[Jewelry making - Article 01399] - Re: [Orchid] Prips on kiln

[Janet Yang]

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>         I never use flux when I am fusing links. If you are using    
>     fine silver, it won't be necessary. 

    Margaret, a disconcertingly large proportion of my links were either
    melting or acquiring a rough texture from overheating. Then I read
    about a granulation technique: Applying copper just to the sections
    to be fused. It essentially creates a localized, lower-melting
    alloy, so the join can be fused without overheating the remaining,
    purer silver. 

    Thus I entered a Mad Scientist phase. I put a small section of
    plumbing pipe into ammonia to make a copper solution, took the
    battery out of the garage-door opener to make a crude electroplater,
    and plated copper onto the silver links. 

    The directions for granulation said to add a little flux, so I
    dipped the links into Prip's. Then I laid the links onto the ceramic
    surface of the kiln and used a butane minitorch to complete the
    fusing. 

    Evidently, the heat needed to fuse the links was also enough to turn
    the flux into glass-based cement! Whatever links that I successfully
    fused were subsequently mangled when wrenched from the kiln. :( 

Janet
the former Mad Scientist



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