A conformable roller for use in a fusing station of an electrostatographic machine, said fusing station being provided with a pressure roller for fusing a toner image on a receiver, said fuser roller made from a plurality of layers surrounding an axis of rotation, said conformable roller comprising a rigid cylindrically symmetric core member; a compliant base-cushion layer formed on the core member; a stiffening layer in intimate contact with and surrounding the base-cushion layer; a compliant release layer coated on the stiffening layer; and said fusing station including an external heat source for said fuser roller, at least one of said plurality of layers being thermally resistive.