Metal rod that will fire to cone 5-6

[sprig2]

I did a search and didn't find a thread on this subject.  So I am posting to ask. I need a metal rod that will hold pendants, ornaments. etc.  My glazes are cone 5-6 so I need it to handle those temps. I have nichrome wire but its not rated to that high a temp when I looked it up.  I saw some rods being sold as being able to go to cone 10 on a site but it did not say what type rod it was and it was quite expnesive if you needed more than one or two.  I want to make my own bead trees and ornament holders for firing as I need enough of them to fill my kiln.  What type of metal rod will fire to cone 5-6 , I don't need it to go to cone 10? I have searched the net and so far all I have found are several articles suggesting the use of welding rods .. stainless steel welding rods, hat they will go to cone 5-6?.  So my questions is does anyone know of a metal rod I can buy that is a tleast 1/8th diameter, I feel it needs to be atleast this diameter to hold up to holding pendants and ornaments without bending. Something I can buy and cut into lengths I need? 
The reason I don't just order the cone 10 rod from the ceramic shop is its 6" long and expensive it would cost a fortune to do enough holders to fill my kiln.  It does not say what type metal rod that is?  I feel I could buy in bulk and cut to the sizes I need to make enough holders to fill my kiln. I am looking into the welding rods in the mean time.  Thank You

[LeeU]

I don't know anything about welding rods, but you can buy  Kanthal brand nichrome wire in various guages...I get 11 guage for a ^6 fire and it's rated to 10. It comes on a roll and I use pliers to straighten it.  It is less expensive that way (tho still not cheap). I fire my beads/pendants on that wire w/no problem. After X number of fires, they will eventually begin to sag, so I try not to put too many pieces on each rod. Ceramic suppliers carry it. Don't get the lighter guages-they don't hold up.

[Mark C.]

I have never seen any metal hold up long at cone 10. My still pliers turned into a melted mess.

The above post is your only option.

If you find a product that does better than the Nichrome wire let us know as this question has been asked a lot .At cone 10 the largest gauge of wire will fail after a dozen fires.

[neilestrick]

https://www.dickblick.com/products/star-bead-tree/?clickTracking=true&wmcp=pla&wmcid=items&wmckw=32900-1006&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkJ6S6Iz93AIVkrrACh09XAQ-EAQYASABEgJfovD_BwE#description

[Babs]

Old friend Pugaboo did a lot of bead earrings she made her own trees 

Search her name 

Think she had gallery images of her trees.

[Denice]

I have never tried this but I think the rod in a kiln sitter that sets on top the cone might work.   The problem is that they are probably too  big for beads  and expensive.   I have had to replace the rod in the kiln setter several times because the end had gotten too thin.   Someone who works on kilns might have some used ones.   Denice      

[sprig2]

1 hour ago, Denice said:

I have never tried this but I think the rod in a kiln sitter that sets on top the cone might work.   The problem is that they are probably too  big for beads  and expensive.   I have had to replace the rod in the kiln setter several times because the end had gotten too thin.   Someone who works on kilns might have some used ones.   Denice      

This is a very interesting idea. That rod in the kiln sitter is actually the right size for hanging pendants from I think.  I will do further research on what this is made of to see if its a cost effective option that could handle the weight of items hung on it. 

[sprig2]

15 hours ago, LeeU said:

I don't know anything about welding rods, but you can buy  Kanthal brand nichrome wire in various guages...I get 11 guage for a ^6 fire and it's rated to 10. It comes on a roll and I use pliers to straighten it.  It is less expensive that way (tho still not cheap). I fire my beads/pendants on that wire w/no problem. After X number of fires, they will eventually begin to sag, so I try not to put too many pieces on each rod. Ceramic suppliers carry it. Don't get the lighter guages-they don't hold up.

 I didn't look up Kanthal brand so perhaps that is why. I just looked up Nichrome wire.   This would be good as its easy to get and cost effective when compared to buying already made supports. If I only needed one I would just buy one but I need enough to fill a kiln

EDIT:

I am ordering Kanthal wire. This should work. Thank You

[JohnnyK]

Considering that ^10 is just under 2400 degrees F and ^6 is about 2232 degrees F and carbon steel melts between 2600 & 2800 degrees F, you might just try a small package of welding rods. They are cheap and if they last for just a few firings you will still be waayyy ahead of the game cost wise. If you want to be a big spender, stainless steel melts at 2750* F, which is still way above cone 10. The rods are about 36" long. You can get 4 @ 8.5 " pieces per rod at a cost of about $10 for about 10 rods of carbon steel.

Here is a chart of metals and their melting points...

JohnnyK

 

[Magnolia Mud Research]

The issue with iron and stainless steel is the rapid oxidation at high temperature.   Some alloys create fluffy flakes on the surface as the metal oxides.   The flakes may be a problem .  

Try it and see what happens. 

[shawnhar]

Please forgive me if this sounds dumb as I am a newb to this whole clay thing, but could't you throw some small standing walls, like cut a cylinder into sections and attach small clay "hooks", same as handles, so they look like a bunch of melted cones point up, or even just leave the cylinder whole and attach the clay hooks all around, fire that with no glaze and then use it to hang items like this? Would the clay sag from many firings? If so, could you use a higher fire clay?

Just wondering why you couldn't clay to make some sort of "furniture" to hold these items.

[Magnolia Mud Research]

That is an interesting idea.  Years back a class assignment was to use pyrometric cones as part of a series of sculptural pieces.  I made small doll house cups and used small Orton cones as handles sticking straight out.  The cone bent as expected and was a nice curved down handle.  If cones of higher number than the firing temperature were used the cone just solidified without changing shape.  If the cone was of a number lower than the firing temperature, the cone slumped and/or became glaze.  

A cylinder thrown with say cone 10 clay, and with cone 10+ cones embedded in the outside wall like climbing bolts in telephone poles, and fired at cone 6 or lower might be good bead rack.  

LT
 

[shawnhar]

Or a slab with a bunch of hooks you can flip over and place on top of kiln posts, just like a shelf. The way the cones bend was what made me think of it but I wasn't sure what they do after multiple firings.

[Mark C.]

Usually the spalling contaminates the piece-thats the problem with metal at those temps.

At Cone 6 a thick bead rod and limited firings is the only way. I like the ceramic rod idea as spalling will not be an issue.

[dhPotter]

The pendants I have made were glazed all over.  The hole was picked clean with a toothpick or pipe cleaner. The pendants hung on Kanthal wire. After the glaze firing had to knock them off the wire then dremel the hole to get rid of sharpies. I don't think the thrown holder will do the trick. I did use PugaBoo's standard idea. I cut the wire about a 18 inches long. 

[oldlady]

if you use the search term "bead rack" you might get results.  nobody will be able to find this series of suggestions in the future because the title is 
"metal rod".