ABOUT
SILVER CLAY
There are two popular brands of this material, Precious
Metal Clay (PMC) and Art Clay Silver (ACS). Precious
Metal Clay or PMC was developed in the early 1990s in
Japan by metallurgist Dr. A. Morikawa. The material
consists of extremely fine precious metal powder and
a water-soluble organic binder which burns off during
firing. Success was first achieved with gold, and later
duplicated with silver, PMC Original which had to be
fired in a kiln and had a very high shrinkage rate.
Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi,
later developed two additional versions of silver called
PMC+, which displays less shrinkage, and PMC3, which
fires at lower temperatures in a kiln or by using a
torch. A 22k gold coating material (Aura 22), and a
22k yellow gold alloy are also manufactured. PMC also
manufactures an 18k gold clay and a platinum clay, but
these latter two are only marketed in Japan.
Art Clay or ACS was developed by AIDA
Chemical Industries. Art Clay followed PMC Original
with their Art Clay Original clay, which allowed the
user to use a handheld torch or gas hob for firing.
The clay also shrank less, only 8-10%.
Further developments introduced the
Art Clay Slow Dry, a clay with a longer working time.
Art Clay 650 and Art Clay 650 Slow Dry soon followed
- both clays that can be fired as low as 650C, allowing
the user to combine the clay with glass and sterling
silver which had previously been affected by the higher
temperature needed to fire the previous clays. AIDA
also manufacturers Oil Paste, a product only used on
fired metal clay, and Overlay Paste, which is designed
for drawing designs on glass and porcelain.
In 2006 AIDA also introduced the Art
Clay Gold Paste, a more economical way to work with
gold. The paste is painted onto the fired silver clay,
and then refired in a kiln, or with a torch or gas stove.
When fired it bonds with the silver, giving a 22ct gold
accent. The same year also saw Art Clay Slow Tarnish
introduced a clay which tarnishes less rapidly than
the other metal clays. |
