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Your Silver Clay Project Will Be Flawless With These Tips

Silver clay? Whatever is that?

Silver clay, precious metal clay, art metal clay, and art clay silver are all different terms and types of “clay” that may be magically turned into gold and silver.

These innovative metal clays were introduced to the North American market in the nineties. Jewelry enthusiasts and hobbyists can now shape and mold precious metal as easily as clay.

Making jewelry naturally has a long history. The difference today is that you now do not have to bang or cast your metal to make jewellery if you don’t wish to. Silver clay now makes it feasible to make real metal forms without these traditional methods.

Here is how metal clay functions. Art metal clays are composed of fine metal particles suspended in an organic binder. This binder lets you mould and shape the clay as you would potter’s clay. When you are happy with the form, you let your project dry for no less than twenty-four hours ( or even more ). You then fire it in a kiln or by employing a hand torch. The binder burns away, leaving the fused metal behind in the shape you formed it.

Before you grab a lump of silver clay and go at it though, you will need to keep 1 or 2 rules under consideration. Silver clay isn’t cheap, so you don’t want to waste it.

Silver Clay Tips

Here are a bunch of tips for working with silver clay :

*Metal clays shrink 10-30% when fired. Be sure to check your package for shrinkage levels particularly if you are making rings or other objects that must be exact fits.

*Not all metal clays can be hand torch fired. If you won’t be employing a kiln be certain to check that your kind of silver clay is “low fire”.

*Only small pieces should be torch fired. Pieces bigger than 25g should be kiln fired.

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*Silver clay is expensive. The gold version especially is very high-priced. Be certain to shop carefully and follow instructions carefully so you don’t burn your money fruitlessly.

*Metal Clay simply takes on impressions of other objects ( and fingerprints too ). Experiment with different textures and objects to make imprints onto the wet clay.

*Gemstones that may stand up to the heat of firing can be set into the wet clay.

*Be sure to let your metal clay dry fully before firing. Firing damp clay won’t work and you will not be a happy camper.

*Metal clays are sticky to the touch so be sure to coat everything with a thin film of olive oil or other release agent. This suggests coat your hands, your tools, and work surface. Just a touch of oil will do, so don’t go too far.

*You can improve drying time by placing your piece in a low heat stove. ( 150-200 degrees fahrenheit ). Pieces finely than your palm usually take approximately twenty-four hours to fully dry and toughen without the cooker treatment.

*Sand your dried and hardened piece before firing. If you do not like fingerprints, you will not be well placed to remove them after firing.

*Metal clay is soluble and can be fell with water. Keep a tiny bowl of water or a spritzer handy while you’re employed. If it starts to dry out while working, you can add a bit of water to dampen it.

*Buying smaller packages beats larger as you will not have to fret about the entire block drying out. The price difference is immaterial, and you may waste extra cash by needing to thru out old dried out clay.

*You can extend the working time of your metal clay by adding a drop or 2 of glycerin ( available at drug stores ) to your newly opened package of silver clay. To use : make a depression with your thumb in the clay, and add a drop or 2 of glycerin. Fold the clay a couple of times to mix in the glycerin, then spritz with water. Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit so the clay can absorb the glycerin. When you work with the clay the following day, use as always. This trick will extend the working time, but also extends the drying time required before firing.

*If you see a blackish mildew, do not be disturbed. This will burn away when firing. This mildew takes place when you use regular tap water to moisten the clay.

*Playing cards make great “spacers” when rolling out clay to an even thickness. Just stack cards on each side of the clay, then use your roller to roll out the clay between the cards.

*To store metal clay between uses, be certain to spritz with water and wrap it well with plastic wrap.

*different clays have different firing temperatures so be certain to match your firing temperature to your clay type.

*Once fired, you must brush and burnish it to get a great shine. First brush well with a stiff brush to loosen any ash or residue, then rinse with water. Then you’ll be wanting to burnish the metal to compress it, make it smoother, and shinier. Utilise a burnishing tool made from agate or metal for this. The tool has a smooth face and pointy tip for burnishing the more detailed areas.

*You can dunk the piece in water after firing to chill it quickly .

*Firing you clay too shortly, at too low a temperature, or for too short a time may cause your project to crack. Firing for too much time may melt some of the detail.

Now you have some silver clay suggestions, I bet you are psyched. You need to work with this innovative material now! What will you make first?

Find More Precious Metal Casting Articles

Precious metal clay (brand names are PMC and Art Clay) is modern-day alchemy. PMC is a clay base with tiny pieces of silver suspended within it that, when heated, burns off the clay leaving a solid silver residue. The clay base acts as a binder for the metal particles. Once this has been removed, the remaining silver particles bind together, giving you the finished product.

The real beauty of precious metal clay is that it can be manipulated like any ordinary modelling clay, making it perfect for jewellery making. The modern precious metal clay can be using a jeweller’s torch, as the firing temperature is much lower than the early versions of this clay. However, a small kiln will produce a much more constant temperature range and can be controlled exactly, meaning that the results will be more consistent.

Precious Metal Clay once had a very bad reputation for shrinkage, making it unsuitable for fine work or detail. Modern precious metal clays have a much lower shrinkage rate (around 10-15%), but you still need to factor this into the final piece to ensure that really fine detail is not lost in the firing process.

Once fired, the silver piece will seem very lacklustre and dull, so it will need finishing. The dull matt surface hides the real beauty underneath, so finishing and polishing will reveal the shining silver below. When soldering finished precious metal clay pieces it is essential to remember that the surface will be more porous than standard sterling silver, so it is best to burnish the piece prior to soldering. But because it is almost pure silver there is little risk of fire stain on the surface and the final results are almost indistinguishable from sterling silver.

Because precious metal clay is a clay, it takes impressions very well. A design can be pressed onto the surface of the clay and be revealed in the final silver piece. Patterned rollers, lace or even leaves can be used to create unique effects that are difficult to reproduce in ordinary silver unless it has been cast. Precious metal clay is a popular way of making silver beads. The clay can be formed into beads, decorated with a surface pattern and then fired in a kiln quickly and easily, producing high quality silver beads.

Safety considerations have to be taken into account when working with precious metal clay because of the high temperatures required to fire the clay. A small enamelling kiln allows you to safely achieve the temperatures required for optimum results, but ensure that you have all the correct equipment such as tongs with heat resistant handles to extract work from the kiln safely and a heat-proof surface upon which to work.

Precious metal clay is an ideal medium to work in if you want to create pieces of silver jewellery that are unique to you. The only thing that limits you is your imagination. Precious metal silver clay is widely available from good jewellery equipment suppliers. There are two main brands – Precious Metal Clay and Art Clay Silver. The clay is also available in other metals including gold, but the cost is significantly higher than the silver clay.

Metal clay is a suspension of tiny particles of metal in a clay binder, which can be used to make jewellery, beads and small findings. The beauty of metal clay is that it can be manipulated in the same way as any modelling clay, but once fired the binding agents are burnt off leaving the metal form intact. Although there is a certain amount of shrinkage (between 10-15% for the more modern versions), very fine detail can be achieved, including impressions that would require casting in any other method of metalwork.

Silver metal clay results in objects containing almost pure silver (also known as fine silver) which is ideal for enamelling. There are two popular brands available – Precious Metal Clay (also known as PMC) and Art Clay Silver (ACS). Precious Metal Clay was developed in the early 1990′s in Japan and consists of microscopic particles of pure silver (or fine gold powder) and a water-soluble binder which burns off during firing. The original formula of PMC (now called ‘Standard’) has to be fired in a kiln at a temperature of 1650F and has a high shrinkage rate of around 30%. Two additional versions were later developed called PMC+, which can be fired at 1490F and PMC3, which can be fired at temperatures as low as 1100F. Both of these later versions of PMC have much lower shrinkage rates, allowing much finer detail to be worked into designs.

Art Clay Silver (ACS) was also developed in Japan and is similar in consistency to PMC+. The main difference with ACS is that it can be fired using a hand-held torch or gas oven. Because of subtle differences in the binder components and the longer firing times, ACS benefited from having a considerably lower shrinkage percentage – only 8-10%. This means that ACS can be worked in more detail without any loss of definition in fine work. Art Clay Slow Dry was introduced soon after, which has a much longer working time before requiring firing, allowing intricate work to be moulded into the clay with no loss of malleability.

Art Clay 650 and Art Clay 650 Slow Dry are now becoming increasingly popular, as not only do they have a longer working time but can be fired at temperatures as low as 650C/1200F. This allows jewellers to incorporate glass and Sterling Silver into the designs without fear of damaging the components. AIDA, the manufacturers of ACS have also introduced Oil Paste, a product only used on fired metal clay or milled fine silver, and Overlay Paste which is designed for drawing designs onto glass and porcelain. These two products have allowed the use of metal clay products to be incorporated into a whole new range of designs and mediums, expanding the potential of this product.

Metal clays allow jewellers to work with a material that is as malleable as ordinary modelling clay but produces fine (almost pure) silver jewellery of exquisite intricacy and beauty. Once polished it has a lustre and shine that is easily comparable to cast silver and because of the development of the products over the last few years shrinkage is now no longer an issue. The type used depends on personal preference as both types have their advantages, but incorporating metal clays into your jewellery design gives you a new medium to explore with beautiful results.