Metal clay powder first test.

I mentioned before that I had ordered some precious metal clay in powder form from the US.

Well the day before yesterday I got round to trying it out. It was very easy to mix, just adding water, it already has the binders in the powder, once mixed it was easy to handle and not in the least bit sticky though it had a different feel to it than the stuff I have used before i.e the ready made, almost like a slack dough rather than clay. Once kneaded to the consistency I thought was about right I used a very detailed mould I had made from a broken art deco belt buckle (which I have kept for many years not knowing if and when it would ever prove useful), I chose this to really challenge how well it would conform to the mould and how easy it would be to get out of the mould without cracking or breaking.

The image below is the result, as you can see the clay picked up all the fine detail and fired very well (fired at 700C for 30 minutes, which was the max recommended, and then tumbled for an hour or so).

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...7758b94313.jpg
mayan token by kwant, on Flickr

At $80 for 50g + $12 postage I think it is exceptional value. (at first I thought they would not send to France but in fact they do). Here is the link http://www.silvernitrate.org/ email them about international ordering.

That's good to know. I've bought some of Hadar's clay, both steel and copper to play with but haven't had time to try it yet. Hadar has quite a range of metals and colours to choose from

Looks really good. Do you assay silver clay? if so and it holds up i would say we have a real find

Julian

The two brands of precious metal clay I have used in the past are certainly of assay quality. This new type says the resulting metal is 999 fine silver so it should be no different. As soon as I have made a piece that I wish to have hallmarked I will post the result here.