Information AboutMetal Clay |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT METAL CLAY | |
| precious metals | |
| sculpture techniques | |
| jewellery making | |
| chemical compounds | |
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The silver version of the clay is the most-used of all metal clays, resulting in .999 pure silver. Gold clay is quite expensive, and not practical to use by itself, but the gold makes a beautiful accent on the silver. Platinum clay is not generally used for hobby use as it is very expensive and requires a specialist kiln for firing. The metal clay comes in packets, which are small because the material is very expensive: $50 an ounce is an average for silver clay. It also comes in a pre-made paste, a pre-filled syringe and a paper or sheet type, which has nearly all the moisture removed. A silver metal clay is available in a powder form inwhich the user adds water to acquire the desired texture for workability. There are two popular brands of this material, Art Clay Silver (ACS) and Precious Metal Clay (PMC). Precious Metal Clay or PMC was developed in the early 1990s in Japan by Metallurgist Dr. A. Morikawa . The material consists of extremely fine precious metal powder in a colloidal suspension, which burns off on firing. Success was first achieved with Gold , and later duplicated with Silver , PMC Original which had to be fired in a kiln and had a very high shrinkage rate. Mitsubishi Materials Corporation , a subsidiary of Mitsubishi , later developed two additional versions of silver called PMC+, which displays less shrinkage, and PMC3, which fires at lower temperatures in a kiln or by using a torch. A 22k gold coating material (Aura 22), and a 22k yellow gold alloy are also manufactured. Art Clay or ACS was developed by AIDA Chemical Industries, by using recycled and reclaimed silver collected from scraps, x-ray and film plates. Art Clay followed PMC Original with their Art Clay Original clay, which allowed the user to use a handheld torch or gas hob for firing. The clay also shrank a lot less, only 8-10%. Further developments introduced the Art Clay Slow Dry, a clay with a longer working time. Art Clay 650 and Art Clay 650 Slow Dry soon followed - both clays that can be fired as low as 650C, allowing the user to combine the clay with glass and sterling silver which had previously been affected by the higher temperature needed to fire the previous clays. AIDA also manufacturers Oil Paste, a product only used on fired metal clay, and Overlay Paste, which is designed for drawing designs on glass and porcelain. In 2006 AIDA also introduced the Art Clay Gold Paste, a more economical way to work with gold. The paste is painted onto the fired silver clay, then refired in a kiln, or with a torch or gas stove. When fired it bonds with the silver, giving a 22ct gold accent. The same year also saw Art Clay Slow Tarnish introduced, a clay which tarnishes even slower than the other metal clays. McCreight, Tim. "What's New?" ''Metalsmith'' Spring 2006, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p42-45, 4p EXTERNAL LINKS
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