Firing Dish - Fused Silica - 1-3/4" Diameter
Our fused silica ceramic melting dish makes the perfect container for supporting metal clay during sintering. Fill with alumina hydrate or vermiculite to cradle spheres, domes, hollow forms and any other item needing support during firing. Dish is 1-3/4 inches in diameter.
Choose Vermiculite or Alumina Hydrate as a Media
Vermiculite or alumina hydrate can be used as a support media in your firing dish. They are both safe to use and work well. Vermiculite is a mineral that breaks down into worm-like accordion shaped pieces when it is heated, which makes a most wonderful media for firing metal clay objects, improving with each firing.
Alumina hydrate is also a very nice media for firing. It is made from aluminum sulfate and sodium carbonate. Alumina hydrate is used in the ink and paint industry as a colorant and in the cosmetic industry as a filler and a colorant. Alumina hydrate has a fine granular or powdered texture which some prefer over the coarser texture of vermiculite.
Before firing metal clay in your firing dish, we recommend that you pre-fire your dish and media to 1650F and hold for 1 minute to burn out any impurites from the media and binders from the dish.