Fusing - Take Two

Okay so today was much more successful than yesterday. I'm still having troubles with fusing larger sized rings not gauge but actual size. I've posted some pictures here to show you the results.

I've got my rings laid out on my ceramic tile ready to be fused.

The results after fusing 4 different sized rings, the larger ring on the far left did not fuse.

After hammering them for texture, I put them in my tumbler and here's the result:

I just made a few more so when I'm done here I will actually hammer them flat to be used in necklaces and earrings. I really am pleased at how they turned out and I can't wait to see what fun things I can create using this technique!

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.

Fusing vs. Soldering

So I saw this really great book on fusing silver. I was in a hurry, didn't have a chance to purchase it, but flipped through it really quick. I was pretty excited at the thought not having to solder, plus it showed you can hammer the piece after fusing. I have not had successful attempts at hammering after soldering, the piece just splits apart.

Today I decided to try it without having the book on hand. Well let's just say it kind of failed. First I tried fusing a ring that was made of low dome sterling silver. Nada! Then I tried a ring using 20g dead soft sterling silver...again nothing. Then with some scrap silver I tried a very thin piece, which I believe was 24 or 26 gauge. Well it kind of worked, part of the silver fused together, but not like it showed in the book.

Then I went online to see what I could find on the subject of fusing. It looks like the recommended silver to use is fine silver and not sterling. With fine silver the melting point is higher than sterling so that kind of confused me, but maybe it's the extra alloys that are in sterling that doesn't quite allow a fusing to happen.

Needless to say I'm going to purchase the book and see what I'm doing wrong or missing. So if any of you out there have ever tried fusing or have any tips or hints, can you send them my way? I would be greatly appreciative of it!

I was really hoping to have some fun pieces to list tomorrow...but that's not the case. As you can tell I'm one of those people that thinks I should be successful at least within the first few attempts....grrr....but I'm not going to give up. I'll post more information after a few more attempts. Back to the torch.