Michael Dennison

Working with Silver Metal Clay: Get the most from your clay.

Several tips aimed at getting the most from your silver and other precious metal clays.

Fine silver clay appeared on the market about 15 years ago. During the decade and a half that we have been working in this medium we have learned some great tricks for reclaiming leftover clay, using less expensive clay for structure and support, and even recycling fired clay duds.

Don't throw the binder away with the waste water.

                Long before silver took a leapfrog jump in price, we used to rinse our metal clay laden paintbrushes and tools in a jar of water. We have since learned that the rinse water contains dissolved organic binder in a specific proportion that is critical to the clay's composition. Pouring the water, and therefore the binder, down the drain alters the clay's formulation. Here is what we recommend:

1) After a work session pour the rinse water and the clay sediment into a plastic or glass dish.

2) Let the water in the dish evaporate; this will leave silver particles surrounded by a ring of dried binder.

3) Add a small amount of distilled water to the dried clay and binder to reconstitute it to make metal clay paste or slip.

                To make lump form clay, use a spatula to spread the reconstituted paste on a smooth non-stick surface and let the clay dry a little. Then use the spatula to mix the paste and spread it again. Repeat until the paste firms to a lump form. In warm, damp conditions, mold can grow in  the binder. Don't worry, the mold won't hurt the clay. Plus the clay's silver particles kill bacteria!

Reclaim and Conserve

                Rinsing and reclaiming clay that gets stuck in paintbrushes is messy and time consuming. A good alternative to a clay-hoarding paintbrush is a rubber tip blender tool; simply allow the clay to dry on the rubber tip and then peel off the clay in one complete sheet. We always use blending tools when we work with gold metal clay.

                After a work session, we rinse our clay coated finger tips in a container of distilled water and reclaim the clay using the steps I described above. If you rinse your hands in a sink, you may want to look into installing a particle collector under your sink to capture any clay particles.

                Filing and sanding unfired clay creates clay dust that accumulates in emery paper, paper towels etc. Collect these items and any metal clay bench sweeps into a plastic bag and send the bag to a refiner.

Metal Clay can be used to create many types of handmade jewellery.

Article Tags: Metal Clay

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