Well- I must be doing something wrong with metal clay in my cute new Ultra Lite Beehive Kiln but I don't know what it is. I have tried to fire 6 pieces that I was very pleased with only to have them crumble after firing. I tried re-firing after the clay failed to sinter the first time only to have the entire piece turn brittle and when it broke I could see that it was blackened through and though The learning curve with metal clay is notoriously steep and can hit the pocket book hard. I've just ordered some more clay to work with. I'm using Hadar's Clay and Prometheus because I originally planned to torch fire and they were recommended for that approach but I ran into the same issues I'm having with the Ultra Lite. To date I have one tiny charm made with Hadar's clay with a torch... everything else has disintegrated.
If anyone has any suggestions for me besides buying a $1000 kiln please let me know.
Now I'll go back to mourning those pieces that turned to dust.
I would suggest emailing Hadar to ask if she knows what may be the issue. Other then that, I haven't had that sort of failure.....and I am using a kiln
ReplyDeletehi Kathi- I have a note on the way to Hadar- actually oredering more clay- are you using an UltraLite kiln?
ReplyDeleteI have an olympic front loader as I also use it for my fused glass. It is also a 120v kiln. I have a dedicated line/fuse for the kiln so there won't be any surges. It looks like there is a big difference between our two kilns. I have only done PMC and bronze clay in mine and none of Hadar's clay.
ReplyDeleteI would think it has to be the kiln. When I was doing it, I used a "Hot Pot". Not very expensive and small but everything turned out just fine. I don't remember exactly how it worked but it had fuel and I had to set it out on the garage floor. I was also using PMC(?)...I think that was the name of it!
ReplyDeleteHi Susan- you're right- pmc3 works with this kiln and current temp- the clay i have been using needs different firing temps.... i'm going to continue tinkering.
ReplyDeleteThe kiln I use is different. it is an olympic paragon 120v front loaded I also use for fusing glass. I am with Susan and will take a chance in saying it is the kiln that is causing the issues. My kiln is on a dedicated circuit so there is no chance of a power surge. hth
ReplyDeleteYup- I know that if i had a pricy kiln everything would be fine but I'm on a budget and need to find a way to make this budget priced kiln work. I am thinking I may be out of luck with copper tho...but I'll do some experimenting when I get a temp control- it's on it's way from Chicago.
ReplyDelete