Firiing Art Clay Silver

FIRING ART CLAY SILVER

Before firing Art Clay Silver, you must ensure that it is completely dry.
Otherwise it may crack during firing. Click here for drying information:

Drying Times for all Art Clay products

There are 3 different ways to fire Art Clay Silver. These instructions are for Art Clay Silver 650 which is the new low-fire Art Clay Silver that is fireable at 650°C. They also apply to Art Clay Silver 650 Slow Dry - but you will need to dry the pieces longer.

Click here for the new Art Clay Products Firing Chart. This chart covers all Art Clay products, including Gold and overlay pastes:

Firing Chart for all Art Clay products

Gas Hob Firing
Art Clay Silver 650 is easy to fire on a gas hob using a stainless steel mesh (available from Art Clay suppliers). You can fire several pieces at a time. If you do not have a gas hob, a camping gas stove is an economical alternative.

1.
Place the stainless steel mesh on the hob and turn it on. Note where the mesh glows bright red - this is the hottest part.

2.
Use tweezers to place the Art Clay Silver piece on the mesh where it glowed hottest. For safety, cover with a mesh cage (or use eye protection while firing)

3.
Turn on the gas burner again and watch until the piece starts to glow a faint orange. You may need to keep the lights dim in the room to see this. Time for 5 minutes. You will see a little smoke from the binder burning away. Turn off the burner and leave to cool for 20 minutes. Now the piece is ready for brushing and polishing.

Blow Torch Firing
This is another simple firing method and all you need are a blow torch (a cook's brulée torch is not recommended - many are simply not hot enough to fire the clay to a strong result) and a fibre brick or fire brick. Blow torch firing is not as reliable as gas hob firing - because the flame is so hot, there is a risk of melting the piece unless you watch carefully.

1.
Place the dried piece of Art Clay Silver on a fibre brick.

2.
Turn on the blow torch and adjust the flame so that it is just beginning to turn yellow. The blue needle flame is the hottest flame, the yellow flame is the cooler flame. You need to set it just before the flame turns yellow.

3.
Hold the torch about 10cm (4") from the piece and move it over it evenly. When the piece begins to glow faintly, continue for about 1 minute (see table below). If the piece begins to look shiny, pull the torch away or the silver will melt. The piece will turn black and a little smoke will show the binder is burning away. When the piece turns completely white all over, it is fired. Cool thoroughly and then brush and polish.

Kiln Firing
Art Clay Silver is easy to fire in a kiln. The advantage of kiln firing is that you can fire much larger pieces than with the other two methods. You can also fire pieces with core materials such as Cork core clay and artificial stones. You will need a kiln with a temperature controller so that the temperature can be held at the right level for the time required. See the table below for temperatures and timings.

1.
Put the dried piece on a fibre board into a cold or warm kiln (below 300C/570F). Program the kiln to take at least 15 minutes to reach the firing temperature.

If you are using Art Clay Silver combined with other materials such as man-made stones and glass, check the appropriate firing temperature and hold time for these materials.

2.
Refer to the chart below for the temperatures and holding times required. Art Clay Silver 650 can be fired with glass because of its low firing temperature.

3.
After the hold time, let the kiln cool down to about 300C/570F before removing the silver pieces. Pieces are more likely to crack if they are cooled quickly.

Art Clay Silver 650 Firing Information

	Gas Hob Firing	Blow Torch Firing	Kiln Firing
Firing Time	5 minutes	1 to 2.5 minutes	650°C/1200°F: 30 minutes
			700°C/1290°F: 20 minutes
			750°C/1380°F: 10 minutes
			780°C/1435°F: +5 minutes
Size Limit	Max 5cm (L) x 3cm (W) x 2cm (H) (2"x1.2"x0.8") up to 30 gms	Max 4cm diameter (1.6") up to 25 gms	Depends on chamber size and volume
Remarks	Simple firing method	Simple firing method	Universal firing method

Art Clay World UK
3 Harts Lane, Wortham
Diss, Norfolk IP22 1SQ
Tel: 01379 890176
Email: info@artclayworld.org.uk