Advice for firing with a kiln?

I am just starting to try ( note the TRY ) to make some focal pieces out of wire. Right now I am still in the practicing stages, but I bought some sterling silver wire ( just a small package ) from Hobby Lobby to try a piece with that.

Now that I got home and have been trying to read on the internet, I am thinking that I may need to go to pure silver so I need some help/advice.

I also found out that my mom & dad still have their large ceramic kiln ( I thought that they had sold it several years ago ). So, I was thinking about using that toharden the wire rather than using the old trusty hammer. ( Still trying to work that whole process out ).

Any advice on sterling versus pure silver and what temperature I should be firing out. I tried reading on the internet but I really did not get a clear answer from the sites I found.

Thanks to all of you for your help and advice! 

I have very little experience as well, but you might look on Art Jewelry magazine's website if you haven't already.  They have some good info for that type of thing, and I know they've had magazine articles about the pros/cons of different types of wire.

Thanks Jeni. I was trying to figure out something that may not be as frustrating as the hammering process...

All I know is that sterling gets fire scale and has to be pickled afterwards, whilst fine silver does not. I have used sterling wire in metal clay pieces and the wire does not really harden. In fact I had to do a LOT of hard work to get the silver shiny again.

Good luck - let us know what works best.

Fransa Cole (Johannebsurg, South Africa)

Thanks for the information! I am definitely rethinking using the kiln. Thanks for the information. I need all the help that I can get obviously...

Sheila, what's the maximum heat of a kiln? sterling silver MELTS in fire/heat (silver melts at 800 degree or something like that, IIRC). so i don't think it's a good idea to use a kiln to harden the wire if a kiln is reaching that high heat. so far from what i read in forums, a kiln is used for those PMC artists. i think to dry out their clay. but i wouldn't know about a kiln since i've never used or owned any yet.. :P

buy Argentium silver wire. they don't get fire scale. also virtually non tarnish :) go to their site for more comlplete information about argentium. they have published a lot of pdf articles full of useful informations. http://www.argentiumsilver.info/

i bought a lot of argentium wire from riagrande. they haven't arrived yet (probably still in another 2-3 weeks). i'll tell you how i like the wire once i got them on my hands :)

Traditional methods of hardening sterling silver include:

Work hardening: through physical manipulation of the metal (e.g.: hammering, bending, forming, etc.).

Precipitation hardening: this involves rapidly cooling (quenching) the metal from red heat.  This is not suitable for soldered or delicate items.

Heat-hardening Argentium Silver - even soldered and delicate articles can be easily hardened by a simple heat treatment!

Germanium imparts unique hardening properties to sterling silver.  Heat treatments at temperatures achievable in domestic ovens, can increase the hardness and durability of the Argentium Silver alloys.  Argentium 930 Silver can be heat treated to almost twice the hardness of annealed standard sterling silver.  The simple heat-hardening process does not require a rapid cool (quench) from red heat.  This means that even soldered and delicate items (like the Argentium Silver flute below), can be easily hardened after construction. Click here for heat-hardening instructions.

Pottery kilns can attain heats in excess of 1200 degrees C. ( Over 2000 degrees F.)  The kilns used for PMC are supposed to work with the silver and gold clays also, so they probably do not get hot enough to melt silver and gold.  You can check out the temnperature ranges in FMG's catalog, for the ones they sell.  [Mine is not handy right now. ] -- my wife is a potter.

Stan B.