Showing posts with label pmc clay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pmc clay. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Applying Gold Accents to PMC Clay

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I promised to give some tips, from my experimentation of applying a gold appliqué to your precious metal clay pieces.
I use Aura 22 and have had great success with it.

The most important thing I can tell you is, once you pieces has been fired, do not, I repeat.. do not burnish or tumble!
I allow the pieces to cool down and am careful not to touch the areas that are to be painted with gold, as oils and dirt from your fingers can intefere with the adhesion.

If you find that the gold has hardened in the jar, place a couple of drops of media included and stir with a toothpick until the consistancy is simular to the thickness of nail polish. Lightly place a thin, even layer of paint, using a small paintbrush and allow to dry. I repeat this process 3 times. You can apply two layers, instead of three, but I happened to like the bright color using 3 coats.

I have read tips that prior to applying gold accent paint, to place a thin layer of silver overlay on your fired piece.I suppose to help with adhesion. I haven't tried this yet, as I have not had an issue with the gold not staying in place.


After you have allowed the coats to dry, place your piece back in your kiln, and refire for approximately 6-7 minutes at 1600 degrees.
Once your pieces has cooled down, burnish and tumble. You will be amazed at the beautiful results!

To see the results, view my post about my Silver and Gold Teardrop Earrings
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Friday, August 29, 2008

Ruined two Pieces of Jewelry today :(

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I am always trying to learn something new, especially working with PMC Clay.
I few weeks ago, I had ordered 4 diachronic cabs that I was going to make the into wonderful pendants.
I formed the pendants and secured the cabs (so I thought)as they clay was moist and let sit for 2 days, until totally dry. Fired and began to burnish the silver.
Well, both cabs came loose and fell out. But me, being the optimist, took the opportunity to add a patina to the silver and place the into the tumbler for a couple of hours to, at least get that end worked out.
So..my bright idea..I'll use jeweler's glue to secure the cabs. I let sit for a couple of days and all looked great...until I tried to go further and incorporate into a necklace. Don't both pop out again!
The glue left a hard, glass like finish to the spot the cabs would have sat...there was no getting it out. I even tried torching but that didn't work either.
I couldn't even reapply the PMC to secure the cab again, since the foreign glue substance would interfere and more than likely, not fuse to the previously fired silver.
So, I am out about $50 worth of silver and cabs. Really bummed.
I think I will have to try next time, putting a thin line of pmc around the cab, much like a bevel cup, to secure.
They were so pretty too!
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