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Art Clay Silver is a pure metal powder mixed with non-toxic binders
and water. When kiln, torch or stove fired, the binders burn away,
leaving pure, 99.9% silver.
Art Clay Silver can be added to a variety
of media: glass, ceramics, porcelain and polymer clay to name a few.
It can be rolled, sculpted, stamped, sanded, filed, engraved, drilled
and pre-polished, all prior to firing. Once fired it’s pure silver
and can treated like any other pure silver.
Silver Art Clay shrinks only 8-10%, with Low Fire shrinking only
8-9%, the lowest in the industry.
Art Clay Silver includes a broad
range of products, like
Oil
Paste
and
Overlay
Paste
,
Slow
Dry
and
22k
Gold Clay
products
that fit particular needs, and offer a more complete range of
materials to create with. Using Art Clay Silver consistently results
in beautiful pieces.
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- How is Art Clay manufactured?
- Art Clay is a recycled product manufactured by Aida
Industries in Japan. Aida recycles and reclaims a variety of different
metals, and the silver comes from many different sources, like film
stock and negatives.
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- The basic steps in working with Art Clay
- Read the directions which are included in the
package. Shape the malleable clay. Dry following one of the
recommended processes. Detail the greenware with files, sandpaper or
your favorite tools. Dry again to ensure it is ready to fire. Fire .
Finish.
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- The secret to success in working with Art
Clay Silver?
- The secret is to follow the 10-80-10 rule. Spend no
more than 10% of your time working on the roughing out the shape while
the clay is malleable. Allow 80% of your time to focus on working the
dry clay into the exact state you want. This is where you file, sand,
cut, and engrave your work. The piece should be mostly finished. The
remaining 10% should come after the firing, and spent finishing the
piece, sanding and polishing.
The difference between Low Fire Clay and
Regular Art Clay Silver?
- Low Fire Clay can do everything regular clay can do,
and much more. The Low Fire Clay fires as low at 1200 F ° which
allows for greater compatibility with more materials and gemstones
like moonstone. It only shrinks 8-9%, the lowest in the industry.
Regular clay works great, but should never be fired below 1472, and
shrinks a little bit more, around 8-10%. More detail can be found on
this comparison chart between the two products.
How can I get started with Art Clay before I
am able to attend a class?
- We carry several wonderful books, and a great video
that demonstrates the process. You can start with the first
Instruction Book 1, or the newer Basics Book with a new English
translation. The books feature step-by-step projects, which will take
you through the basic techniques of using Art Clay, including firing,
and are well photographed. The video is almost an hour long, and
provides and excellent overview of the process, and the best
demonstration of torch firing.
How do you keep Silver Art Clay moist and
malleable?
- Once you open the Mylar package the clay begins to
dry, much like porcelain. You can use water and a moist brush to
lightly hydrate the Art Clay while you shape your work. Keeping the
clay covered with something moist will let you put it down
momentarily.
What is the difference between Sterling Silver and Pure Silver?-
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- Sterling
Silver is composed of 92.5% silver and 7.5% of one or more
other metals. A common misconception
is that copper always makes up the remainder, when in reality
titanium, platinum, palladium, and a list of other
metals are often used. The addition of another
metal to the silver creates an alloy. Sterling Silver is
stronger
than Pure Silver, and as an alloy, it tarnishes more quickly
as well.
- Pure Silver is composed of 99.9% silver and nothing
else. Art Clay Silver is composed of 1-20
micron sized silver particles, organic binders, and water. Once
completely dried and fired, the remaining piece is 99.9% pure
silver.
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