Swarovski & PMC

[Daisy & Me]

I'm terribly sorry about having to ask this, and I'm a bit embarrassed by such a silly question but...

...are you able to fire Swarovski with PMC /Art Clay Silver?

I know there are certain lab stones which can be fired, but wondered if anyone has tried it using Swarovski.

Any help greatly appreciatesd - THANKS !

[ameliagracedesigns]

I've no tried it but my instinctive reaction would be that it wouldn't work. My concern would be that crystals are a sophisticated form of glass but they are glass and I'm not sure how you're firing them- torch, hob or kiln- but the kilns used for PMC firing can also be used for glass fusing. So the crystals might not melt but they may well lose their shape...

That's purely a gut feeling but with the cost of PMC, it's not something you want to find out the hard way!

Hope someone can give you a slightly more definitive answer!

Jenn xx

[MuranoSilver]

Hi Daisy & Me
I'm pretty sure they'd be damaged, but I can think of a few ways it would work...
1) For flat backed cabs make an indent slightly bigger than the crystal in the wet clay (wiggle if a bit), remove the crystal, fire, glue.
2) Fuse some fine silver wire into the piece then attach swarovski dangles post firing
3) Drill through the greenware (unfired) piece leaving space for wire and then wire in crystal afterwards.
4) Fire a bezel cup into the piece and glue in after firing
5) Use bezel wire in the piece and bezel set after firing...

Alternatively use a CZ and fire it in place, lol

Nic xx

[shiner]

I have created a bezel and bezel set a polished red goldstone cab into a piece as I didn't want to risk firing it, some said it was ok some said dont so I erred on the safe side, I left it a tiny bit too tight and had to clean it out with my dremel after firing but that was because I didnt want it too slack. looked a treat after burnishing and buffing

[Daisy & Me]

Thank you everyone - as I thought, but am very glad you've all confirmed my suspicions...

So, I'll be looking for some advice on using bezel wire soon (I think it actually looks much better, but I've never tried using it before !)

Many thanks again - what would we do without this magnificent forum?