Silver Metal Clay Jewellery
Silver metal clay is a relatively recent invention in jewellery terms - developed in the 1990s in Japan to recycle / reuse silver particles from industrial waste, it is ingenious material that uses these silver particles to form a putty that can be worked like a clay or plasticine.
The silver particles are held together with a water based organic binder that makes it able to be manipulated wet or dry, in a similar way to pottery - but in a more refined and much smaller scale way.
Once the piece is finally finished and fully dried out , it is then fired - the firing process burns off the binder and enables the silver particles to sinter together to leave a solid silver item that can be treated, polished and finished as with any other silver piece.
Other metal clays are available - bronze, steel, copper and other clays are also being developed by many different manufacturers around the world - the principles for these are all the same, the main difference is in the shrinkages, and the firing processes. There are subtle handling differences between different clays also.
My preference is working with silver, so that is what my teaching focusses on, but a lot of the skills and working methods can be used across any of the different clays. Different metals and brands can have slightly different working feels as clays, and of course, different metals have different finished properties, but in general the different clays can be worked similarly. The key difference is in the firing process - which is more complex and variable for the base metal clays and each clay has its own specific firing needs and schedule.
The silver particles are held together with a water based organic binder that makes it able to be manipulated wet or dry, in a similar way to pottery - but in a more refined and much smaller scale way.
Once the piece is finally finished and fully dried out , it is then fired - the firing process burns off the binder and enables the silver particles to sinter together to leave a solid silver item that can be treated, polished and finished as with any other silver piece.
Other metal clays are available - bronze, steel, copper and other clays are also being developed by many different manufacturers around the world - the principles for these are all the same, the main difference is in the shrinkages, and the firing processes. There are subtle handling differences between different clays also.
My preference is working with silver, so that is what my teaching focusses on, but a lot of the skills and working methods can be used across any of the different clays. Different metals and brands can have slightly different working feels as clays, and of course, different metals have different finished properties, but in general the different clays can be worked similarly. The key difference is in the firing process - which is more complex and variable for the base metal clays and each clay has its own specific firing needs and schedule.
Click on any image to view that video, or pdf download...
Download - Metal Clay / Silver Clay Jewellery Making Supplies
|
Download - Firing Silver Clay
|
Download - Rolling Even Sheets of Silver Clay
|
|
|
|
If you have any silver clay questions - do get in touch at any time - I'd be happy to help - the best way is to join my group - 'The Jewellery Makers' on Facebook.
I also offer silver clay tuition from my workshop in Camden, London NW1 - in person, as well as online...
I also offer silver clay tuition from my workshop in Camden, London NW1 - in person, as well as online...
|
|
|