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Pre-firing
Fiber Paper
This is part two of a
three-part tip on pre-firing fiber paper in your kiln. Click here to
go to part one.
5. It's usually not a good idea to stack fiber paper and
try to pre-fire many sheets at one time. Because there is poor
airflow between the stacked sheets, the likelihood of burning off
all of the binder in the papers is slim.
6. Once the kiln is loaded, you can fire as quickly as your
kiln allows. It's not really possible to thermal shock fiber
paper, so there's no need to fire slowly. (But do remember to
vent the kiln about one inch to 1000F/540C.)
7. When pre-firing, fire to around 1400F/760C. Some
papers do not require firing this high, but if you fire to this
temperature you can be assured that the binders will be fired out
for virtually all common papers.
8. Don't be alarmed if the paper turns black when
pre-firing. This is normal, and generally occurs from 700F to
900F (370C to 480C). Continue firing. As the
binder burns off the paper will return to its original off-white or
gray color.
9. Once the heating cycle is complete, you can simply turn
the kiln off and allow it to cool. If you wish, you can
accelerate the cooling by opening the kiln to allow hot air to
escape.
10. Remember, once the paper has been pre-fired, it will be
more fragile than before pre-firing, so handle it with care to
prevent accidental damage.
Click here to go to part
three of this tip.
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Copyright 2005 Brad Walker.
All rights reserved.
This list compiled from numerous
sources, but especially from the Warm Glass bulletin board and from
published manufacturer's materials. |
