Metal Clay, a clay-like medium used to make jewelry, beads and small sculpture, consists of very small particles of precious metals (such as silver, gold or platinum) mixed with an organic binder and water. Once the clay is worked, then dried, it is fired in a kiln or with a hand-held torch. The binder burns away, leaving just the precious metal, and the object is 8 to 20% smaller because the binder has been removed.

Silver clay is the most-used of all metal clays, resulting in .999 pure silver. Gold clay is quite expensive, and not practical to use by itself, but the gold makes a beautiful accent on the silver. The clay comes in packets, which are small because the material is very expensive: $30 an ounce is standard for silver clay.

There are two popular brands of this material, Art Clay Silver (ACS) and Precious Metal Clay (PMC).

External links

• PMC Guild
• Metal Clay Techniques
• SilverClay - Description of all Art Clay types

Sculpture techniques | Jewellery making | Chemical compounds