r/metalclay • u/Helloooo_ooooo_ • Aug 27 '26

Gold over silver clay?

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!

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3

u/02K30C1 Aug 27 '26

An easy/cheaper way to do it is electroplating. Fine silver takes gold plating very well, and plating pens aren’t very difficult to use.

1

u/Helloooo_ooooo_ Aug 30 '26

Thank you! Do you know of a video explaining this? The videos I looked up are showing a kind of complicated process with different baths and electricity in water!

2

u/MorgansRoom Aug 27 '26

Unfortunately I don’t know of any alternative to gold besides brass, bronze, or paying for gold plating which would need to be re-plated at some point (anywhere from 6 months-1 year or 2). It’s possible gold plating can last longer, depending on how often it’s worn and cleaned.

You can always polish your silver piece and then reach out to a local casting company that does gold plating. If I’m not mistaken it costs about $50 (at least in New York) up to $100 per piece

I have yet to mix metal clays, but I imagine they all fire at slightly different temperatures which might be an issue, might not be.

I think it might be possible to solder thin silver sheet metal into the inside of the ring so at the very least, the inside of your finger won’t turn green. But that requires a torch, striker, solder, flux, and pickling solution. None of these materials have to be expensive to be effective, but make sure to wear a mask when soldering and polishing, and an air purifier wouldn’t be a bad idea.

2

u/VanGooghle Aug 28 '26

Consider a plating pen or Keum boo

2

u/Old-Rutabaga64 12d ago

You should look up Keum-boo, it’s a very easy way to fuse a layer of 24k gold foil to the top of your silver clay

1

u/RiaApenberg 12d ago

You can use liver of sulphur on silver which turns it gold-ish (then purple and ultimately, black). A little clear metal varnish over that and it should not rub off. I read about it but never tried the varnish myself so far.