What is Art Clay (Silver) / Silver Clay / Metal Clay
Metal clay is a craft medium consisting of very small particles of pure metal such as silver, gold, bronze or copper mixed with an organic binder and water for use in making jewelry, beads and small sculptures. Metal clay originated in Japan in 1990 and, like soft clay, can be shaped by hand or using molds. After drying, the clay can be fired in various ways, such as in a ceramic kiln, with a gas burner or on a gas stove, depending on the type of clay and the metal in it. The binder burns away and the pure sintered metal remains. Shrinkage of 8% to 30% occurs (depending on the product used). Alloys such as bronze, The products are safe and non-toxic. Art Clay products are easy to work with. The possibilities are endless. After firing, you have a unique and pure silver, gold or copper piece of jewelry.
Want to know more about the history of Art Clay ? check out here
In 5 easy steps, make your own silver (bronze, copper) jewelry at home
1. Designing, shaping and modeling
Design and model your jewelry. Do take into account the shrinkage of the product, which is about 8 to 9%. Especially when making rings, this is of course very important.
2. Drying
When your design is finished then it must be dried properly. Drying can include air drying, using a hair dryer or on a hot plate. If the design is not properly dry it may spatter during heating. To make sure the workpiece is properly dry, you can do the mirror test. Place the hot workpiece on a mirror for a few moments. If no condensation is visible on the mirror when you lift the workpiece, it is properly dry.
3. Touching up, sanding and filing
The dried ornament has hardened but is still fragile. You can touch up unevenness with Art Clay Silver paste or spray paste. Dry the workpiece again after applying the paste. Then you can sand the workpiece smooth with the sanding wipes. Baby wipes are also useful at this stage to achieve a perfectly smooth result. And at this stage, you can also file or scratch patterns or lines in the jewelry.
4. Heating
When the piece of jewelry is completely finished and all irregularities have been touched up, the piece is ready to be heated. Art Clay Silver can be heated in three ways: 1 on the gas stove, 2 with a gas burner or 3 with a special clay oven. But there are limitations to heating with a gas burner or on the stove. So please read the baking instructions carefully first.
5. Polishing
After the jewelry is “baked” it can be polished. First remove the white layer with a polishing brush. If you want to keep the jewelry matte, leave it at that. For a high-gloss finish, use sanding cloths and the polishing needle. And finally, polish the jewelry with polishing paste.
Making your own silver jewelry at home with Art Clay Silver, Silver Clay
On Youtube you will find numerous short videos explaining how to make jewelry with Art Clay Silver.
Legal regulations hallmark silver.
Ordinary silver clay consists of 99.9% silver after firing. If you want to sell silver above 8 grams in the Netherlands, by law it must be hallmarked with a Sterling .925 hallmark and bear a master’s mark.
The Netherlands has 3 levels of silver:
-
925 thousandths is called first grade ( 92.5% silver with 7.5% copper or another metal)
-
835 thousandths is called second grade.
-
800 thousandths mentions with third content.
The Netherlands does not have a hallmark for fine silver (0.999 or 0.950) and is therefore hallmarked with a Sterling 925 hallmark…. The hallmark can be struck or laser burned and this is done by 2 institutions designated by the Dutch government.
You can ship your jewelry made with silver clay to a designated institution to have your jewelry inspected.
To do this, go to:
