You don't want high temps to dry PM.  I use the lowest oven setting my oven has, about 170F (77C) or so, I think.  A ceramic kiln would incinerate your project, which seems pointless...

My first question about your Egyptian piece:  what kind of adhesive did you use?  Was it pva (white) glue, by chance?  Especially on thicker pieces, pva glue tends to form a skin, and the inside stays moist.  (Why do THOSE scenes from the move Alien come to mind?)  One of the methylcellulose adhesives would probably be better for thick work, as it will eventually dry all the way through.

If I were going to make something that large, I would be tempted to try to do it in individual sections, weighted down on a thick board to dry flat, then attached afterwards.

I would not worry about a wire armature in the oven, unless it is lead, which melts at 158F (70C).  Aluminum melts at 1218F (659C), and steel loses its strength at 1500F (816C) and melts at something like 2800F (1538C).  Your PM would have turned to gas long before then.

A wooden armature wouldn't bother me much, either, if I were using temperature of 300F (149C) or less.  When the surface of wood reaches about 212F (100C), the water in the wood starts to boil, then evaporates.  If the temperature of the wood rose as high as 450F (232C), various gases are given off (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, acetic & formic acids), but the wood itself wouldn't actually start to burn until it reached about 540F (282C).

But by then, your PM would probably be fully engulfed in flames, as dry paper (we would assume it would be dry by now!) ignites at 451F (233C).

I would recommend temperatures of 200F (93C) or less.  You just want to dry it, not cook it.

NEVER dry PM in an oven with plastic or styrofoam inside, as they both give off extremely toxic gases and your food would never taste the same again.

Sue

... oh yeah, we used corn starch on the Egyptian relief...

>Ditto

There is such way of drying of wood as vacuum.
Probably it is possible to hand make a vacuum dryer and to use it for PM drying.

Screeching, skidding 180-degree turn coming up!

I talked with a friend of mine, and she said she wouldn't have used vinegar at all with the mix, as it affects the starch you were using as your adhesive.

And she said she would just have put the piece in front of a fan at room temperature.  She suspects the heat you used actually COOKED the surface and created a kind of vapor barrier.

Now that she pointed it out  :oops: , it kind of makes sense, doesn't it?

Sue

8)
Vents and air holes sounds a good idea.  Better still, open up a fist width channel and pull out some of the interior.   If something inside nibbles your fingers, use a blowlamp on it!!
dopapier

Very funny guys... but this is a... a... a quandary!... in a quest for a quicker way of drying papier maches, I could be incubating unknowingly, some strange creatures contemporary science have never seen nor documented before... it could be a potential threat to life, limb and property... just think of the moral, ethical and scientific implications it connotes...

Doesn't all these sound like a potential plot for a scifi B movie?...

Hi Yura!... please tell me more about this vacuum drying thing... must cover all possibilties...

>Eric

OHNOES...  :shock: 

Should have read some more before I got started!

I have made some beads using solid pulp around pieces of thin plastic pipe, which I am hoping will stay in the beads to protect the holes as I eventually want to string them on tiger tail.
Will they dry right through? The pulp is only about 1/2in thick at the widest point on each bead, possibly a little less, so am I worried about nothing?

I just don't like the sound of "Mentos beads"...

Sue's right... don't worry... the pieces I made are about 6 inches thick... it'll be completely dry in 2 days... .Eric

Hi all

I have the full use of using my airing cupboard which is ideal for drying items. But failing that you could make a drying cupboard. You need one old wooden wardrobe a light bulb fitting normal bulb not halogen And fit in a few shelves making vent holes in them so the heat from the bulb rises.
I used to have one to ferment wine (He,He)   never tried with pm but they do get really warm inside. I would also suggest having a smoke detector fitted above just incase.

Sue.

O.K Here goes.

When i made my warming cupboard many moons ago I used an old wooden wardrobe. (free standing cupboard). Inside this i added a few extra shelves. But before i put them in i drilled large holes all the way along the back of the shelves. The holes were about 2-3cm across and the height between the shelves depends on what you want to dry. Then i got two lamp fittings attatched them to the inside base of the cupboard and the other ends were wired up to two seperate plugs ( you could just use two old lamps and put them inside).You just have to make sure that the bulb part of the lamp does  Not touch any part of the wood :!: .
The bulbs if using two don't need to be more than 40 watts each and if only using one light 60 watt bulb is enough. I had a timer fitted to the plugs of the lights the sort you use when you go on holiday to turn things on and off.I set them to go off at night more of a safety thing than anything else. so long as your not opening the door every five minutes the heat rises off the bulbs through the holes in the shelves an slowly warms up the cupboard with the top of the cupboard being the warmest place.
I hope this will help    and don't forget the smoke detector.

heh Couldn't this be made with cardboard and pm? *looks around* Now where to put it..... Maybe I should build a new house--from PM!

"Maybe I should build a new house--from PM!"

No, too soggy in bad weather.  But a lot of people are adding cement to pulped paper and making what they call papercrete homes:  http://www.zianet.com/papercrete/

Sue