Sunday, January 18, 2009

Fusing

Nope..no pictures yet, but I did try my hand at fusing tonight with 16g fine silver. I wanted to make a couple of stackable rings for myself before I went for drinks with the girls. So one ring turned out ok and the other ring didn't fuse at all :(

I know, I can't expect perfection on my first try! BUT, if you know me...you'll know that I most definitely do! I don't believe that it sets me up for failure, I see it as more of a challenge to achieve my expectations!

So I'm going to read the book again tonight to see if I missed something...I thought I had followed the steps. I made sure the cut was clean, though I don't own Tronex cutters (I think that's the brand the author uses), I did file to achieve the flush ends. I also wonder if it's my ceramic tile that I'm using. I don't have a fire brick as it calls for in the book, and I can't seem to find one anywhere. I bought the ceramic tile from Craft Warehouse for soldering and thought that it would work for this as well, but I wonder if it's drawing the heat away from the silver as I'm trying to fuse??? Food for thought anyways. Debora, what are you firing your silver on? If you'd rather email me you can reach me at shi_girl30@hotmail.com or convo me on Etsy :)

So wish me luck tomorrow as I'm going to dedicate the majority of my day to fusing. I will take pictures for you this time, they'll either be of finished rings, or some horribly gone wrong projects!! I've got my fingers crossed that it's not the latter.

1 comment:

Beadin By The Sea said...

Shi, I think the fire brick is very important as it retains heat and distributes it throughout the silver more evenly. I have one for firing PMC. Try Seattle Pottery Supply (ref. in the book), Fire Mountain Gems or Rio Grande. Convo me on Etsy if you like too!