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Firing PMC and Fused Glass

Jewelry Discussion
#1

Dear Orchid Buddies,

It has been a long time since I have posted a question but here
goes. Do any of you have experience with firing fused dichroic glass
in PMC+ or PMC 3? I am using Effetre (moretti) glass that has a COE
(coefficient of expansion) of 104. Is that COE compatible with the
COE of PMC? Also what suggestions would you have for ramp times and
temps? Do you get glass distortion during the sintering process? Do
you need to under fire the glass while fusing?

Please offer your pearls of wisdom,

Warmly,
Cathy Wheless
@Cathy_Wheless_artjew

#2

Hi Cathy,

There are several things that you can do to research this topic:

  1. Go to the PMC Guild website, http://www.pmcguild.com. Click on
    Resources and then click on Discussion Group (the title approximates
    this). There is a large group of PMClayers who are interested in
    just this topic and a lot of discussion and input on it, and I know
    that you will find an incredible amount of there.

  2. There will be at least one Presentation on using PMC and dichroic
    glass together, at the PMC Conference, to be held in Albuquerque in
    July. This promises to be an informative conference with
    Presentations on topics of interest to anyone working within metal
    clays. Website for the conference: http://www.pmc-conference.com/

Hope you find this helpful,
Linda Kaye-Moses

#3

Hi Cathy - The COE of PMC doesn’t matter because you are only
firing the PMC with the already-fused glass in place, you aren’t
fusing the glass to the PMC.

When I fire with PMC3 and fused glass, I don’t ramp up, I go
straight up to 1290 and fire for 10 minutes. However, instead of
opening the kiln and pulling the PMC out and quenching it straight
away as I might if there were only PMC and no glass, I leave the
door closed until the kiln returns to room temperature to avoid
thermal shocking the glass, which will crack it or break it
completely.

Linda