Silver Clay problems. help

[Mobo]

I bought some Art clay using Christmas money gift, and had grand plans of making my own charms, so I managed to make a small dog shape, let it dry, torch fired it, and bam all of a sudden it no longer looked like a dog but a silver blob, now Art clay is not cheap, and I do not want to have to keep wasting it, can someone advise how I can reuse the "silver blob" I am completely new to using Silver Art Clay I normally just make jewellery using wires, so I am now at a loss. also can someone explain to me what happened when I fired the clay to make this happen in the first place, as I followed all the instructions?

Mo

[t1ggerk1ns]

I am afraid that if it has got to the stage of a metal blob, you cannot turn it back into clay.
It sounds like you got the heat a bit wrong. I always torch fire mine and you really have to be careful and watch it. You will see the change and you need to go by what you see and not by what the instructions tell you. No 2 torches will give the same intensity and other conditions vary too.

[CJ57]

On the few occasions I've used it I've set a timer the minute it reaches the Orange colour and it worked ok

[LydiaNiz]

Yup, sounds like it started melting and is one for the 'lessons learned' pile. I dry in the oven and leave overnight before tidying the piece up and firing next day. Fire in the dusk if possible, you can keep a better eye on colour. Keep flame fairly bushy and not too close. Once you have the piece that peachy colour - maintain it. Take heat off momentarily if it goes red or shimmery. Good luck!

[CJ57]

That's a perfect description Lydia, I forgot the shimmery but its instinctive to move the torch away.The clay is a learning curve and if not at dusk at least tuen all the lights out so that you can see exactly what colour it's reaching before the point of no return!

[Mobo]

Thank you everyone for your responses, sounds like I need to just be a little more careful what I am doing, #-o I may end up with a box of curious shaped blobs of silver lol

[medusa]

it is really worth sacrificing a couple of bits and heating them up until they do melt. It helps give you an idea of what to look for.