Firing Ceramics With Metal

Jul 31 2005 9 25 metal fired with pottery.

Firing ceramics with metal.

To fire metal clay without a kiln and with a gas hob here s what you have to do. Metal trash cans work well as raku kilns for firing small batches of ceramic greenware. In this guide from soul ceramics we ll walk you through some tips on firing metal clay. I know how to add metal to pottery after the work has been fired but can work be fired with metal already in it.

Metal clay is sculpted and molded just like ceramic clay but turns into a solid metal after firing. Pieces of pottery have survived for thousands of years all because clay met fire. I am playing with some multi media ideas. But you need not be afraid if you test your kiln and the clay you will be using first to get to.

It s not as straightforward as firing silverclay so watc. Firing metal clay with your own gas hob at home is a simple process too. Firing clay transforms it from its humble soft beginnings into a new durable substance. Set the completed precious metal clay or art clay object on a heatable tile cradling it in a bed of alumina hydrate if the form is other than flat middle drawing above.

Set the tile into the kiln on bits of brick that lift it off the floor facilitating both heating and removal of the object. Picture as an example a slab of clay with a screw through it. Currently i would simply create a hole for the screw fire the piece then add the screw and epoxy it in. From this idea a model is handbuilt using crank clay clay with lots of grog in it so it s less likely to shrink warp or crack during drying painted with kiln wash and fired to cone 7 in an electric kiln.

Can i torch fire base metal clay. The model is needed to support the metal framework during the firing otherwise it would collapse. Yes art clay copper can definitely be torch fired successfully. They contain the fire neatly and have less risk of fire spreading than open pit fires.

Kiln firing sintering and silver metal clay it seems the bigger the equipment in the jewelry studio the more intimidated newcomers are of that equipment. Ceramics are tough and strong and similar in some ways to stone. Before firing after you ve finished forming your piece the.