Philip Poburka on fri 14 dec 01
Dear Marianne,
I believe you could use the Nichrome or similar wire as found in the heating
elements of electric Kilns, old 'Heaters' and the like...a 'Coat-Hanger' may
slump or oxidise badly, if not actually melt.
...the Nichrome wire should take the heat of fireing the 'Beads' just
dandy...
My guess anyway...
Good luck,
Phil
Las Vegas...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marianne Lombardo"
To:
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 7:04 PM
Subject: Question re Wire To Fire Beads
I want to make some beads for my grandaughter to thread on a lace. Do I
have to drive 1-1/2 hours to buy special wiring to put them on in the kiln,
or can I cut up a heavy metal clothes hanger and use that? I figure I can
make to clay cones with holes in them to hold the wire. Anyone know?
Marianne Lombardo
Peterborough, Ontario
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Marianne Lombardo on fri 14 dec 01
I want to make some beads for my grandaughter to thread on a lace. Do I =
have to drive 1-1/2 hours to buy special wiring to put them on in the =
kiln, or can I cut up a heavy metal clothes hanger and use that? I =
figure I can make to clay cones with holes in them to hold the wire. =
Anyone know? =20
Marianne Lombardo
Peterborough, Ontario
potterybydai on sat 15 dec 01
Marianne - the answer is NO, don't use coat hanger wire in the kiln! It
will melt long before the beads are fired. If you absolutely can't get any
kanthal wire, or bead rods, make your beads so they will stand on end, and
just don't glaze the ends. Maybe stain them or something if you don't like
the raw clay. You could make some sort of ornamental impressions around the
ends to disguise the fact that it's raw clay. Also, make sure you clean the
glaze out of the holes, or you won't be able to thread them.
I'm sure your granddaughter will be delighted with them!
Dai in Kelowna, having my own 3 grandsons here this weekend, one of whom (12
yrs. old) is learning the wheel---quite successfully, I might add!
"Life is what happens while we're continuously planning what
our futures will be..... and before we know it, it's over."
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marianne Lombardo"
To:
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 7:04 PM
Subject: [CLAYART] Question re Wire To Fire Beads
I want to make some beads for my grandaughter to thread on a lace. Do I
have to drive 1-1/2 hours to buy special wiring to put them on in the kiln,
or can I cut up a heavy metal clothes hanger and use that? I figure I can
make to clay cones with holes in them to hold the wire. Anyone know?
Marianne Lombardo
Peterborough, Ontario
____________________________________________________________________________
__
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
Cindy Strnad on sat 15 dec 01
Dear Marianne,
Make the drive, if that's what you have to do to
get a bead setter. Coat hangers won't work. But
probably the store will be happy to ship you
whatever you need. Bead setters don't work well
with heavy beads, or above the low-fire range
(voice of bitter experience here).
Best of luck,
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
cindy@earthen-vessels-pottery.com
http://www.earthen-vessels-pottery.com
Cl Litman on sat 15 dec 01
I've fired paperclips (don't use cheap ones) and copper wires and small
nails to 06 and never had a problem with melting. Didn't use coathangers.
Kids sculptures. Just don't take it above 06 where at some point it
makes a real mess as it melts, runs onto a shelf and fluxes deep into the
kiln shelf forever . I think that was the experiment where we were
trying to also melt a marble into the bottom of a pinch pot and I went to
cone 6.
Cheryl Litman - NJ
cheryllitman@juno.com
Marianne Lombardo on sat 15 dec 01
OK, making the beads just stand on the ends sounds good. That's what I'll
do for now. Thanks. When my grandaughter comes over here, she runs down to
the pottery wheel now. I put a lump of clay on the wheel, sit her down and
give her a wooden tool. She happily scrapes away at the slowly turning lump
of clay. At age 2-1/2 I see the makings of a future potter! Kids are
terrific and I'm finding that grandchildren are even more fun then my
children were. Maybe because I don't have to raise them, just enjoy them.
Marianne
> Marianne - the answer is NO, don't use coat hanger wire in the kiln! It
> will melt long before the beads are fired. If you absolutely can't get
any
> kanthal wire, or bead rods, make your beads so they will stand on end, and
Marsh Pottery on sat 15 dec 01
Hi Marianne,
More "helpful" hints:
Call and Order the bead rods & rack.. It'll arrive in a few days. S&H is
cheaper than your time & gasoline.
Have you ever used Egyptian Paste for beads? It's a self-glazing
low-fire clay. You can either make it yourself or order it (dry by the LB)
in colors. The salts in it form the glaze, so be careful not to brush off
the powder that develops on the exposed surfaces. Make beads, place on kiln
washed bead rod & don't touch again until fired.
Marsha
Marsh Pottery Studio
http://www.marshpottery.com
Ron Collins on sat 15 dec 01
You can do like I do, if you are making a bunch....string them and put terra
sig, then lay them down and put glaze only on the top half, still strung
together. Lay on kiln shelf this way and they won't move and the understide
will not be glazed, just sig'ed, but the top will be glazed. I don't bisque
these, just raw glaze.
Natalie Winter on sun 16 dec 01
In message <013d01c18523$1955fda0$7342173f@David>, Philip Poburka
writes
>I believe you could use the Nichrome or similar wire as found in the heating
>elements of electric Kilns, old 'Heaters' and the like...a 'Coat-Hanger' may
>slump or oxidise badly, if not actually melt.
Absolutely right. Nichrome 80/20 wire is cheaper and easier to get than
Kanthal and can stand repeated firing to cone 9. It can be got from most
electronics supply houses as it's widely used in electrical/electronic
engineering.
We use that alloy in our "stilts for stoneware" which we both use in the
studio and sell through pottery suppliers. The stilts use solid 2mm
diameter pins in 80/20, we also use thin wire (under 1mm) for stringing
beads etc.
Stainless steel is also OK for the lower cones (say, cone 04 max), but
NiCr is cheap, much more durable, and suitable for high temps. Mild
steel (coat-hangers etc) will oxidise away to almost nothing, as well as
probably turning all your work brown, and soft metals like copper wire
are a definite no-no as they melt way below firing temperatures.
For the original poster looking for some bead wire: I assume you only
want a fairly short piece of wire, so if you have trouble sourcing it,
drop me a line by email and I'll let you have a bit from our studio.
Hope this helps
Nali
Natalie Winter in Exeter, SW England
The Dawnmist Website: http://www.dawnmist.demon.co.uk
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