It is very important to dry hand built pottery slowly, especially when the pottery is made with several pieces. Fast drying increases the chances of cracking and warping.

With an ocarina, this is particularly vital, because warping can push the lip out of alignment with the mouthpiece, thus causing the ocarina to not work properly. Slow drying helps even the drying rates between thick and thin areas, reducing this chance.

For the first 24-48 hours, leave the ocarina wrapped in a plastic bag. Then take it out and apply wax resist (a wax emulsion available at ceramic supply stores) to all the thin areas, particularly the voicing lip (beveled edge). The lip is the thinnest part of the ocarina, and will dry the fastest. Fast drying of the lip may cause it to warp.

Below are pictures of the ocarina with wax resist applied.

During air drying most of the water in the clay evaporates. Some water will still remain in the pores of clay that feels dry to the touch. This water will "smoke" out during the very early stages of firing. The remaining (chemically bound) water and organic compounds "burn out" later. This evaporation and burn-out will cause the clay to shrink, anywhere from 5 to 12% depending on the clay that was used. Smooth clays (such as porcelain) will shrink more than clays with sand in them. Firing temperature is a factor, too. The hotter the firing, generally the more the clay will shrink.
Clay shrinkage will affect the ocarina's size (of course!) making it smaller. Because of shrinking, the ocarina's interior is smaller too. This will make it higher pitched. In my experience, the tuning remains intact (the intervals between the notes remain correct).
Make note of your ocarina's fundamental note while it is still damp. Once the ocarina is fired, check the fundamental note again. On larger ocarinas the rise in pitch is about one whole note (such as C to D, or E to F#). Smaller ocarinas change about a half note (from D to D# or E to F).

Why Fire?

You may wonder with all the shrinkage, why fire if you like the pitch the ocarina already has? Well, you can leave your ocarina unfired, (called greenware) but it is rather fragile at this stage. The clay is about as hard as chalk, and is easily chipped or broken. If it gets wet, the clay will disintegrate, turning into slip. Not a good thing to happen, after all that work!

For those of you who don't own a kiln, many ceramic supply shops that sell molds and give lessons will fire your work for a fee. The best place to inquire is at the place where you bought your clay.

How to Glaze a Ceramic Ocarina >>

Introduction and Tools 1 | Forming the Body 2 3 | Making the Mouthpiece 4 5 6 | Position Mouthpiece-Cut Voicing 7 8 9 10 11 | Finger Holes 12 13 14 | Align Mouthpiece 15 16 | Adjust Voicing Size 17 | Attach Mouthpiece 18 19 | Tuning 20 | Assembling the Body 21 22 | Tidying up the Ocarina-Finishing 23 24 25 26 27 | Plaster Ocarina Mold | Clay Ocarina Mold | Make an Ocarina using a Clay Mold | Make an Ocarina Without a Mold | Glaze a Ceramic Ocarina | Glaze a Dragon Ocarina