kanthal wire for earring firing

[oldlady]

my friend in california is making earrings and is a very new beginner.   she has made a number of textured discs in her enthusiasm,  and has access only to a community kiln.  

does anyone use a particular way to fire these?   i thought some kanthal wire supported by 2 clay posts with a groove at the top might work but do not have any experience doing that.    what gauge kanthal ?  the holes are in the bisque pieces she is taking home, is there a different way to fire them?

 

[neilestrick]

When my students make earrings and pendants they just fire them flat with the backside unglazed.

[oldlady]

yes, neil, we considered not glazing the back but do not want to do that.  we feel that  moving on to pendants and things touching the skin would be better with glaze on the reverse.

[Kelly in AK]

This, from @JohnnyK might be helpful-

 

[PeterH]

Another old thread
 

I was interested in the use of a rod

[Babs]

6 hours ago, oldlady said:

yes, neil, we considered not glazing the back but do not want to do that.  we feel that  moving on to pendants and things touching the skin would be better with glaze on the reverse.

Unglazed clay will pick up make up and creams from the wearer, I found that out.

[LeeU]

I  fire all my earrings, beads, & pendants w/all sides glazed,  on kanthal rods (not wire) that are suspended between whatever works for the necessary vertical  height (tile setters, short posts, bead trees etc.)  I make the holes to fit the rods w/a little wiggle room-it's not hard to calculate shrinkage relative to the diameter of the rods. Just pay attention to the rods diameters when ordering so they are thin enough for the purpose.  I add the fittings (i.e. earring hooks etc.) post-firing. 

[LinR]

If you use wire you can be sure it will bend with the weight of the items hung from it.  Therefore it needs supports along the length of the wire.  I have done it by placing the wire over shelf posts and keeping the length between the posts short.  Obviously if the wire bends, the pieces on the wire slide to the lowest point and end up sticking together. Lin

[oldlady]

thank you all for your info.   i especially like the references that led me to the older posts that are archived.  lots of photos and many designs.  i tried to explain to Jan what could happen and johnny k's photos are perfect for that.  sorry about the failures, johnny but i can see you writing about your experience for an article in ceramics monthly magazine.

i think jan will be happier with a solid rod of kanthal(?) to fit into something made to hold wider earrings.  some of the bead racks are strictly for small diameter beads and are too close together for discs of about an inch.  the wedge shape looks simplest.

now the hard part, what size rod and where do i get it?  where do you shop, lee?

 

Edited July 25 by oldlady
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[LeeU]

These rods may be a litttle for earrings, but you can get thinner ones.  For me, this is a great system. It's flexible and reliable, holds a decent quantity. This is a set of Roselli Bead Racks, but I don't remember where I got them. Might have been the Ceramics Store.