Firing twice???

[Bluebell]

Hi everyone,

I've just made a pendant from Art Clay Silver.  It's all done, torch fired, tumbled and polished, but its lacking something......  I wish I had included an embedded CZ before firing.  Here's my question.... is there any way I can add on a CZ?  Even if I have to drill out a little of the silver to create a hollow for the CZ to sit in? I would normally use a blob of syringe and push the CZ into it.  And can I re-fire it without the whole thing melting?

Cheers
L x 

[JKC]

As broken pieces can be repaired and re-fired, I think that you would have no problem making additions and refiring,.  Good luck.

[amareargentum]

I don't normally torch fire but a lot of my pieces are fired several times in the kiln. As long as you only heat it to the normal temperature it should be fine.

[Bluebell]

Ok thanks for that - but I'm a bit concerned that I'm not sure of the actual technique for attaching unfired clay to fired clay.

Has anyone done this before e.g. added on bits and pieces afterwards?  Will it bond??

[JKC]

I haven't had to repair anything, yet, but I know that you can use the syringes, or pastes to mend pieces or join parts.  You can also make your own paste, there is a load of info on the web.  Here is one site with info, but there are loads more www.silverclaycreations.co.uk/about.html

[amareargentum]

The best way to do it is with oil paste. You can make your own by adding a drop of lavender oil to ordinary silver clay paste. If you put a little of this on where you want to add something, or repair something, let it dry and then you can add ordinary paste/syringe on top of it. You need to make sure that the oil paste is fully dry before you fire it. HTH
Amanda x

[Bluebell]

Thanks Amanda!

At the moment I only have clay and syringe type.  Can I "water down" the clay to make paste and add in lavender oil or is this a different thing altogether?

[amareargentum]

It is exactly the dame thing. You can use a small bit of your clay and add water until it is the consistency that you want - be careful not to add too much at a time. Then add the drop of lavender oil. It is easier to mix if you add a few drops of water to the lump of clay and leave it overnight. That softens the lump and makes it easier to get a creamy paste.

[Bluebell]

Thanks very much for all your advice!

Linda x