Sameer Puri One question that I get quite often in our hands on workshops is how to you take a restoration that comes out of the oven and take it to the operator when it is so hot. A simple trick is to use a coffee cup. Not the Starbucks kind mind you, but a ceramic coffee cup.
The ceramic in the cup acts as a heat sink and is a great way to transfer your hot restoration. Certainly you can take the firing tray but the tray is typically hot. Especially the special trays we use with e.max because the idea behind those special trays is to actually retain heat and dissipate properly in the firing cycle in the oven.
What I do is when the muffle of the oven opens up, take the piping hot firing tray and set it on the side of the oven. Allow the red glow to go away. Take your tongs and warm them in the muffle- you don't want to touch hot porcelain with cold metal. Thermal shock can cause problems.
After the heat has dissipated from the crown a bit, take the crown and set it onto a ceramic coffee cup and now just pick up the cup and move it into the operatory. This works great, the cups are inexpensive and easy to replace if you break it. Obviously never quench your restoration with air or water. That will just shatter your crown.
