{"id":2420,"date":"2010-02-12T14:28:32","date_gmt":"2010-02-12T22:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artinsilver.com\/blog\/?p=2420"},"modified":"2023-02-22T14:36:33","modified_gmt":"2023-02-22T22:36:33","slug":"more-options-for-firing-copper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/artinsilver.com\/blog\/2010\/02\/12\/more-options-for-firing-copper\/","title":{"rendered":"More Options for Firing Copper"},"content":{"rendered":"

So far a few options have been suggested for firing Quick-fire copper clay:<\/p>\n

1. Torch-firing (for small pieces only);<\/p>\n

2. Hot firing – putting the piece in a hot kiln, removing it while hot, and quenching in water;<\/p>\n

3. In a fiber blanket box, with a little carbon, for two hours.<\/p>\n

The third option is the same as the method mentioned in the Quick-fire bronze schedule, except that it requires two hours instead of just one.<\/p>\n

Actually, there is an another possibility, which does not require handling a hot kiln or waiting 2 hours. If you fire copper alone, you can compensate for time with temperature. (This is true for copper, but not<\/u> for bronze!)<\/strong> I fired copper following the firing schedule for Quick-fire steel clay. I went up to 1800\u00b0F\/982\u00b0C in my top loader kiln (1880\u00b0F\/1026\u00b0C in a front loader kiln), and held for 1:00 hour.<\/p>\n

Here are the photos of before and after:<\/p>\n

\"Before\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Out<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>

Out of the kiln<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Finished\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>

Finished<\/p><\/div>\n

You can find the instructions for making a spinner bead like this in my book: Silver and Bronze Clay: Movement and Mechanisms<\/em><\/a>, pp. 88-94. In this case, the bead and the spinner are fired at the same time.<\/p>\n

\"Before\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Out<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>

Out of the kiln<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Finished\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>

Finished<\/p><\/div>\n

As you can see from the second example, unlike copper and silver, copper and steel will not alloy and melt as a result of spending a long time in contact under high temperature.<\/p>\n

Without steel present in the box, it does not seem necessary to fire at such a high temperature. So my fourth suggestion is:<\/p>\n

4. Place in a fiber blanket box with a little carbon on the bottom and on top, with no lid.<\/p>\n

Fire at 1690\u00b0F\/920\u00b0C in a top loader; 1770\u00b0F\/965\u00b0C in a front loader.
\nHold for 1:00 hour.<\/p>\n

Of course, the larger the pieces, the more carbon and time are required.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So far a few options have been suggested for firing Quick-fire copper clay: 1. Torch-firing (for small pieces only); 2. Hot firing – putting the piece in a hot kiln, removing it while hot, and quenching in water; 3. In a fiber blanket box, with a little carbon, for two hours. The third option is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/artinsilver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/artinsilver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/artinsilver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/artinsilver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/artinsilver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/artinsilver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9236,"href":"http:\/\/artinsilver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420\/revisions\/9236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/artinsilver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/artinsilver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/artinsilver.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}