Chapter 388 388 Pottery? (3)

"You said that this material can be made by directly burning clay with fire. Can it be made like this?" Si Ye is now very interested in the pottery firing technology and really wants to know how it is done.

Because this method only requires using clay to shape it, and then heating it at high temperature, it can finally be made into such a hard and practical material, which will definitely be widely used in daily life in the future, so he must learn it.

"You mean, you want to learn how to make pottery?" Xia Tian knew Si Ye was a practical man who would do things as soon as he said they would, but to be so anxious to get started right away... wasn't that a bit too hasty?

"What's wrong? You don't want to teach me?" Si Ye's expression was very calm. "It's okay. If you don't want to teach, I understand. After all, it's such an important technology. Most places probably won't be willing to teach it to others, right?"

Hearing that Si Ye thought she didn't want to teach, Xia Tian quickly shook her head and explained, "No, no... It's not that I don't want to teach. To be honest, it's because I don't know where to start."

As for the pottery firing technique, she only knew some basic knowledge, which was not enough to teach. So it was not that she was unwilling to teach, but that she simply did not have the ability to teach.

Moreover, the natural environment, soil characteristics, and other conditions in this world are very different from those on Earth. You must know that the biggest influence on things like ceramics is the soil quality. What kind of soil is suitable? In the current situation, there is no ready-made conclusion that can be used directly, and we can only try it bit by bit.

Ceramics are China's most important cultural icon. They are not as common and famous in other regions. In addition to the differences in firing technology, the most important thing is that other regions do not have the same soil suitable for making pottery as China.

What's more troublesome is that actually making pottery is not like making pottery blocks and fragments, which can be completed with just a bonfire. It requires several steps, and the most important one is - a kiln.

The kiln is an important tool in the ceramic firing process. It is used to ensure that the clay embryo can be heated evenly in all directions. Skilled workers can also use some methods to control the temperature changes in the kiln, thereby producing a variety of ceramic varieties.

Generally speaking, a kiln is a semicircular space with fuel burned underneath for heating, and the kiln mouth also needs to be able to be sealed. Just making this is not an easy task, not to mention adjusting the content of different types of soil bit by bit, which requires careful and rigorous record keeping, which is obviously a very time-consuming and energy-consuming task.

Of course, if you are careful enough, you can still succeed, but Xia Tian doesn't agree to start now. "It's almost the cold season now. It will take at least a month to fire the finished pottery. But our time is very precious now. We also have other winter preparations to make. It's obviously too late to start now."

"It turns out this process is so complicated. I thought it was too simple." After hearing Xia Tian describe the pottery firing process, Si Ye wrote it down word for word in his mind, but he also understood what the most important thing at the moment was.

"You're right. If that's the case, then we'll just wait... The temperature in the cold season is so low that the soil will freeze, and there's nothing we can do outside. If we want to do what you mentioned, we'll have to wait until next year's hot season."

(End of this chapter)