for paper: every failure from wedging to years of use, one to a page, each with its own graph paper drawing, its likely causes, the evidence that separates them, the rescue at that stage and one experiment for the next pot. A finder at the front sends you straight to the right page, and a failure log at the back keeps track of what keeps coming back. Every copy comes with two versions. The print version is the book exactly as it goes to the printer, with its covers and many more illustrations. The University version is the guide built from the free lesson, with the quiz, the failure log and the other pages for working through it, and fewer pictures. Each has what the other leaves out, and you get both.

Prefer to read it online first? The “The Pottery Failure Atlas” lesson is free, and always will be.

  • 81printable pages, US Letter
  • 8quiz questions, with a full answer key
  • 2hand-picked videos, each with a QR code
  • 20glossary terms in plain language
  • 2workbook pages you fill in yourself
For anyone holding a pot that came out wrong

The pot is the evidence.

A failed pot is not a mystery. It is a record of how it was made: where the clay stayed thick, how fast it dried, how much glaze went on and where it stopped. The trouble is that the moment you notice a failure is almost never the moment it began, so the name of the fault is the last thing you need and the first thing most guides ask for.

This atlas works the other way round. You start from what you can see and when you first saw it, and the finder takes you to the page. Each failure is drawn on graph paper, with its parts numbered, so you can hold the pot beside the page and match it. Then the entry gives the causes that fit, most likely first, the clue that tells them apart, what that stage still lets you rescue, and one experiment to run on the next pot.

On paper it does something the web page cannot: it sits open on the bench while the pot is in your other hand, and the failure log at the back turns a string of bad days into a pattern you can actually fix.

Look inside

Real pages, one failure at a time

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

  • Page 10 of the “The Pottery Failure Atlas” printable guide: each moment opens a chapter, shown with the sample watermark
    Each moment opens a chapterThe first page of each chapter lists its failures in the order you would meet them, with the most likely cause, whether the pot can be saved and the page to turn to.
  • Page 12 of the “The Pottery Failure Atlas” printable guide: one failure to a page, shown with the sample watermark
    One failure to a pageA clay that cracks when you bend it: the drawing with its numbered key, the causes, the evidence that tells them apart, the rescue while the clay is soft and the experiment for next time.
  • Page 39 of the “The Pottery Failure Atlas” printable guide: raw glaze that cracked or peeled, shown with the sample watermark
    Raw glaze that cracked or peeledThe glaze fault you can still fix for free: why a coat cracks like dry mud, what peeling tells you, and the two test tiles that find the right thickness.
  • Page 74 of the “The Pottery Failure Atlas” printable guide: your own failure log, shown with the sample watermark
    Your own failure logA line for every pot that came out wrong: what you saw and when, the entry it matched, the likely cause, what you tried and the experiment you will run next.
Flip through the free sampleTen pages, free, no email required.
Why this one belongs on paper

A book that stays open on the bench

Nobody diagnoses a pot on a phone with clay on their hands. This guide is laid out to be opened to one page and left there.

  • The drawing beside the pot

    Each failure is drawn large on graph paper with its parts numbered. Hold the pot up next to the page and you can see straight away whether it matches.

  • A finder with page numbers

    Every failure is listed by what you see and when you saw it, with its most likely cause, whether it can be saved and the page it is on. No index of words you may not know yet.

  • A log that finds the pattern

    One failure is bad luck. The same one three times is a habit. The log at the back makes the habit visible, along with the experiment that changed it.

  • The four questions on one page

    The reference page holds the four questions that sort most pots, what each stage still allows, how to read a crack and which faults are worth a refire.

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.

  • Every entry checked against published sources

    Each failure was researched before it was written: Digitalfire, Ceramic Arts Network, Ceramics Monthly and clay makers’ own data. Where the sources disagreed with what potters usually say, the entry follows the sources.

  • A drawing for every failure

    Every entry has its own pencil drawing on graph paper, drawn for this guide, with numbered parts that match the key beside it. Each one was checked for where things join and which way a crack runs.

  • Sorted by what you see

    The entries run in the order you meet them, from wedging to years of use, so you never need the name of a fault to find it. The name is there once you arrive.

  • Rescues that match the stage

    Wet clay heals, raw glaze washes off and fired clay never welds. Each rescue is written for the stage the pot is actually at, and the faults that never refire say so plainly.

  • Written for a reader in any studio

    The section about our own studio is labeled as ours, so the rest reads cleanly to a potter working anywhere.

  • Codes that keep working

    Every link is a short Clay Hole address. If a page moves, we point the address at its new home 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 “The Pottery Failure Atlas” lesson, and that lesson is not going anywhere.

A pot that came out wrong is a complete record of how it was made: where the clay stayed thick, how fast it dried, how much glaze went on and where it stopped.

Read the pot before you blame the kiln, keep the failures that taught you something, and make the next one.

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. This one sits under Firing and Fixing, but it reaches back into every stage the other guides teach, from wedging to glazing. It keeps its number for good, so the copy on your shelf stays the same guide in the same place.

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, or every printable we sell on one page.

  • 5guides in your cart1 on us
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Sits next to

Three lessons that go deeper

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

Questions

Good to know

What exactly do I get?
Two files, both yours. The print version is the book exactly as it goes to the printer: its covers and many more illustrations, without the quiz and the failure log. The University version is built from the free lesson: the quiz with its answer key, the failure log and the finder, with fewer pictures and no book covers. Each one has what the other leaves out.
How is this different from the free lesson?
The teaching is the same, and the free lesson is not going anywhere. The University version is that teaching rebuilt for paper: one failure to a page with its drawing, a finder with page numbers, a learning dashboard at the front, a failure log, a one page reference, a glossary and a quiz with an answer key that explains every answer. The print version is the same atlas as a finished book, with its covers and more illustrations.
Do I need to know what my fault is called?
No. That is the point of it. You find a failure by what you can see and when you first saw it. The proper name appears once you are on the right page, so you learn the word from the pot rather than the other way round.
Will it tell me exactly why my pot failed?
It tells you which causes fit what you are seeing, most likely first, and the clue that tells them apart. Some failures have one clear cause; others need the experiment at the end of the entry to settle it. It does not guess at a pot it cannot see.
Does it work for any clay and any kiln?
It was written around mid fire stoneware, the clay we fire, and the section about our studio is labeled as ours. Reading a crack, a crawl or a craze works the same way at any temperature, and where an entry depends on the firing, it says so.
Is this too early for me?
It is marked for all levels. It is written for anyone holding a pot that came out wrong, from a first bowl onward, and it needs no chemistry. The glossary fills in the words.
Do I need a fancy printer?
No. The University version 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. The print version is the book file exactly as it goes to the printer.
Does it print in black and white?
Yes. The drawings are pencil on graph paper and print clearly in grey, and the glazed pots carry only a light tint. The text and tables are black on white.
Can I read it on a screen?
Yes. Every code in the guide is also a link you can tap, and the finder’s page numbers work just as well on a tablet beside the wheel.
Can I print just part of it?
Yes. Many people print the finder, the one page reference and the failure log from the University version, and keep the rest on a screen. They are numbered pages like any other.
How does delivery work?
Both files are digital downloads. The download link arrives by email and on the order confirmation page right after checkout.
What happens if the guide is updated?
When we correct or improve the guide, the new files replace the old ones in the shop, and we can send the updated link to anybody who already bought it.
Can I share it?
Both files are 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 files on, upload them or use them with a class or a group without asking us first.

Read the pot, then make the next one

Every failure in this atlas has a cause you can see and a habit you can change. Both versions keep the drawing, the evidence and the next experiment open in front of you while the pot is in your hands.

Get the guide · $20.00

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.

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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