Pottery Kiln Firing Fee Calculator
By Size
Calculate kiln firing fees based on a pottery piece's dimensions, cost per cubic or square inch, and any fixed costs.
If your studio calculates kiln charges by weight, use our Firing Fee Calculator by Weight
This firing fee calculator is helpful if you do pottery in a studio environment where you pay to fire each piece based on its size, and/or if you're a studio assistant responsible for measuring others' pottery.
Note: if your studio calculates kiln charges by weight, use our Firing Fee Calculator by Weight
Entering Pottery Dimensions
Enter the piece's dimension. If your studio charges by the cubic inch, enter the height, width, and depth. If your piece is round, enter the diameter into both the width and the depth fields, along with the height.
If your studio charges by the square inch, enter the height, and width. Studios will generally measure using the height and whichever is larger - width or depth, so enter the larger of the two into the depth field.
Entering Firing Fee Per Space
Fee Per Space - This field is used to enter how much you are charged per cubic inch/cm or per square inch/cm. If your studio charges 3 cents per cubic inch, enter .03. If it charges 4 cents per square inch, enter .04, etc.
Tips to keep costs down
Cylinders, from vases, to mugs, to slab boxes, will always be more cost effective than wide bowls! For example, if your studio charges 0.04 (4 cents) per cubic inch to fire, a 10" tall cylinder that is 4" deep and 4" wide will cost $6.40 to fire, whereas a bowl that is 10" in diameter and 4" tall will cost $16 dollars - nearly 3 times the price!