Can I dry my clay (filn fire clay) in my oven?

Question

I would like to speed up the drying time. It is totally rainy here and my sculptures are not drying at all. I am going to a Christmas party and one of the sculptures is a gift. If I can, what temp and for how long?

Answer 1

Do you mean clay which can be fired in a kiln? If it's water based clay meant to be fired in a kiln you should be able to, though there is more danger of cracking if you dry it too fast. Apart from that it should work fine.
I wouldn't go much higher than 140F (60C). Definitely stay under the temp for boiling water, because that is guaranteed to break it. I'd leave the oven open a crack to humidity can escape.

Answer 2

I would not do it. The slower the drying time the better. Are you going to fire these pieces in a kiln eventually? And then glaze them? I think if you try to speed up the drying, you will just crack the pieces and ruin them. I usually let sculpture "dry " for a week or so under plastic, then for a couple of weeks in the open air. If it is a large piece with little finer areas, I keep it covered lightly even longer to even out the drying time. If it is a slab piece, I do the same to even out the drying between the various parts of the piece. If these are small pieces , the size of a mug, for example, they won't take so long. If they are solid pieces, they will take longer. If they are hollow, and the walls are fairly thin, then a week should be long enough -- a day or two under plastic, and then a week in the air. If your climate is moist, maybe you don't need to cover them with plastic.

If you try to hurry the process, you will just crack your pieces.

Answer 3

I would not recommend it... especially if it is sculpture...

with sculpture you want to slow the drying time down so as not to cause cracking at critical point.

Answer 4

NO!