PMC versus Art Silver Clay

[Helenka]

I worked with PMC a little and would like to know what the main difference (if there is any) between Art Silver Clay and PMC. I know that PMC tends to be a bit more expensive.
Can Art Clay be fired with a torch?
Helen

[FVT]

I've only used Art Clay, mainly the Slow Dry...and yes I fire it with a torch. I am wondering the opposite of you Helen, can you torch fire PMC or PMC3? Am curious also to know any other differences...apart from the slightly higher price ;-)

[Wendy Moriarty]

hi,
I've used Art clay slow dry and pmc, I prefer pmc, I find it a better texture that is easier to work with, Art clay is a dryer texture and shows cracks when curved or twisted. We torch fired one piece of pmc on a short course I did. (so you can torch fire pmc) I was led to believe both should be kiln fired to be strong enough for jewellery to be sold, but I was also told they can be work hardened and treated as silver once fired (not sure if they ment kiln or torch fired) Hope this helps
Wendy

[FiredSilver]

PMC3 and Art Clay 650 are pretty comparable in terms of fininshed product. The main difference is in the working texture. As Wendy said, Art Clay is a stiffer forumla, PMC is a lot softer and elasticy. You can torch fire both products, but kiln firing does make the pieces much, much stronger (whichever brand), give them both a go and see which consistency is better for you.

As for pricing - Art Clay has just gone up quite a bit and PMC is now a bit cheaper per gram on retail prices!! A 20g pack of AC is £1.42 per gram, and on a 25g pack of PMC3 is £1.24

HTH

Becci
x

[mizgeorge]

Goodness! Is that how much it costs now? 25g of sterling casting grain works out at about 50p a gram.....

[FiredSilver]

Yep and I've been wondering whether they'd put the prices down if silver were to drop