Cabochons – Precious Metal Clay
May 20th, 2008 WendyLee Posted in Cabochons, Techniques | No Comments »
Another technique that you can use with cabochons is Precious Metal Clay (PMC) or Art Silver Clay.
Metal clay is clay hich has fine silver particles mixed with a binding agent, Once the piece is fire the binding burns off leaving you with a fine Silver piece.
Metal Clays are a wonderful way to make silver jewellery with limited tools. You work with the clay like you would any other clay and then you fire your piece. There are a number of ways to fire metal clays but the best way to fire if you are also combining with glass cabohcons is a kiln as you can control the tempereature more accurately without breaking the glass.
Dichroic Glass cabochons and art glass cabochons are great for metal clays as you can fire them in the kiln and withstand the heat necessary to cook the metal clay.
Make sure when you are using cabochons to clean them properly before you fire them in the kiln. If there is any silver residue on the cabochon it can discolour the cabochon, sometimes this can look good but if if its not the look you are going for it can look pretty yuck!
Below are a couple of samples of Metal clay with dichroic glass cabochons made by Donna Fox of Sympatica
If you are interested in leaning to work with metal clays, look for your local accreditated teacher. You can find them through PMC guilds and Art Silver Clay Guilds in your country.
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