3 Attachment(s)
Homemade Bronze clay FAILURE! Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?
Good Morning!
I'm new to metal clay, and experimenting.
I tied to make my own bronze clay, and it was a dismal failure. I'm hoping the people here can help me figure out why!
Ingredients (I live in Germany, so sorry for the German language pages :) :
Bronzepulver, atomized
Grain size: 44 microns (325 mesh) irregular
Melting point: 1083 ° C
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Methylcellulose
100% pure methyl cellulose E464 Nutritional information: Suitable for vegans and vegetarians, GMO-free, suitable for halal food.
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Recipe:
~3 parts bronze powder (3 'scoops')
~1 part methylcellulose (1 scoop)
- Distilled water to powdery clay
- Massaged with olive oil until workable consistency
Molding clay. :
- Made a number of my usual 'test coins'…a small disk about the size and thickness of a quarter…imprinted with a simple pattern.
- Dried at ~100°F for about 6 hours. Then left sitting overnight at room temp.
Firing and results:
I fired the clay with three attempts. Each coin separately.
1. First coin.
Fired using the same technique for store-bought PMC3 bronze clay.
- Large butane torch
(https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
- 8 minute timer.
- Burned off binder for ~1 min
- Sintered at nice, cherry red glow for 7 mins.
- Immediately cooled in water (dropped in room temp water)
- Results: See image one. Coin crumbled like ash :) No discernable metal sintered.
2. Second coin.
Fired using significantly higher heat.
- Large butane torch
- 8 minute timer.
- Burned off binder for ~1 min
- Sintered at bright orange glow for 7 mins.
- Immediately cooled in water (dropped in room temp water)
- Results: See image two. Most of coin disintegrated during sintering. INTERESTING NOTE: Little balls of molten bronze bubbled to surface. Edges of coin appear to have sintered.
3. Third coin.
Fired using significantly lower heat.
- Small butane torch (https://www.amazon.de/Melting-Brazin...c+butane+torch)
- 8 minute timer.
- Burned off binder for ~1 min
- Sintered below any observable heat glow for 7 mins.
- Immediately cooled in water (dropped in room temp water)
- Results: See image three. Basically, the same as one. Coin breaks in half easily (easier than breaking the dried clay before hand :D)
SOOOOOOOOOO!
ANY IDEAS WHAT I'M DOING WRONG? WHAT I CAN CHANGE?
Thanks!