>>1953617Giant clay pots are usually made by stacking coils on top of one another. Make sure that each new layer is well bonded to the preceding one and that there are no air pockets between them (they would expand and explode as the clay is fired). Before it is completely dried, use a large flat paddle and lightly tap it all around to fuse the surface of all the coils and make it smooth and bald. You may want to support it on the inner side with the palm of your hand while you are tapping the outerside to prevent it from collapsing in. If you can’t finish the whole piece in one session, wrap it in plastic to keep it humid, otherwise the new coils won’t bind properly with the pot. Cover it with a damp cloth to let it dry slowly and uniformly so it does not crack - clay shrinks when it dries and if it that happens too quickly and unevenly, cracks will form where one part becomes smaller while another is still humid humid and expanded.
You’ll need to fire it twice. Once to get most of the moisture out and stabilize it, twice to get all the moisture and organic matter out. Fill it with dried grass and light kindle and build a bonfire outside for the first fire; repeat the process for the second burn, but make some sort of oven around it to raise the temperature. You can do that by stacking bricks around the bonfire or perhaps encapsulating it in clay or a mud mixture of nothing else is available.
Good luck in your new life as a clay pot dweller and godspeed
