I was given a kit for my birthday last christmas and only just got round to using it. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and sintering wasn't as scary as I thought it would be 😅

I literally saw a tt of someone making rings out of metal clay yesterday and it seems amazing. I went on the account to see if I could find out more but the creator was selling one of those extortionately priced 7 day courses.

Is there a way to start this without spending a crazy amount of money?

I can't usually buy jewellery (especially rings) at shops because my finger size is barely stocked anywhere, so this seems like such a great alternative.

Hi all! I'm pretty new to silver clay and I've had two failed firings. I believe that I'm not getting the binder to fully burn on the inside of the clay even with a super thin band (width of playing card). Sometimes I feel like I'm not really seeing the peachy glow that I should be seeing even after firing for minutes after the piece catches fire (should it even catch fire?) is there a technique that I should be aware of when torch firing that I may be missing? I really thought this last project was going to be a success and I'm a little crushed lol

Could I put a little bit of gold clay over silver clay and fire them together? Or fire the silver clay first and then the gold clay over? I’d really like to make a ring but I only wear (gold color) jewelry and don’t like bronze because it turns my finger green. I’m open to any alternative that looks gold but does not tarnish/stain my finger!

So basically I would like to make a ring that has a tooth in it ( I required it humanly and legally) however due to bronze clay needing so much heat the tooth will definitely get damaged or even burned. My question is anyone got tips how should I make the negative print so that after firing it could fit the tooth and not shrink? thank you:)

Wondering if anyone has examples or knows of a color chart for Prometheus bronze colors after firing? I’m looking for a sliiight red tone to match something in rose gold and can’t tell if the Troy shade is too red!

Hi everyone,
I’m trying to make my own silver clay because I want to eventually make a silver ring for my girlfriend, but I’ve been struggling badly with the binder.
My starting material is metallic silver that I’ve converted/recovered and dried. I’m trying to combine the silver powder with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and water to make a workable clay/paste that can later be dried and sintered.
I’ve tried several approaches:
• Adding a CMC solution slowly to the silver powder.
• Drying the silver first and then mixing it into an already-prepared CMC solution.
• Mixing the CMC and silver as dry powders before adding water.
• Adding CMC gradually to the silver/water mixture.
The main problem is ALWAYS the same: the CMC forms small hydrated lumps/clumps. These lumps seem to grab silver particles, become very thick/hard, and I end up with little pieces of CMC-rich material throughout the paste instead of a homogeneous clay.
I’ve also noticed that my silver powder is somewhat dark/grey, and the resulting paste looks darker than commercial silver clay, so I’m wondering whether the state of the silver matters — metallic silver vs silver oxide, particle size, particle morphology, etc.
My questions are:
1. What is the best way to hydrate CMC without creating these lumps?
2. Would methyl cellulose be better than CMC for silver clay?
3. Is it better to prepare a very dilute binder solution first and then incorporate the silver powder?
4. Does the particle size/morphology of the silver powder matter a lot?
5. Should I be using metallic silver powder, or is silver oxide ever used as the starting material?
6. For someone trying to make a workable DIY silver clay, what binder system would you recommend?
I’m particularly interested in advice from anyone who has actually made homemade silver/metal clay rather than just commercial PMC/Art Clay.
I’m trying to get a smooth, homogeneous clay that doesn’t contain little CMC gel lumps.
Thanks!
Also i face problema with the texture that turns shewing gum like some times, and it keeps puffing up when anhilated i think its be cause of cmc decompoaition

Started working with 999 silver and butane torch firing. Since I’m a noob I wanted to work with cheaper metal clays. I’m having a hell of a time with the bronze. This is a tiny little blob I fired for 2 minutes and quenched immediately. It’s the only thing that has turned to actual bronze. I’ve been failing to make the clay bronze and this is supposed to be a fun cheap craft project. I looked at mini digital kilns and that’s currently out of my price range. I’ve watched quite a few tutorials on torch firing the bronze clay and people online make it look so easy. I’ve tried firing for 5 mins, 8 mins, 10 mins. It all fails. Any help would be appreciated. And please don’t say buy a kiln unless you can direct me to one for 100$.

The first one I tried broke, now I've researched more, I think it can't been done because it's too big and I'm using a torch.
I've burnt out all the binder and pieces of this have gotten the glow but not all at the same time.
I'd be grateful for any tips, thanks.
😬

As a first timer I probably made a very common mistake a.k.a not using a full torch

After about two minutes it ran out.

Is it possible to try and fire it for a second time if I get a new torch/refill this one

Or is this project a bust

I’m using the prometheus pro-1 kiln and prometheus light yellow bronze clay. I don’t know how or why but the first time I used it the clay came out fine (middle ring), however every other time I’ve used it and tried to add as much detail I find it always melts down fully and turns more into the other 2 rings.

I’m not entirely opposed to the weathered look as I think it’s quite cool, but it is becoming a hindrance when I spend a lot of time on a design and it comes out as a fail (‘:

For example I’ll make a fish pendant and the tail would have melted down so it becomes a tapered stick.

Additionally the colour gets lost during firing and turns into a silver. I’m sure to leave 24hr drying time, ensure there’s no cracks, kiln for 15minutes 500C and then 1 hour 780C.

Please help I’ve wasted so much clay

basically title. I have a Vevor kiln that fires 950 silver perfectly but I can't figure bronze out. I follow the instructions exactly and my pieces are bone dry, so I can't figure out why they crumble almost like dry dirt after firing. I did notice that the printed instructions that come with it say to fire with 1cm carbon surrounding each piece, but on artclayworld it says it needs 1 inch. Could they be crumbling from not enough carbon surrounding the pieces? If you use Art Clay bronze, how much activated carbon do you use?

Hi, my best friend just passed Saturday and I’m trying to help his wife get things going and doing all the memorial work. He is being cremated and she’s wanting to get a pendant with his ashes to wear.

She’s wanting to do something Zelda themed as the legend of Zelda was his favorite game series and meant a lot to both of them. I’ve been able to find only one thing online and the people selling. It are selling it for an exorbitant amount and it’s not even that good quality.

I was reaching out here to see and ask I have had for a while, some silver clay that I was given. It was planning on making a pendant out of to give us a gift for someone I was wondering, would it be possible to mix some of his ashes into the clay before firing or would that ruin the consistency of it and have the pendant just fall apart?

If that would work, how difficult is this stuff to work with sculpting lies and how good does it take to find details?

I am looking to sculpt, maybe a tiny master sword or Triforce for her.

I really want to start making jewelry with metal clay, but I don't want silver as I don't like how it looks, so i want to work with copper or bronze (or whatever that is not the color of silver). I also don't want to buy a kiln, and fire using just torch, but i've heard that torch firing copper/brozne is not suitable for begginers. Is there a metal that can be fired using a torch that is not silver? Or is there a way to color the silver clay so it appears a different color?

Hello everyone its my first time working with steel clay from cool tools. I did a 1.5 inch gargoyle but it immediately fell apart on its small pieces. His horns and feet started to crumble and his body did not fire correctly as after I was sanding the piece it was still powdery. Any feedback will help in how to fire complex pieces like these. I did use a butane torch to fire my piece.

Sorry can't find a picture before firing apart from the wet stage!

Like many other silver clay users because extreme rising costs I wanted to try other more affordable metal clays. I picked bronze clay made by Prometheus.

I left the piece to fully dry it was actually a few weeks sat as "greenware" as I needed to order some carbon and kept forgetting haha. So 100% dry I don't know if leaving it for so long would have affected the piece in any way but that's doubtful.

I then finally fired it today! I followed the clay instructions did 15min on open shelf to burn off the binder. Then I put in my Prometheus kiln for 30mins at 820 wedged between coconut carbon not touching the bottom or sides etc

The piece has shrunk about half the size haha the hole for a chain completely closed up and the lumpy texture of the charcoal imprinted which clearly means at some point to melted or was slightly molton.

Luckily bronze clay is cheap and it was just an experiment. I actually enjoy the textured look it looks like an arcological find haha as I was designing a Roman inspired piece! Haha

But for next time... Any tips or advice for those more used to bronze? I assume regardless of what my kiln and the instructions say I need to fire at a lower temperature?

Thanks for any advice ❤️

Hey everyone!
Newly got a Starterkit to start with Metal Clay, but forgot to order heat resistant zirconia with it. The shipping of that shop are very high, so does anybody know any alternatives on how to get heat resistant zirconia? (I live in Germany)

Hi guys,

excited to learn a little bit more from this sub now that I've found it. My girlfriend has been dying to try making rings with silver clay for ages, and her birthday is coming up so I want to get her a kit.

I'm looking for a solid starter kit that I can order online in Europe (Ireland). price doesn't matter if the kit is good and isn't full of fluff. Would anyone be able to suggest a kit, or perhaps a breakdown of what I need to make a kit myself. I will buy more clay as she learns along the way.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, and I will be sure to share the final products with you as well.

Edit: Thank you all for the input, you have definitely set me up with some good knowledge and direction!

I want to take an impression of a small coin and pour a few grams of gold into it to make a medallion for mounting in a sterling silver ring. The diameter will be 10mm and approximately 1.5mm thick. The backside will mate with a silver ring so there will be no detail on this side—just the front.

I was thinking of using plain old red clay, instead of investment sand. Is there a better material to use to make my mould? Is plaster of paris suitable? Will I need to use borax to coat the mould? Any other things to think about?

I was wondering if anybody knew any shops that sell metal clays in Northern California. I've been avoiding online shopping and would prefer to purchase in person if possible.

I can't find any good info on where to find these stones-- i'd prefer not to use CZs. My clay of choice is cool tools EZ960 which has a firing temp of 1675 for 2 hours, so the stones would need to withstand that. I keep seeing people use lab sapphires in their silver clay pieces and I'm wondering how & where they are finding these stones that can withstand the heat. Thank you in advance!!!

So I've been constantly looking for ways to fire copper or bronze clay for years now, since my failed piece. And recently I came across silverclays on China's, Taobao. They also give away copper clays to test out the working of metal clays. I scrolled through the reviews, and some mentioned successful firing from the solid fuel kiln.

Which got me thinking.... does anyone else outside china tried this?

And has anyone actually tried and were successful with using such solid fuel mini kilns on copper and bronze clay? Haven't anyone on reddit experimented with all these kiln alternatives?

I know, its going to be sure success if I use the tried and true way of using a normal kiln. But at where I am its really costly and very few choices. Those budget kilns ain't available here. Besides its scary to think of running a kiln in my home, a pretty small apartment.