Vaporized sterling!

[aeboaz]

Hi all,

I just had the strangest experience.  I was torch firing a piece of ACS 650, and I'd inserted a loop of sterling wire to hang the earring from the ear wire.  In some of the pieces, but not all, the wire just ...... vaporized!  My first thought was that it was sold to me as sterling, but perhaps it wasn't, but I have another piece I successfully fired with the wire.  Then I thought perhaps it was because I'd also used a stone (a natural peridot, which is supposed to be OK) and maybe somehow the wire is touching the stone and it got too hot, but then I attempted to fire another piece (without a stone) and the same thing happened.  I also noticed the pieces started melting really quickly.   ??

It just occurred to me as I was writing this that perhaps all this happened because I didn't let the firing brick cool between firing pieces?

And lastly, can I now attach a loop of dried ACS and refire it?  I know the oil paste is used to attach fired pieces together, but is it possible to attach an unfired piece to a fired piece?  I'm not sure my pieces are completely fired, since I stopped as soon as I saw what was happening (the melting and the vaporizing wire).

Sorry this is so long - hopefully you can shed some light. '>
Thanks!
Ann

[Metalman]

Very Strange!?!
With the 2 details you mentioned, I suspect a low temperature wire. Possibly made of tin or zinc. This would account  for the 'vaporizing' and the 'melting really quickly'.
How it got in your mix of sterling wire is the mystery.
I can't think of a reason that cool down of the fire brick would cause effects like this - so I would say not there.

I have attached unfired clay to fired clay using a number of layers of paste etc., [not Oil Paste]  I frequently refire many times without problems. Depending on the size of the loop, this may be OK - but if the profile is too small the ACS will not work as a bail or a hanging loop.

Ordinarily for refiring - just heating them up again will work fine

In this case - I am concerned - If you Art Clay pieces have been contaminated somehow with a low temperature metal [lead, zinc, tin, etc.] -This is what I suspect from your description, then there is no way to fix it. Those are ruined.
If you need to , call me at 1-800-366-2156, ext 120, and I can explain further. I may need to call you back but will be happy to do that.

[aeboaz]

Hi Kurt!  Thanks for your speedy reply!  I wanted to let you know that I did *not* get the wire at R&T. '>  Contaminated wire was my first thought too, but the very first piece I fired (on the cold brick) was perfectly fine, so I'm thinking more and more that the hot brick was the problem - and to clarify, the clay itself started melting really quickly, not just the wire.  It went from glowing to melting in an instant - it wasn't my usual faux pas of looking away at the timer, or anything like that.

I'm going to try to repair the pieces, because after all, they're certainly not usable as they are now, I might as well try to salvage them.

Thanks again, and keep your fingers crossed!
Ann

[Metalman]

So this is grabbing my interest.
What sort of brick are you using?  Most of the firing type of bricks shouldn't 'hold' the heat that much - in general they are good at reflecting heat
Keep me posted

[aeboaz]

Hi Kurt, I'm using a firing brick from R&T.  What I was working on was 2 pairs of earrings, so I had 4 matching little doodads (well, as matching as they can be with a beginner like myself), each with a peridot at the top and a sterling loop, and I intended to fire them one after another.  #1 fired beautifully. #2 melted and the wire vaporized.  Foolishly, I immediately tried to fire #3, and it did the same thing.  Today, I fired #4, and it's perfectly fine.  I really do think it's the brick.  Well, now we know, eh??  Let that brick cool off! '>

BTW, I have so far been unable to repair the other 2 pieces.  I am attempting to attach a sterling jump ring like you showed us in class (lots of paste and building it up a bit) but it doesn't want to attach.  I'm going to give it a couple more tries, then I think I'll have to just chalk it up to experience.

Thanks again for talking about this with me - so nice to have a resource such as this board and your expertise.
Ann