Silver & Gold Clay, Venting the Kiln | Elmer's Glass Kiln specs

4After the separator has dried and your shelf is cool, you can smoothen the separator further by rubbing your hand lightly over the shelf. The smoother the separator, the smoother the back side of the glass.

A coat of glass separator will usually last several firings. The lower the fusing temperature, the more firings you can get from one application of separator.

Using Ceramic Fireclay Posts

Ceramic posts support ceramic fireclay shelves inside a kiln.

■Do not use posts under the ceramic fiber soft shelf. Place the fiber shelf directly onto the bottom of the firing chamber.

■Place three ½” posts under the ceramic hard fireclay shelf. This aids air circulation, preventing heat built-up under the shelf.

■You can fire two or more ceramic fireclay shelves in a Par- agon jewelry kiln. Support the bottom shelf on three ½” posts. Separate the shelves with taller posts. The length of the posts and the number of shelves you can fire de- pends on the size of the kiln. When you load multiple shelves, fire at a slower rate. This aids heat distribution.

Venting the Kiln

Some types of ware, such as glass and ceramics, contain impurities that burn off during firing. These impurities must be released from the kiln. Otherwise they can affect the quality of the ware.

Silver and gold clay need no venting unless you are firing them with a material that burns out for a hollow shape, or you are combining them with another material such as glass.

If the kiln has a vent hole, open the vent. If it does not have a vent hole, open the door about ½”. Venting will be ex- plained in greater detail in sections on glass and ceramics.

Silver & Gold Clay

With silver clay, it is possible to shape intricate, free-form silver jewelry in minutes—even as a beginner. (The clay is also available in gold; for simplicity we will refer to both met- als as “silver clay.”) At the time of printing, the silver clay brands available were Art Clay Silver and Precious Metals Clay.

Silver clay looks and feels like modeling clay. It is formed with simple tools such as a tooth pick, small knife, and razor blade. Its surface is pliable and accepts impressions from objects such as leaves, coins, and coarse fabrics. After the sil- ver clay is formed, it is fired in a kiln. The recommended temperature and hold time is included with the silver clay.

Forming and firing silver clay is simple. There is nothing mysterious about making silver clay jewelry. The silver clay is made of micron-size silver (or gold) particles held in an organic binder. During firing, the binder burns away. The silver particles then fuse together forming real silver. Since the binder disappears, there is a certain amount of shrinkage during firing. Shrinkage varies depending on the type of sil- ver clay you use.

Drying Time

Small, thin silver clay pieces can be placed into the kiln while still moist, and fired. Thicker pieces need time to dry. Otherwise they may warp during firing.

To be on the safe side, give the silver clay plenty of time to dry. As you gain experience, you will know just how much drying time each type of piece needs. You can speed drying with a hair dryer.

Loading the Kiln

Silver clay pieces that have a flat side can be placed inside the kiln directly onto a shelf. Use the soft ceramic fiber type shelf. It cushions the clay silver.

■Silver clay pieces can be close together, but they must not touch.

■The soft ceramic fiber shelf can be placed directly onto the firing chamber bottom. It is not necessary to support the fiber shelf with posts, since the heat transfers easily through the fiber shelf.

■Do not coat the ceramic fiber shelf with kiln wash or glass separator.

■You can also place the silver clay on a piece of ceramic fiber batting.

Alumina Hydrate Rounded, hollow, or

other delicate shapes may

need support to prevent collapsing. You can lay these pieces onto a mound of alumina hydrate.