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Tips, Techniques, and Questions -- Technical questions or tips

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  #1  
Old 2017-01-08, 1:05pm
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scouncil scouncil is offline
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Question Kilns, glass, metals, fuming? I need help please?

I have a Paragon SCII kiln w bead door. It is a workhorse for me. I was once told that you shouldn't use a kiln for glass AND precious metal clay firing? I also want to do enameling on copper. What can I do and what can't I do in my kiln if I still want to use it for Lampworking? Thanks for any/all help.
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Old 2017-01-08, 9:44pm
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Susan, you can use your kiln for both PMC and glass, but you do need a separate kiln shelf or fiber blanket for pmc firing because the traces of metal can migrate into the glass after contact with the kiln shelf (at least there are cases of this but in fusing area with higher than annealing temperatures - even through a layer of Bullseye Thinfire paper some residues of silver migrated into fused piece creating a ghosty image). Also you may want to raise the top plug a bit (I have SC2 as well and use the shelf posts I received with the kiln when I bought it) to help the fumes from pmc escape from the kiln. Also should not put glass and metals together for the firing until you want to do it for some reason. And of course your annealing/fusing programs will be different than they are for pmc firing.

Of course it is better to have a separate kiln or annealer for glass, but you can use the same kiln. At least until you decide that you want a separate kiln for glass.

And please be carefull when you put the mandrels inside the kiln - the bead door is quite narrow and it is pretty easy to pierce the isolation on the back wall.
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Old 2017-01-09, 11:23am
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Also remember that those heating elements that glow red hot are directly connected to the house hold power and you really don't want the metal mandrel in your fingers to get within an half inch of them.

They don't usually spark over but you really don't want to find out how close is too close.

I will add that an extra healthy coating of kiln wash is a really good idea for metal clay work because any discoloring fumes that collect on a surface can be removed with the kiln wash.

Venting during the binder burn off of the metal clay is also a good idea. Getting some air flow while the fumes are outgassing will keep them from settling on surfaces and causing staining. You might want to crack the bead door a smidgeon at the same time to aid in getting a directed flow of fumes out the top.
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Old 2017-01-10, 4:38pm
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Thanks so much for your help!
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