Combining Sterling Silver Metal Clay with Fine Silver Metal Clay

Hi everyone. I am working on a project that involves making a ring out of two clay types, sterling silver and fine silver. I wanted to know how to combine them without having the problems of uneven shrinkage. Additionally, I wanted to fire them together.

Here is what I made. The shank is made of sterling silver metal clay (PMC Sterling Silver). I hand carved the feather design into it. The top is made from PMC3 metal clay.

To solve the problem of shrinkage I fired them both separately.  The top (PMC3) was  fired at 1110 F for 1 hour. I fired it at a lower temperature to protect the Garnets.
The ring shank is made from PMC Sterling Silver metal clay. I fired it using the two stage system recommended by Mitsubishi.

I used PMC3 syringe and oil slip to hold them together.  I had several questions about this configuarion.

• Do I fire it using the two stage system or do I fire it using the PMC3 system. 
• If I fired it using the PMC3 system, would it be a good join?
• Will the sterling oxidize and not stick to the newly added clay holding them together. 
• Or, if I fire using the two stage system, I must lower the temperature to 1110 F so as not to harm the stones.

Well my lazy side won out. I fired it on a kiln shelf at 1110 F with no carbon for 2 hours giving the new clay time to connect to the fired clay.

IT WORKED!