Kiln Log: Pottery & Ceramics
Kiln Log: Pottery & Ceramics — Track every pot, glaze recipe and kiln firing in one clay journal
Kiln Log: Pottery & Ceramics is a free Android pottery tracker and clay journal for potters. Follow each piece from greenware through bisque and glaze to the finished shelf, keep glaze recipes with their cones and finishes, and record every kiln firing segment by segment, with pieces, recipes and firings linked.
- Price
- Free, Pro upgrade
- Platforms
- Android (Google Play)
- Languages
- 10
- Data
- Journal stored on your device
The pot, the glaze and the firing are one story.
When a glaze pinholes, the useful questions are which clay body, which recipe and which firing curve were involved. Because Kiln Log links a piece to its recipe and to the firing it went through, defect diagnosis can start from your own records and rank likely causes before any AI is asked.
What it is
Kiln Log: Pottery & Ceramics is a free Android app for potters and ceramic artists that tracks pieces, glaze recipes and kiln firings in one journal. Each piece moves through greenware, bisque, glazed and finished stages. Recipes hold ingredients as percentages with a target cone and finish, a batch calculator and a Unity formula view, and firing schedules record every ramp, hold and cool segment, witness cones and the pieces in the load. An optional AI advisor helps when you ask, and the app never says a glaze is food safe.
Inside the app
What it looks like
Background
What should a potter write down about each piece, glaze and firing?
Ceramic results depend on three things that are easy to forget: the clay body, the glaze and the firing. A record pays off when something works or fails and you want to know why, because the recipe, the cone, the kiln and each segment of the schedule are written down against the piece. Test tiles, which put one recipe on one clay body at one cone and one thickness, are the usual way to learn how a glaze behaves before committing a full load.
Conefiring by heat-work, not just degrees
Pyrometric cones are small pyramids that bend at a known amount of heat-work, so potters name a firing by its target cone, such as cone 6 or cone 10. Witness cones placed in the kiln show how far a firing really went, and the app has a place to record how each cone pack bent, next to a cone chart in °F and °C.
Unity Molecular FormulaUMF, a glaze seen as oxides
UMF describes a recipe by the ratio of its oxides instead of by percentages, which makes melt and fit easier to judge. Kiln Log shows a UMF view with the usual ranges for your cone, taken from published material analyses, as a guide rather than a lab result.
Greenware, bisque and glaze firingthe stages a piece passes through
Greenware is unfired clay, bisque is the first firing that readies a piece to take glaze, and the glaze firing melts the glaze onto it. The app's stages follow that order and add finished, with a filter for each.
Drying stagesplastic, leather-hard, bone dry
A thrown or hand-built piece passes through these stages as it dries. The app gives an estimate for each from the wall thickness and how the piece is covered, so you know roughly when to expect them.
How it works
How the journal works
Start with whatever is on the shelf today; each record links to the others as you add them.
Make a card for each piece
Choose the form, such as bowl, mug, plate, vase or jar, then add the clay body, dimensions, notes and a photo kept on your device. Set the stage and filter the list by greenware, bisque, glazed or finished.
Write the glaze and test it
Enter ingredients as percentages with a target cone and finish. Use the batch calculator and its tick list while you weigh, make test tiles for one recipe on one clay body, and note what a recipe does when layered over another.
Log the firing, then read the result
Record the kiln, target cone and every ramp, hold and cool segment, plan the load shelf by shelf, and when you unload note what came out right and what crawled or pinholed. Diagnosis then ranks likely causes from the clay, glaze and firing you recorded.
What's inside
What is in the app
4 stages
Greenware to finished
Track each piece through greenware, bisque, glazed and finished, with drying estimates and a filter per stage so the shelf of work in progress is easy to read.
UMF
Recipes with a Unity formula view
Ingredients with percentages, target cone and finish (matte, satin, glossy or crackle), plus a UMF view with usual ranges for your cone. Recipes containing oxides such as lead, barium or copper are flagged as needing a lab leach test.
Cone chart
Firings, load plans and witness cones
Save kiln schedules with each segment, plan which pieces sit on which shelf, timestamp controller readings on firing day, and record how each pack of witness cones bent.
Batch
Batch calculator and material order
Scale a recipe in grams, kilograms or pounds with a tick list as you weigh, and add up the recipes you flagged to mix into one order per material.
Tiles
Test tiles and layering notes
Keep one record per recipe, clay body, cone and thickness, and write down what one glaze does over another, with a hint when a pairing is likely to move.
AI
Advisor and defect diagnosis
Ask for ratio notes on a recipe, a suggested firing curve for a clay body and cone, or help with a defect. Nothing goes to an AI service until you agree on a consent screen that lists what is sent, and you can switch AI off in Settings.
Studio
Reminders and a studio recap
Reminders come from your own records, such as a cool-down, a drying window or a batch you mixed, and a recap summarises what you made and fired over a period.
Fit
Who it's for — and who it isn't
A good fit if you
- Throw or hand-build and want every piece, recipe and firing in one place
- Mix your own glazes and need a batch calculator and a record of test tiles
- Fire in a shared studio and want your own record of which schedule a load used
- Chase a defect such as pinholing, crawling or crazing and want to compare it with your records
- Want reminders based on your own cool-downs and drying windows
Not the right tool if you
- Want the app to certify that a glaze is food safe, which only a lab leach test can do
- Expect AI answers to replace a kiln manual or test tiles
- Want a firing controller; the app records readings and schedules but does not run a kiln
- Are looking for an iPhone app, since this page covers the Android version
- Need unlimited AI runs and backup without Pro
Safety and limits
Studio guidance, not a lab test
Recipe numbers, firing curves and AI answers in Kiln Log are general studio guidance, not a lab test. The app never tells you a glaze is food safe, because only a lab leach test can, and recipes with oxides such as lead, barium or copper are flagged as needing one.
Fire test tiles before a full batch and follow your kiln manual. A short Kiln & Studio Safety page in Settings covers ventilation, silica dust and hot ware.
Privacy
Where your journal lives
Your pottery journal is stored on your device. Signing in is optional and only lets you find a Pro backup again after a reinstall. AI requests carry only what you typed or picked on that screen, and nothing is sent until you agree on a consent screen that lists what goes out.
Full details are in the CoddyKit privacy policy.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What is the best app for tracking pottery pieces, glazes and firings?
Look for one that links the three, because a defect usually involves all of them. Kiln Log: Pottery & Ceramics is a free Android clay journal where pieces, glaze recipes and firings reference each other, with stage tracking, a batch calculator, test tiles, firing schedules and witness cones. It is built for wheel throwers, hand-builders and community studio potters.
How do I keep a glaze recipe with its cone and finish?
Add the ingredients as percentages in Kiln Log: Pottery & Ceramics, then set the target cone and the finish: matte, satin, glossy or crackle. You can add notes, scale the recipe in grams, kilograms or pounds with a tick list as you weigh, and link it to test tiles and to the pieces that used it.
What is a UMF and does the app calculate it?
UMF, the Unity Molecular Formula, expresses a glaze by the ratio of its oxides, which makes melt and fit easier to compare than percentages. Kiln Log: Pottery & Ceramics shows a UMF view with the usual ranges for your cone, drawn from published material analyses. It is a guide to melt and fit, not a lab result.
Can the app tell me whether a glaze is food safe?
No. Kiln Log: Pottery & Ceramics never says a glaze is food safe, because only a lab leach test can show that. It flags recipes containing oxides such as lead, barium or copper as needing a lab test, and its recipe numbers and AI answers are general studio guidance.
How do I record a kiln firing schedule?
Create a firing with the kiln, the target cone and each ramp, hold and cool segment. Kiln Log: Pottery & Ceramics lets you add the pieces in the load, plan the shelves, timestamp controller readings on the day and log what came out right, crawled or pinholed when you unload. Saved schedules can be reused for the next firing.
What are witness cones and why record them?
Witness cones are cones placed in the kiln so you can see how far a firing really went. Kiln Log: Pottery & Ceramics lets you record how each cone pack bent and over time shows you how your kiln really fires, which is more useful than trusting the target cone alone.
How does the AI help with defects?
The app first ranks likely causes from the piece's clay body, glaze chemistry and firing record, and only then can you ask for an AI reading. With Pro, the Glaze Defect Scanner takes a link to a photo of a fired piece to look for defects such as pinholing, crazing or shivering. Nothing is sent without your consent.
Is Kiln Log: Pottery & Ceramics free?
The app is free to download. Unlimited pieces, recipes, test tiles and firing records are free, along with every tracker, calculator and chart, plus 8 AI runs a month and up to 3 more by watching a short ad. Pro adds unlimited advisor and diagnosis runs, the Glaze Defect Scanner, backup and restore, and no ads.
Which platforms and languages does it support?
Kiln Log: Pottery & Ceramics is available on Android through Google Play, in 10 languages, with light and dark themes. It is not affiliated with any kiln, clay or ceramics supplier.
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Write down the firing before you forget it
Free on Android, in 10 languages. Pieces, recipes and firings in one clay journal.
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