Over the past 3 weeks, I have had 2 emails from the Santa Fe Symposium (SFS) asking for approval on the text of my bio; there were 2 corrections and a question about the "I" in the copper (I) oxide; it is a roman numeral ONE, but because most fonts are NOT "Times (New) Roman, any more  it is hard to realize what it is supposed to be.

I gathered that these questions meant that soon, information would be posted on the SFS website and sure enough, when I checked yesterday there is was, my bio and the synopsis of was up!  You can read it or about the other presenters via this link.  

I lost a few weekends of working on the experiments because the moving van arrived with the contents of the house and a few days after that the shop elf arrived!

We are now in the midst of unpacking and along with that I am taking either Saturday or Sunday to run the experiments. I can't tell you what I am doing right now, since that will be in the paper for the Symposium and I hope to have an article, too, that will be published in a Jewelry magazine, for the small studio artist that wants to put the Red Copper (I) Oxide on their copper work.

At the beginning of September, I anneal all my copper disks, so I can stamp experiment codes on them. Then of course they all went into the pickle to be cleaned.

During the annealing, YES!, I was able to produce the red oxide even though I was not trying to. So take that as a hint for the article.

Two weeks ago I started the experiments. I was able to get 1 experiment of 3 sets done since each set takes over 2 hours and I am working with multiple piece of copper in each set. Last weekend, I only did 2 experiments of 3 sets each due to a late start and unpacking the kitchen, which is done!  Today, I have done 3 experiments with 3 and 4 sets;  with the last set happening as I type. 

Here are some pictures... of the annealing and of todays experiments. As you can see, Experiment #5 is on the verge of orange/gold and Experiment #6 is showing some red. 
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This past weekend, I setup the kiln, I will be using for my Red Oxide experiments,  with my pyrometer to compare the kiln read out to the pyrometer readings.  I can't actually calibrate the kiln but I from this test I can determine the temperature differentials.

To start, I put the thermistor (the sensor) in the oven via the vent hole on the top. I  set the oven up to use one of the pre-programmed heating schedules for PMC and turned the oven on.  I found for this first test, that at the lower temps the difference was off by 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit and as the kiln got up to temperature and into the hold range, the temperature differential between the two read outs was either spot on or within 5 degrees.

For my second test, now that the kiln was already hot, again kiln was a bit lower in temperature but well within a 5 degree window of the pyrometer read out.

It should be noted my sensor was in the middle of the kill in relation to the four walls and in the upper quarter of the height of the kiln but the internal sensor is located in the middle of the back wall. That may be why my sensor was a bit warmer. 

Today I am annealing and then picking my copper disk that I will be using for my experiments. Then they will be read to be stamped them with the codes for the various experiments which will start next week.  

Back in June, just after I moved, I blogged about sending a proposal to the Santa Fe Symposium about the Red Copper (I) Oxide Patina, and in that same blog, I wrote about how I bought a kiln to use for my experiments.  

This week, I received an email from them telling me... MY PROPOSAL WAS ACCEPTED.
What will I present? The title is:  Myths, Legends,  and a  Process for Creating a Copper (I) Oxide Patina

I am now blocking out my time to not only run my experiments and take pictures, but to write the paper and assemble the PowerPoint presentation,  my author bio and travel reservations.  

To that end, yesterday I began gathering my notes for the myths and legends part.  Today I putting together my schedule and designing the experiments in a new lab notebook. 

For your enjoyment, here is picture, again, of a piece I made with the patina

Several weeks ago, before I moved, I sent a proposal to the Santa Fe Symposium concerning the Red Oxide patina, and they asked me to fill out an abstract form which would all them to further evaluate the topic. I have heard back from them and now the symposium committee is reviewing all the topics submitted and I should hear from them soon, I hope.  

And to that end I figured it is time to start my Red-Oxide experiments.   

Two weeks ago, in a Facebook re-sale group, I found a used kiln. I had been searching for one as using a kiln with a temperature controller will help me refine the process and do more test. The one I found is a Rio SL2 wich can heat to 2000 degrees F (much higher than I need) with a vent hole, temperature controller with 5 PMC presets and 4 that I can set myself;  it runs on 110 volts and 14 amps so I can use a regular household circuit.   It arrived yesterday and this morning I unpacked it.  

Then I went to Rio and ordered a boat load of 1.5" 18g copper disks and a spatula, and trivets.  Once these items arrive I can start the experiments.

In the mean time, I am going to take my pyrometer and check the calibration of the temperature controller; I will put the thermister into the oven via the vent hole, close the door and using some of the PMC presets, verify that the temperatures I am seeing on the pyrometer display match up to what is on the kiln read out.   I will do the temperature calibrations next weekend. Stay tuned for those results.

​Here is the kiln.