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Thread: Stamping on PMC?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
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    31

    Default Stamping on PMC?

    Hi,

    Im interested in experimenting with PMC. Just wondering if I have to have a kiln to fire it or can firing be done with a torch if i'm just making pendants?

    Also can PMC be stamped on with metal stamps AFTER it has been fired? I know I could do it before but I have metal stamps so I think they would work best after the PMC is in its silver form. What's your advice?

    Thanks,
    Angie

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    Central London
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    Default

    I don't do PMC, but just happen to be the first member here this morning.

    Yes, you can fire it with an open flame, if your torch is hot enough and you can even make a little cubicle from soldering blocks to get the kiln effect.

    Stamping fired clay is liable to crack it I think, so You might be better to push your stamps in manually while it is dough-like.

    Thousands of posts about PMC are already available if you put key words into the search box, top left. Try 'Stamps', 'PMC', 'Firing', etc. or read the section on metal clays. Dennis.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    68

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    I always stamp before firing, and I fire with a torch as I do not have a kiln. Not sure about stamping after firing, I do not have the means to do so, and even if I did, there is the problem of if it goes wrong there is nothing you can do, whereas before you fire you can always just wet it back down and start again.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
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    Default

    Ok thanks for your replies, i will push the metal stamps into the clay before firing

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
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    Default

    Hi,

    On Youtube, there is a video explaining how to stamp PMC after being fired. Since I am new here, I can't post the URL so just search "stamping PMC" and it should come up. She uses a product called Jet Set.
    I have also read that finished PMC can be worked just like any metal.
    Last edited by glassartist; 17-06-2013 at 02:41 PM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
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    Default

    Hi glassartist

    Jett Sett is basically polymorph with another brand name. All it does is hold the fired piece securely so it doesn't deform. The problem with fired pmc is that it isn't as strong as regular sheet metal, and can be vulnerable to cracking or splitting if hit hard enough, especially if the piece isn't that thick to start with.

    There are a number of other factors that prevent it from being worked like other metals, largely to do with the slightly porous nature of the fired product.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    Quote Originally Posted by glassartist View Post
    I have also read that finished PMC can be worked just like any metal.
    the only way I can imagine PMC working like silver is if it were melted down and rolled.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    2

    Default Kate McKinnon

    Quote Originally Posted by medusa View Post
    the only way I can imagine PMC working like silver is if it were melted down and rolled.
    If you are not familiar with the artist Kate McKinnon, she has written at least 5 books on PMC plus videos. She is the one that talks about being able to forge it after being fired. She does however only use a kiln because she says a torch produces a fragile product.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    I'll see if I can find some info on her techniques because the kiln fired PMC I've tried forging or otherwise bending (because it curled slightly) has just cracked. I had heard that the sterling PMC could be 'worked like silver', but only saw one example of that (a spoon which could have been more cheaply and easily made from sheet). I love PMC for lots of reasons but if I want to twist, thin, forge, bend etc, I'd much rather use regular silver.

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