[ayjay]

I'm making some small pendants and want to glaze them all over and fire to cone 6.

A home made (stoneware clay) bead frame type device will be used for suspending them above the kiln shelf but I don't currently have any Nichrome wire for the rail.

Is it OK to use some stainless steel rod? Melting point of s/s is well above cone 6 but is there anything else to consider?

Is batt wash or something similar required on the hanging rail?

[MarkS]

Been curious about this myself. The one thing I'm not sure about is how malleable the wire will get at cone 6 i.e. will it bend with the weight.
I've got a stand like the attached picture but the last batch was too heavy and tipped over when fired.
I'd be interested in how your stand looks.

Attached File(s)

•  beadracksmall.jpg (4.48K)
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[Lockley]

Stainless steel at cone six is no stronger and not much more oxidation resistant than iron. If you happen to have any broken elements from an electrc kiln or home electric dryer you can use that wire at cone 6.
Lockley

[Mark C.]

I'm guessing that s/s wire will slump big time at cone 6-Let us know what you find out when you try it-nothing gained nothing lost deal
Nichrome is the way to go .
I can tell you at cone 10 steel pliers are just a nasty crusty pool of goo.With nothing left that would give away what they once where.
Mark

[neilestrick]

My preferred method for firing beads is to slide them onto a piece of element wire that is vertical, sticking up out of a piece of soft brick or clay. The ends of the beads must be clear of glaze, and use a little alumina wax where bead meets bead. You can go as high as about 2" before you risk the wire bending over. You can fit a lot of beads onto a standard size kiln brick this way.

[TypicalGirl]

Mark C., on 27 February 2012 - 01:49 PM, said:

I can tell you at cone 10 steel pliers are just a nasty crusty pool of goo.With nothing left that would give away what they once where.
Mark

Ha!

[ayjay]

Mark C., on 27 February 2012 - 09:49 PM, said:

Let us know what you find out when you try it-nothing gained nothing lost deal

It's definitely got to be done.

It's more substantial than wire, I've got some s/s rod that's about 3-4mm diameter.

I'll give it a go with a couple of pieces and report back.



@Mark S - my frame is so crude I wouldn't dare show you.

[Pres]

ayjay, on 28 February 2012 - 03:42 PM, said:

Mark C., on 27 February 2012 - 09:49 PM, said:

Let us know what you find out when you try it-nothing gained nothing lost deal

It's definitely got to be done.

It's more substantial than wire, I've got some s/s rod that's about 3-4mm diameter.

I'll give it a go with a couple of pieces and report back.



@Mark S - my frame is so crude I wouldn't dare show you.

Talk about crude, a few years back I had some adult students interested in making beads and pendants. I had an old kiln setter rod, and some soft fire brick-Yep placed the beads and pendants on the rod cut the fire brick in half and placed the rod into the firebrick on either side. Worked great for many many firings. Then later I bought a commercial set up for up to cone 6. It held many more rods, but was not nearly as stable as my firebrick set up.

[MarkS]

The firebrick sounds like a good idea. You could drill holes or cut grooves for the rods. Stable

[TJR]

Mark C., on 27 February 2012 - 03:49 PM, said:

I'm guessing that s/s wire will slump big time at cone 6-Let us know what you find out when you try it-nothing gained nothing lost deal
Nichrome is the way to go .
I can tell you at cone 10 steel pliers are just a nasty crusty pool of goo.With nothing left that would give away what they once where.
Mark

Mark;
Did you accidentally leave your pliers in the kiln? How else would you know this?
TJR.

[Mark C.]

TJR, on 29 February 2012 - 12:48 PM, said:

Mark C., on 27 February 2012 - 03:49 PM, said:

I'm guessing that s/s wire will slump big time at cone 6-Let us know what you find out when you try it-nothing gained nothing lost deal
Nichrome is the way to go .
I can tell you at cone 10 steel pliers are just a nasty crusty pool of goo.With nothing left that would give away what they once where.
Mark

Mark;
Did you accidentally leave your pliers in the kiln? How else would you know this?
TJR.

I left some Klien electricans neednose (spendy) after repairing a wire holding my button on a fiber lining on side walls years ago-The car kiln was loaded with a glaze load and I rested them on a shelve and forgot about them-rolled in the car and the rest is history
Its the same story of why I know what cone 5 B mix clay does at cone 10 or low fire clay (o6) at cone 10-I can tell you exactly what it does.
Stuff happens over the years-I do not let any clay thats not 10 in my studio ever-I like milwaukee grinders as much as anyone but I like mine best on the shelve not in my hands.

Mark

[ayjay]

ayjay, on 28 February 2012 - 08:42 PM, said:

It's more substantial than wire, I've got some s/s rod that's about 3-4mm diameter.

I'll give it a go with a couple of pieces and report back.

Turned out just fine, no slumping of the rod, and nothing stuck to it either (which surprised me).

The rod, to which I applied batt wash (was a s/s wall tie, usually used to tie two layers of brickwork together), has turned black and sooty looking, I may just chuck it and use a fresh one each time, I can pick them up for free at work whenever I need some.

[Mark C.]

Great to know-now we all know-Thanks for the follow up
Mark