METAL CLAY & Enamels » Discussions

Silver Clay

• ritu sangal

  

  Member
   

  November 28, 2010

  I have Silver Clay for over a year now. I have read up a lot about it on the net but am still nervous to try. Can you help me with a few answers. I have Art Clay Silver 650 - 20 gms

  1. Do I fire on the trivets used for enamelling?

  2. Can  vitreous enamel colour be used on it?

  3. Can we use the clay to design on a silver base i.e. will the clay and silver bind?

  I have Silver Clay for over a year now. I have read up a lot about it on the net but am still nervous to try. Can you help me with a few answers. I have Art Clay Silver 650 - 20 gms

  1. Do I fire on the trivets used for enamelling?

  2. Can  vitreous enamel colour be used on it?

  3. Can we use the clay to design on a silver base i.e. will the clay and silver bind?

• Trish White

  

  Leader
   

  November 28, 2010

  Hi Ritu,
  
  I fire flat on a clean fire brick, so that my piece does not warp.
  I am also experimenting with enamels on the Metal Clay and asked several questions in the Metal Clay
  Page. Many of the artists answered. Check it out. You can also adhere clay to silver sheet, but you must
  use the metal clay slip to adhere both pieces together.
  You make metal clay slip by putting your metal clay scraps in a small airtight canister and add a bit of water and you will have a very wet clay (a little mushy like toothpaste) - you use this like a glue to
  adhere pieces, fill in small holes, and cracks.
  Sand and clean up your pieces with files and sand paper BEFORE firing, so you have less clean up.
  
  I was very nervous when I first tried, but once you use it you will never want to stop. Have you looked at www.metalclay.com? They have a lot of products for metal clay and also www.cooltools.com.
  DO NOT MIX Art Clay together with PMC products - altho they are both Metal Clay, keep them in separate containers. And remember to wrap your remaining clay back up in plastic wrap and keep in an airtight container with a small piece of damp sponge to keep in moist.

  Hi Ritu,
  
  I fire flat on a clean fire brick, so that my piece does not warp.
  I am also experimenting with enamels on the Metal Clay and asked several questions in the Metal Clay
  Page. Many of the artists answered. Check it out. You can also adhere clay to silver sheet, but you must
  use the metal clay slip to adhere both pieces together.
  You make metal clay slip by putting your metal clay scraps in a small airtight canister and add a bit of water and you will have a very wet clay (a little mushy like toothpaste) - you use this like a glue to
  adhere pieces, fill in small holes, and cracks.
  Sand and clean up your pieces with files and sand paper BEFORE firing, so you have less clean up.
  
  I was very nervous when I first tried, but once you use it you will never want to stop. Have you looked at www.metalclay.com? They have a lot of products for metal clay and also www.cooltools.com.
  DO NOT MIX Art Clay together with PMC products - altho they are both Metal Clay, keep them in separate containers. And remember to wrap your remaining clay back up in plastic wrap and keep in an airtight container with a small piece of damp sponge to keep in moist.
• Terry Brake

  

  Member
   

  November 28, 2010

  Hellow Ritu,
  Remember to burnish the fired clay as much as possible to close the pores in the sintered clay surface. This will stop some undesired reactions of the enamels with the silver. I use a tumbler with stainless steel shot on the pieces. This may result in some 'rounding' of edges, so the best way is to try to use a design that does not have tiny detail that may burnish away.
  Good luck, and go for it!
  Terry

  Hellow Ritu, Remember to burnish the fired clay as much as possible to close the pores in the sintered clay surface. This will stop some undesired reactions of the enamels with the silver. I use a tumbler with stainless steel shot on the pieces. This may result in some 'rounding' of edges, so the best way is to try to use a design that does not have tiny detail that may burnish away. Good luck, and go for it! Terry
• Tina Carvalho

  

  Member
   

  November 28, 2010

  Hi, Ritu- You may find many of the answers to your questions about metal clay at http://www.metalclayacademy.com/ including tips for beginners. Another great resource is a Yahoo! Group you can subscribe to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MetalClay/ If you have a specific question, the Search function sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. You can always ask questions there; there are several people who enamel on silver and copper clay. Most of us fire the silver clay on kiln fiberboard shelves rather than fire brick, since it takes fire brick so much longer to heat up and reach the proper temperature. Fire flat if the piece is flat, but think about firing in a bed of vermiculite or on top of a ceramic "blanket" if the piece is not flat. I've also carved shapes into the fiberboard to accommodate findings or other odd shapes. If you want to add silver clay to sheet silver, consider using Art Clay Overlay Paste. You can often use regular silver clay slip to join the clay to the sheet, but Overlay Paste will do a much better job of sticking the two together. It took me a long time to decide to buy the stuff, but I'm glad I did. Alternatively, adding a drop of essential lavendar oil to regular slip may do the job. Once you have fired your piece, it is very similar to enameling on fine silver, but you need to burnish the piece thoroughly first. It will come out of the kiln frosty white, and you need to brush, polish, burnish it until it is as shiny as you can get it to close the pores. Just as with fine silver, some enamel colors, mostly reds, oranges, and some yellows, do not do well unless fired on top of a good flux layer. Generally the blues and greens behave very well. There are some good books on silver clay, and one by Pam East that specifically addresses enamel on silver clay. Browse on Amazon. Good luck!

  Hi, Ritu- You may find many of the answers to your questions about metal clay at http://www.metalclayacademy.com/ including tips for beginners. Another great resource is a Yahoo! Group you can subscribe to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MetalClay/ If you have a specific question, the Search function sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. You can always ask questions there; there are several people who enamel on silver and copper clay. Most of us fire the silver clay on kiln fiberboard shelves rather than fire brick, since it takes fire brick so much longer to heat up and reach the proper temperature. Fire flat if the piece is flat, but think about firing in a bed of vermiculite or on top of a ceramic "blanket" if the piece is not flat. I've also carved shapes into the fiberboard to accommodate findings or other odd shapes. If you want to add silver clay to sheet silver, consider using Art Clay Overlay Paste. You can often use regular silver clay slip to join the clay to the sheet, but Overlay Paste will do a much better job of sticking the two together. It took me a long time to decide to buy the stuff, but I'm glad I did. Alternatively, adding a drop of essential lavendar oil to regular slip may do the job. Once you have fired your piece, it is very similar to enameling on fine silver, but you need to burnish the piece thoroughly first. It will come out of the kiln frosty white, and you need to brush, polish, burnish it until it is as shiny as you can get it to close the pores. Just as with fine silver, some enamel colors, mostly reds, oranges, and some yellows, do not do well unless fired on top of a good flux layer. Generally the blues and greens behave very well. There are some good books on silver clay, and one by Pam East that specifically addresses enamel on silver clay. Browse on Amazon. Good luck!
• ritu sangal

  

  Member
   

  November 29, 2010

  Thanks a ton. I will try and let you know my result

  Thanks a ton. I will try and let you know my result
• Terry Brake

  

  Member
   

  November 29, 2010

  Oh, just remembered : don't pickle the item of metal clay, the copper, and then fire enamel again. This warning is courtesy of one of the excellent artists I can't recall her name for sure, on the metal clay yahoo group. The pickle is never going to come out of the tiny pores it seeps into, even soaked. Then in the kiln the trapped pickle will do nasty things to enamels. Burnish/brush/sand fine wet-dry papers but no pickle to remove fire scale on copper clays instead.
  Plan for mechanical means of cleaning copper clays after firing, and fewer firings to do enamels on them. Likely opaque designs would be better on the copper items.

  Oh, just remembered : don't pickle the item of metal clay, the copper, and then fire enamel again. This warning is courtesy of one of the excellent artists I can't recall her name for sure, on the metal clay yahoo group. The pickle is never going to come out of the tiny pores it seeps into, even soaked. Then in the kiln the trapped pickle will do nasty things to enamels. Burnish/brush/sand fine wet-dry papers but no pickle to remove fire scale on copper clays instead. Plan for mechanical means of cleaning copper clays after firing, and fewer firings to do enamels on them. Likely opaque designs would be better on the copper items.