Firing is how Art Clay turns into pure silver. This is where it all happens. Everything else you have done has been a prelude to this bit of technological alchemy. No matter which method you use to fire Art Clay, the process is the same: burning the organic binders off and sintering the silver particles to increase strength. In the end, you have a piece of 99.9% fine silver, just 8-9 percent smaller and with all the fine detail and shape of the prefired piece.

Gas Stovetop Firing:
If you have a gas stove in your kitchen or portable camping stove, this is the most convenient and inexpensive method of firing Art Clay Silver. All you need is a stainless steel net large enough to settle and balance on the stove burners, a pair of tweezers, and a timer.

Firing Art Clay Silver with a gas stove uses a direct flame. This method works best for small and simple pieces. You can fire pure silver findings and small gemstones (5mm or under) with this method. Items that cannot be fired with this method include projects made over Cork Clay, paper, or large quantities of organic material, and projects that include glass, ceramic or porcelain. You can fire 650 Series, ST Series and Basic Series creations. There is a size limitation for this method. You may fire creations that are no larger than 5.0cm (L) ×3.0cm (W) ×2.0cm (H), and weigh up to 30gm.

Firing Procedures
(1) Dry completely: Before firing, your piece must be completely dry. You can dry naturally for more than 24 hours or you can dry with a hot-air-dryer (hair blower) for the designated drying time. To check if the piece is completely dry, place the hot piece on stainless, glass or plastic plate and after 10~20 seconds pick up the piece. If there is no cloud of condensation, it is dry. It is easiest to check the cloud on a black or dark colored surface.

(2) Draw outline of the piece: To check if your piece had been successfully fired, draw an outline of the unfired piece on a sheet of paper. You will compare the fired-piece with the drawn line as all Art Clay Silver Series contract 8-9% after firing.

(4) Confirming the Hottest part on a stainless net: Place the stainless net on a cooking stove. Make sure the stainless net is placed at center of the cooking stove. Then turn on the cooking stove. Confirm the reddest part on the stainless net.

(5) Placing the piece on the stainless net: Turn off the cooking stove. Using a pair of tweezers, place the piece on the stainless steel net where the reddest part was seen.

Torch Firing:
Using a small butane gas torch is also a basic method for firing small and simple pieces. You may fire 650 Series, ST Series and Basic Series with this method.. You may fire pieces that are no larger than 4cm (about 1? inch) in diameters and weigh no more than 25 grams. Firing time varies by the volume of clay used, but it is between 1 to 4.5 minutes. Firing with a torch involves using visual confirmation to maintain the piece at the appropriate firing temperature. The most important thing is to watch for is the color change of the heated metal. For instance, the sintering temperature range for Art Clay 650 Series is between 650 oC / 1202 oF and 780 oC / 1436 oF, and the melting point of silver remains at 962 oC / 1763 oF. If you use a torch that is hotter than the melting point of silver, you must know at what color the metal reaches the sintering point to avoid overheating and melting the piece. Items that cannot be fired with a torch include projects made over Cork Clay, paper, or large quantities of organic material, and projects that include glass, ceramic or porcelain. You can fire pure silver findings and small gemstones (5mm or under) with the torch.

Firing Procedures
(1) Dry completely: Please refer to Gas stovetop firing (1)

(2) Draw outline of the piece and prepare a bowl of water: Please refer to Gas stovetop firing (2) and (3)

(3) Placing the piece: Place the completely dry piece in the center of the fiberboard on the firing brick.

(4) Firing: Switch on the gas torch and direct the flame at a 45% angle at a distance of about 5cm (2 inches) from the piece. This distance will vary depending on the torch you are using and the size of the piece.

Slowly rotate the flame around the piece to heat evenly. You will see a little smoke and flame as the non-toxic organic binder burns away. A white crystalline surface will appear. When the piece begins to glow peach on the inside, begin timing the firing. Continue to heat for the recommended length of time. You will have to alter the distance you are holding the torch to maintain the appropriate color of the metal. Melting is imminent if the piece begins to get shiny and bubble. If that happens, increase the distance between the piece and the torch immediately until the glow is just visible and continue firing until completed.

(5) Complete cooling: Please refer to Gas stovetop firing (8)

(6) Checking the fired piece size: Compare the fired piece to the drawing of the unfired piece, if the contraction of the fired piece is not around 10%, it is not successfully fired. You need to follow steps from (3) to (5) again to complete the firing.