Mark Bolton on mon 10 nov 97
I am wondering if any can answer a couple of high temp wire questions for
me,... 1.can you point me to a source and for wire to make your own elements
as well as some good reference material to read on how to do this?...
2.we are trying to fire some Christmas ornaments glazed all around that
weigh possibly 1-2 oz. bisqed to cone 6 and therefore they need to be
hanging,.. we have tried bead trees, colapsed, making a slab from ^10 clay
supported by 2 posts with holes in the slab then hang ornaments with kemper
hitemp wire (says goes to ^5 but slumps at about 1900`F) that didnt work. Any
suggestions?...
SO what we need is a wire that is supporting at ^6,.. I realize
supporting is bearing on the load,.. I cant hang a 12" ornate vase from it ,..
but somethign to fire 1-3 ornaments on a rod weighing 1-2 oz. each spanning
4-6" ,.. is this possible while maintaining a moderately small rod diameter?...
1/16-1/8" or so,... or conversly a bendable wire that we can loop through the
ornament and hang from a slab/drilled shelf/post?... o.k. stop rambling,...
thanks for your anticipated comments....
Mark Bolton
Grafton, MA
grolleg@sprynet.com
Vince Pitelka on tue 11 nov 97
> 2.we are trying to fire some Christmas ornaments glazed all around that
>weigh possibly 1-2 oz. bisqed to cone 6 and therefore they need to be
>hanging,.. we have tried bead trees, colapsed, making a slab from ^10 clay
>supported by 2 posts with holes in the slab then hang ornaments with kemper
>hitemp wire (says goes to ^5 but slumps at about 1900`F) that didnt work. Any
>suggestions?...
I encountered this problem some years ago. This is what we did. For each
12"-long wire strung with ornaments or whatever, make a pair of heavy
bisqu-fired pedestals about six inches tall, with wide bases and lots of
weight - like half a hardbrick. They should come to a point on top, with a
1/8" vertical hole an inch deep at the top. If you want a 12"-span between
pedestals, take a 14" piece of fairly heavy kanthal wire - probably 14 gauge
(dependent on the weight of the pieces hanging on it), string the pieces on
the wire, and then bend one inch of each end at a right angle (both angles
pointing in the same direction!) If your pieces will fit over that bend,
you can do the bend before stringing the work on the wire. Space the
pedestals appropriately, and slip the one-inch bends into the holes in the
top of the pedestals. In firing, the kanthal wire softens, but remains
quite strong. It will not pull out of those holes with the right-angle
bend, and the weight of the pedestals will keep the tension on the wire.
Make the pedestals out of very refractory clay - since you don't need much
clay, just work it up by hand from 50-50 fireclay and fine grog. After
firing, if you can remove the pieces and string on new ones without having
to un-bend the ends of the wire, you can re-use the wire. Otherwise you
will have to use a new piece of wire each time. But that is a small price
to pay.
A modified version of this same system works well for beads, strung on
smaller wire. As long as the wire makes a right-angle bend and is threaded
into a hole only slightly larger than its diameter, The weight of the beads
will not pull the wire out of the pedestals.
It is amazing how much of this sort of stuff you can improvise, rather than
buying the commercial fixtures.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Jean Stephenson on wed 12 nov 97
I don't know if this helps, but I fired a few ornaments to ^10. I left
the tip where the hanging cap is attached clear of glaze and it was
enough to support it. The hanging cap covered the unglazed portion.
They turned out pretty but kinda heavy for the end of a branch. Jean
Sheryl VanVleck on thu 13 nov 97
<< 2 posts with holes in the slab then hang ornaments with kemper
>hitemp wire (says goes to ^5 but slumps at about 1900`F) that didnt work.
Any
>suggestions?...
I encountered this problem some years ago. This is what we did.
For each
12"-long wire strung with ornaments or whatever, make a pair of heavy
bisqu-fired pedestals about six inches tall, with wide bases and lots of
weight - like half a hardbrick. They should come to a point on top, with a
1/8" vertical hole an inch deep at the top. If you want a 12"-span between
pedestals, take a 14" piece of fairly heavy kanthal wire - probably 14 gauge
(dependent on the weight of the pieces hanging on it), string the pieces on
the wire, and then bend one inch of each end at a right angle (both angles
pointing in the same direction!) If your pieces will fit over that bend,
you can do the bend before stringing the work on the wire. Space the
pedestals appropriately, and slip the one-inch bends into the holes in the
top of the pedestals. In firing, the kanthal wire softens, but remains
quite strong. It will not pull out of those holes with the right-angle
bend, and the weight of the pedestals will keep the tension on the wire.
Make the pedestals out of very refractory clay - since you don't need much
clay, just work it up by hand from 50-50 fireclay and fine grog. After
firing, if you can remove the pieces and string on new ones without having
to un-bend the ends of the wire, you can re-use the wire. Otherwise you
will have to use a new piece of wire each time. But that is a small price
to pay.
A modified version of this same system works well for beads,
strung on
smaller wire. As long as the wire makes a right-angle bend and is threaded
into a hole only slightly larger than its diameter, The weight of the beads
will not pull the wire out of the pedestals.
It is amazing how much of this sort of stuff you can improvise,
rather than
buying the commercial fixtures.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
>>
Fay & Ralph Loewenthal on thu 13 nov 97
Vince forgive me for correcting you but is not 14 gauge
1.6mm and 1 gauge is the heavy wire, over 7mm. This is
according to Olsen's kiln book. Ralph in PE SA.
Vince Pitelka on fri 14 nov 97
At 06:09 PM 11/13/97 -0500, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>Vince forgive me for correcting you but is not 14 gauge
>1.6mm and 1 gauge is the heavy wire, over 7mm. This is
>according to Olsen's kiln book. Ralph in PE SA.
I don't get this. 14 gauge is fairly heavy kanthal wire, as compared to 18
gauge or 22 gauge. Of course there are much heavier gauges, but what does
that have to do with the discussion at hand? 14 gauge is a heavier than the
16 gauge or 18 gauge that many people use to fire beads, and I felt that the
extra thickness was warranted to support heavier objects.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Fay & Ralph Loewenthal on mon 17 nov 97
There is a bead making factory here in PE SA that bought
my whole stock of 14 gauge, 1.6mm Kanthal wire. One
cannot get thinner Kanthal wire here. If one wants thinner
then you have to buy Nichrome wire. I would have thought
that items of 1 to 2 ounces in weight need something more
substantial to support them, something like 8 gauge,
3.2mm wire. Ralph in PE SA.
Vince Pitelka on tue 18 nov 97
At 06:34 PM 11/17/97 -0500, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>There is a bead making factory here in PE SA that bought
>my whole stock of 14 gauge, 1.6mm Kanthal wire. One
>cannot get thinner Kanthal wire here. If one wants thinner
>then you have to buy Nichrome wire. I would have thought
>that items of 1 to 2 ounces in weight need something more
>substantial to support them, something like 8 gauge,
>3.2mm wire. Ralph in PE SA.
>
Ralph -
That is the idea behind the pedestals I described several weeks ago. The
vertical bend in the 14 ga. wire, inserted into the vertical hole in the
pedestals, and the weight of the pedestals, keeps some tension on the wire
in the firing, allowing it to support considerable weight. The use of 14
ga. wire also allows you to have a very small hole in whatever you are
hanging on the wire. 8 ga. is thick stuff.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Tadeusz Westawic on tue 18 nov 97
Fay & Ralph Loewenthal wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> There is a bead making factory here in PE SA that bought
> my whole stock of 14 gauge, 1.6mm Kanthal wire. One
> cannot get thinner Kanthal wire here. If one wants thinner
> then you have to buy Nichrome wire. I would have thought
> that items of 1 to 2 ounces in weight need something more
> substantial to support them, something like 8 gauge,
> 3.2mm wire. Ralph in PE SA.
Hi,
Get a broken oven or broiler element from dump or appliance repair shop
trash.
Cut the tubing open with tubing cutter and break open the tube.
Surprise, free fine guage element wire for small beads, or whatever.
Tadzu -- road-weary from weekend travel in SW New Mexico
Eleanora Eden on tue 18 nov 97
Hi Mark and all,
You can dangle anything from a wire that's well-anchored as Vince suggests
just leave enough space under the thing so if the ornament distends the
wire there will still be adequate space beneath it....in my experience
things can end up 3 or 4 inches below where you thought they'd be with the
wire still intact.
But I would take a different tack. I have made tiles and bars with holes
to accept kanthol wire pieces the other end of which is positioned in the
end of the beadwire hole or just a pierced location that will eventually
hold a little "eye" for a ribbon or chain.......now if you have 1 or 2 oz
ornaments I'd think that getting hold of the really thick guage kanthol
wire and using about a 1" or less piece to support the ornament upsidedown
you would have a whole lot less headaches and accidents. If you want to
make single-ornament supports well the area of the base will have to be
wide enough for good balance, about 2". You didn't say whether these
ornaments are shaped or flat. If they're flat then a bar support would be
the best tack, holes an inch apart, 4 or 6 to a bar, you're cooking. If
they're shaped maybe singles would be best. Anyway I've gone down these
paths and I think the upsidedown method shines brightest for heavier
ornaments.
Hope this is clear.....E
At 08:50 AM 11/10/97 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I am wondering if any can answer a couple of high temp wire questions for
>me,... 1.can you point me to a source and for wire to make your own elements
>as well as some good reference material to read on how to do this?...
> 2.we are trying to fire some Christmas ornaments glazed all around
that
>weigh possibly 1-2 oz. bisqed to cone 6 and therefore they need to be
>hanging,.. we have tried bead trees, colapsed, making a slab from ^10 clay
>supported by 2 posts with holes in the slab then hang ornaments with kemper
>hitemp wire (says goes to ^5 but slumps at about 1900`F) that didnt work. Any
>suggestions?...
> SO what we need is a wire that is supporting at ^6,.. I realize
>supporting is bearing on the load,.. I cant hang a 12" ornate vase from it
,..
>but somethign to fire 1-3 ornaments on a rod weighing 1-2 oz. each spanning
>4-6" ,.. is this possible while maintaining a moderately small rod
diameter?...
>1/16-1/8" or so,... or conversly a bendable wire that we can loop through the
>ornament and hang from a slab/drilled shelf/post?... o.k. stop rambling,...
>thanks for your anticipated comments....
>
>Mark Bolton
>Grafton, MA
>grolleg@sprynet.com
>
>
Eleanora Eden 802 869-2003
Paradise Hill
Bellows Falls, VT 05101 eden@sover.net
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