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Post by johnw on Jan 12, 2019 17:32:52 GMT -5
Is anyone working with silver clay to make their silver jewelry pieces? I just heard about this and at least to me, it is mind blowing and so easy to work with.
This is what I learned:
Metal clay is a crafting medium consisting of very small particles of metal such as silver, gold, bronze, or copper mixed with an organic binder and water for use in making jewelry, beads and small sculptures. Originating in Japan in 1990, metal clay can be shaped just like any soft clay, by hand or using molds. File and carve the clay once dry then sand for a nearly perfect finish before firing. During the firing process, the harmless binder burns away and the silver particles sinter (fuse) to form a solid 99.9% pure silver piece. Metal clay can be safely fired using a butane torch, gas stove or kiln. After firing, metal clay can be burnished to a gleaming finish.
Is it really so easy to use?
Does anyone have images of their silver clay creations?
Any information will be really appreciated. Thanks,
Cheers, johnw
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Post by vegasjames on Jan 12, 2019 18:29:56 GMT -5
Never worked with it. I do have some real natural silver clay from Virginia City. IN the Comstock days they clay would plug up the machinery so they would throw it away. The a German chemist tested it and found it was nearly pure silver. I found a vein of it while exploring a mine down in 6 Mile Canyon. Went back recently to find the mine and get some more but the whole area has changed so much in the about 30 years since I had been up there. Thought it would be fun to make something from the clay.
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Post by aDave on Jan 12, 2019 18:41:40 GMT -5
I watched a demonstration of this at a club meeting. It was very interesting to see. The person doing the demo owns a studio where she teaches classes in the technique. While there's obviously a skill in working with the stuff, it didn't look very complex.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2019 19:50:41 GMT -5
We had some people start working with it on another board. They found it quite easy to use, though you have to plan ahead and work quickly before it begins to dry out. Not complex at all. Using a torch is less expensive, but one of the small kilns was deemed easier for hobbyists. One consideration was shrinkage (it does shrink somewhat in size when the filler/flux burns off), which has to be planned for when making size-sensitive objects like rings. There are some sites with good reference lists, such as what stones can be fired directly (versus those that you'll have to add wire or a bezel to your design so that the stone may be set after firing). The silver was originally leftover from the photographic film industry. You can get gold, copper and bronzes, too. If you start, their advice was to start with the cheaper copper or bronze clays in order to get an idea of how the clay handles. Trying this has been on my "want to do" list for a decade now. Please post photos if anyone has tried or decides to try - I'd point you to the old discussion and pics, but that forum closed several years ago.
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Post by johnw on Jan 12, 2019 22:54:13 GMT -5
We had some people start working with it on another board. They found it quite easy to use, though you have to plan ahead and work quickly before it begins to dry out. Not complex at all. Using a torch is less expensive, but one of the small kilns was deemed easier for hobbyists. One consideration was shrinkage (it does shrink somewhat in size when the filler/flux burns off), which has to be planned for when making size-sensitive objects like rings. There are some sites with good reference lists, such as what stones can be fired directly (versus those that you'll have to add wire or a bezel to your design so that the stone may be set after firing). The silver was originally leftover from the photographic film industry. You can get gold, copper and bronzes, too. If you start, their advice was to start with the cheaper copper or bronze clays in order to get an idea of how the clay handles. Trying this has been on my "want to do" list for a decade now. Please post photos if anyone has tried or decides to try - I'd point you to the old discussion and pics, but that forum closed several years ago. Thanks, MsAli I appreciate the heads up about this process. I met a newbie to the community in the pool and we discussed hobbies and she allowed her favorite was using silver clay. After she described how it works the whole concept of working with precious metal seemed possible for a novice as opposed to making the mold in clay, casting it and then working it up as in regular casting techniques. She said if you are any good at modeling in clay, or have luck with making a transfer from an image already made into the wax it can became an interesting hobby. Only downside for me would be buying any new equipment. So it seems I would have to see who had a kiln in the neighborhood. I will consider further this opportunity. Cheers,john |
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Post by johnw on Jan 12, 2019 23:02:05 GMT -5
Never worked with it. I do have some real natural silver clay from Virginia City. IN the Comstock days they clay would plug up the machinery so they would throw it away. The a German chemist tested it and found it was nearly pure silver. I found a vein of it while exploring a mine down in 6 Mile Canyon. Went back recently to find the mine and get some more but the whole area has changed so much in the about 30 years since I had been up there. Thought it would be fun to make something from the clay. awesome, well, if it works, why not give it a go. Cheers, johnw |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2019 23:27:45 GMT -5
Only downside for me would be buying any new equipment. So it seems I would have to see who had a kiln in the neighborhood. The kilns are small, tabletop affairs that are fairly inexpensive (or you could use a simple butane torch and firebrick set on a concrete block before you decide on a kiln). Main advantage of a kiln is for larger pieces, and for slower heatup/less thermal stress when your design includes gemstones pressed into the clay (you can always press wires or bezel strips of the same metal into the clay to use to add stones later, if using a torch). Other than that, the main cost is mainly the clay itself (you can use a few sticks and toothpicks to sculpt and an ordinary water spray bottle). There are a bunch of add-ons (extender, liquid clay syringes, etc.) which aren't vital. There are also videos on YouTube that show the process. |
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Post by parfive on Jan 13, 2019 1:02:20 GMT -5
I took a class in PMC and have been reading up on it lately. PMC is finely ground silver in a binder. You can do to it pretty much anything you can do to clay but you have to do it quickly since it dries out very fast (10-15 min) making it hard to handle without messing up something or cracking. Once it dries to the leather hard stage you can sand and/or carve it and add other hardened pieces using sliver clay slip. You set the piece directly on the kiln shelf or fire brick to fire. To fire you use a torch or kiln that will get it to a certain temperature and keep it there for the required time. This burns off the binder then compresses and hardens the silver. What you are left with is a piece of .999 fine silver anywhere from 8 to 20% smaller then what you fired (depending on brand of silver clay). There is no fire scale so you don't have to pickle unless you add sterling silver or other metals to the piece. You can fire lab grown stones, glass, ceramic and moonstone in the silver but you can't fire stones like jasper or agate - these need to be added after the piece is fired. Sandy |
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Post by MsAli on Jan 13, 2019 8:40:49 GMT -5
We had some people start working with it on another board. They found it quite easy to use, though you have to plan ahead and work quickly before it begins to dry out. Not complex at all. Using a torch is less expensive, but one of the small kilns was deemed easier for hobbyists. One consideration was shrinkage (it does shrink somewhat in size when the filler/flux burns off), which has to be planned for when making size-sensitive objects like rings. There are some sites with good reference lists, such as what stones can be fired directly (versus those that you'll have to add wire or a bezel to your design so that the stone may be set after firing). The silver was originally leftover from the photographic film industry. You can get gold, copper and bronzes, too. If you start, their advice was to start with the cheaper copper or bronze clays in order to get an idea of how the clay handles. Trying this has been on my "want to do" list for a decade now. Please post photos if anyone has tried or decides to try - I'd point you to the old discussion and pics, but that forum closed several years ago. Thanks, MsAli I appreciate the heads up about this process. I met a newbie to the community in the pool and we discussed hobbies and she allowed her favorite was using silver clay. After she described how it works the whole concept of working with precious metal seemed possible for a novice as opposed to making the mold in clay, casting it and then working it up as in regular casting techniques. She said if you are any good at modeling in clay, or have luck with making a transfer from an image already made into the wax it can became an interesting hobby. Only downside for me would be buying any new equipment. So it seems I would have to see who had a kiln in the neighborhood. I will consider further this opportunity. Cheers,john wasnt me but you are welcome I've actually thought about doing pieces this way but never really got around to it My focus has been getting enough money together for an all in one , so I'm passing on the start up costs of this There are some crazy good metal clay artist I follow on IG if you want I'll send you their links |
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Post by johnw on Jan 13, 2019 17:21:06 GMT -5
Thanks, MsAli I appreciate the heads up about this process. I met a newbie to the community in the pool and we discussed hobbies and she allowed her favorite was using silver clay. After she described how it works the whole concept of working with precious metal seemed possible for a novice as opposed to making the mold in clay, casting it and then working it up as in regular casting techniques. She said if you are any good at modeling in clay, or have luck with making a transfer from an image already made into the wax it can became an interesting hobby. Only downside for me would be buying any new equipment. So it seems I would have to see who had a kiln in the neighborhood. I will consider further this opportunity. Cheers,john wasnt me but you are welcome I've actually thought about doing pieces this way but never really got around to it My focus has been getting enough money together for an all in one , so I'm passing on the start up costs of this There are some crazy good metal clay artist I follow on IG if you want I'll send you their links Dang, I messed up I should have tagged @rocks2dust , I do apologize to you. That said, I would like alikat218 to connect me to the link if you don't mind. Oh yeah and I like the crazy good part.  Cheers, johnw |
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Post by MsAli on Jan 13, 2019 17:44:20 GMT -5
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Post by MsAli on Jan 13, 2019 19:48:31 GMT -5
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Post by Bluesky78987 on Jan 13, 2019 21:44:56 GMT -5
I make my bails from metal clay, and have messed around with it some and taken a couple of seminars. My advice is that it is very (and I do mean very) delicate and fiddly. It's a bit nervous-making for me to use, and I have good dexterity and am detail oriented (it's not going to be rewarding for the fat fingered or seat-of-the-pants type personality probably). That said, you can get great patterns that can't be produced any other way, for simple things, or you can create all manner of amazing stuff if you get more complex, like MsAli linked. If you want to try it, definitely take a class, don't just watch youtube videos. I use a Rio jewelry kiln that I found on craigslist. I haven't had much luck with torch firing but others have. Here are a couple of pics of stuff I've done with it: The band here, I just made a flat piece with the pattern and cut out the rectangule and (carefully, it's brittle) bent it.
 And the bail here, which I can get a bit thicker and whatever patterns I want:  |
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Post by MsAli on Jan 13, 2019 22:17:38 GMT -5
I make my bails from metal clay, and have messed around with it some and taken a couple of seminars. My advice is that it is very (and I do mean very) delicate and fiddly. It's a bit nervous-making for me to use, and I have good dexterity and am detail oriented (it's not going to be rewarding for the fat fingered or seat-of-the-pants type personality probably). That said, you can get great patterns that can't be produced any other way, for simple things, or you can create all manner of amazing stuff if you get more complex, like MsAli linked. If you want to try it, definitely take a class, don't just watch youtube videos. I use a Rio jewelry kiln that I found on craigslist. I haven't had much luck with torch firing but others have. Here are a couple of pics of stuff I've done with it: The band here, I just made a flat piece with the pattern and cut out the rectangule and (carefully, it's brittle) bent it.
And the bail here, which I can get a bit thicker and whatever patterns I want: Both of those pieces are gorgeous! |
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Post by Bluesky78987 on Jan 13, 2019 22:20:14 GMT -5
Thanks MsAli. I'm partial to the ring myself. It's a rough apatite crystal. |
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Post by MsAli on Jan 13, 2019 22:23:02 GMT -5
Thanks MsAli . I'm partial to the ring myself. It's a rough apatite crystal. Yeah that one is my favorite of the two I love the prongs |
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mossyrockhound
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2011
Posts: 1,315
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Post by mossyrockhound on Jan 13, 2019 22:50:44 GMT -5
I meet monthly with a small group and one of the ladies has been working with metal clay. She had a handful of her creations and they were fantastic - such detail! She mentioned that she prefers the fine silver over the .925 silver when working with the MC. Love those pieces shown by Bluesky78987. |
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Post by johnw on Jan 13, 2019 23:56:41 GMT -5
I really do thank everyone for helping me to understand Silver Clay and how it works and the concept, well, it's sorta easy to work with but , from where I sit the sample presented are outstanding and look very complicated to craft particularly the human form, being the two ladies in one of the threads. Now they knocked my socks off. That said, I will search for a class and see how it progresses. Cheers, johnw
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Post by johnw on Jan 14, 2019 0:23:35 GMT -5
MsAli: The human forms that Teeth fabricated on the link you provided, being the first page, right image are fantastic. Thanks for sharing. Cheers, johnw
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Post by johnw on Jan 15, 2019 2:00:31 GMT -5
I took a class in PMC and have been reading up on it lately. PMC is finely ground silver in a binder. You can do to it pretty much anything you can do to clay but you have to do it quickly since it dries out very fast (10-15 min) making it hard to handle without messing up something or cracking. Once it dries to the leather hard stage you can sand and/or carve it and add other hardened pieces using sliver clay slip. You set the piece directly on the kiln shelf or fire brick to fire. To fire you use a torch or kiln that will get it to a certain temperature and keep it there for the required time. This burns off the binder then compresses and hardens the silver. What you are left with is a piece of .999 fine silver anywhere from 8 to 20% smaller then what you fired (depending on brand of silver clay). There is no fire scale so you don't have to pickle unless you add sterling silver or other metals to the piece. You can fire lab grown stones, glass, ceramic and moonstone in the silver but you can't fire stones like jasper or agate - these need to be added after the piece is fired. Sandy : Thank's for sharing this old thread. It's very informative for me. Cheers, johnw |
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Cheers, johnw
