1 of 2

Write now Article Tools

For those of you who are familiar with traditional metalsmithing, Precious Metal Clay is completely different. Precious Metal Clay is made up of tiny particles of silver or gold held together by an organic binder. The material looks like ceramic clay but that look is deceiving, because it is not clay at all.

If you pick up Precious Metal Clay, you will notice that it is quite heavy. That is because it is mostly made up of metal. Until it has been fired, you cannot treat Precious Metal Clay like metal though. The binder makes the material much more fragile.

Out of the package, Precious Metal Clay mostly feels and handles like clay. It is damp, and can be molded, stamped, flattened with a roller, or cut with a knife or clay cutter. It does dry out quickly, so you need to keep it moist when working with it. Once you have completed your design, the clay needs to be dried. You can leave it to dry or you can dry it with a hair dryer or in an oven. Precious Metal Clay is non-toxic so you don't need to worry about fumes when it is drying. This makes it easy to work with even in your own home.

After the clay is completely dry, it needs to be fired in a kiln, or with some formulas, it can be torch fired or in a specially designed hot pot. After firing, the organic binder comes to the surface of the piece, and the metal, silver or gold, fuses together. Once cool, you are now left with a piece of either fine silver or gold that you can work with like any other metal that you would use metalsmithing.

The binder leaves a crust on the clay after firing that needs to be cleaned off with a brush or a tumbler. Then you can do just about anything that a metalsmith would do to the piece. You can solder other metal to it, like a bezel to set a stone. You can hammer it for texture, although it is fairly soft so you need to keep that in mind. It can also be drilled to attach it with a jump ring to a chain or another piece. And you can set a stone on it with prongs.

It also reacts the same way to finishing that you normally do in metalsmithing. You can use liver of sulphur to oxidize it or bleach to add a gunmetal finish to it.

To sum up, the main difference between Precious Metal Clay and metalsmithing is that you can cut the time way down on the creation and assembly side of metalsmithing because of the soft clay nature of Precious Metal Clay. But after firing, the metal finishing part is exactly the same. However, if you want a very hammered or extremely strong metal piece, I would not recommend Precious Metal Clay. Traditional metalsmithing gives a much stronger finished piece which makes it much better for rings or bracelet cuffs.

There is a place for both art forms. Precious Metal Clay cannot replace metalsmithing. Actually, they work better as complementary art forms.

Learn more about this author, Paula Atwell.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Difference between precious metal clay and traditional metalsmithing methods?
We want to hear your view. Write now!