I have read the post regarding making oil paste. Why do I need to use oil paste to attach fired pieces to one another? What will happen if I roughen surfaces to be joined and attach with non-oil slip, then fire holding temp for an hour?

I hate to give you the bad news, but I have tried repeatedly to do just that, and it doesn't work. My guess is that the silver needs to become almost liquid to meld with another piece, even when there are minute grooves caused by sanding, roughing up, etc. I haven't had much luck with homemade paste, either, but I made some with patchouli oil (honestly) instead of lavendar oil. Maybe it makes a difference. Sometimes it works, sometimes not - but no one seems to be able to give a formula for it. They say "a few drops" but what, exactly, does that mean - what are the proportions? Good luck to you - maybe someone here has the formula that they can share.....

I was just doing that in the last 2 days..............it somewhat depends on how strong a bond is needed where the attachment is............

I was attaching bails that came off the pendants---I know I needed a very strong bond as I can't have them separating later on----instead of sanding, etc., I put them back in the kiln again for 10 mins to make sure the surface is roughed up, then attach with oil paste AND THICK slip to seal in the edges..........I have tried using just slip and it usually doesn't hold........I have also tried just sanding to rough up, but I find it works better overall if I put in the kiln for a bit.............

.ALSO important is to do 1650 for 2 hrs.---that is the strongest hold you can get and is the only way to insure a strong bond..........

 Blessings, Margaret

I have used plain old paste to attach two fired pieces. I have also used ACS oil paste and more recently have been using homemade lavender oil paste. I've had success with all three methods but am now exclusively using lavender oil paste. I don't know why it works, but it does. The formula is 10-12 drops in the ready made pot of paste. Stir it well and let it sit for 3 days before using it. Stir is every day during those three days. Then, make sure the paste is the consistency of frosting. If it is too thin, it won't adhere as well. I really gob the stuff on (how technical is that?) Where it squishes out, I just clean as much of it off with a wet brush. When it's dry, you can scrape off the rest and then clean again with a little water. Let it air dry. Do not dry it on a candle warmer or anything (I think I read this somewhere.) Then fire the piece again. I usually fire it for at least 30 minutes at 1650 degrees. Hope this helps. Alice

Art Magazine has kindly posted a video showing the process for making lavendar oil paste.

http://www.artjewelrymag.com/art/default.aspx?c=a&id=907

I also found the recipe in the Journal Of The PMC Guild, Summer edition.

http://www.pmcguild.com/print/Fusion/Fusion_1.pdf