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Bridesmill (talk | contribs) put ref back where it belongs...plus virtuallyh all silver contains recycled portion, & AIDA website doesn't even make this claim |
Bridesmill (talk | contribs) more accurate take on platinum... |
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'''Metal clay''', is a [[clay]]-like medium used to make [[jewelry]], [[bead]]s and small sculpture. It consists of very small particles of precious metals (such as [[silver]], [[gold]] or [[platinum]]) mixed with an organic binder and water. Metalclay can be shaped just like any soft clay, by hand or using moulds. After drying, it is fired in a kiln, with a handheld gas torch, or on a gas stove. The binder burns away, leaving the pure, [[sintering|sintered]] metal. Shrinkage of between 8% and 30% occurs (depending on the product used), but this is exploited by artisans to produce very fine detail.
Silver precious metal clay results in objects containing .999 pure silver which is ideal for enamelling. Gold clay is much more expensive to use by itself, but can be used to make beautiful accents on silver objects
Metal clay is sold in sealed packets to keep it moist and workable. It is also sold as a softer paste in a pre-filled syringe which can be used to produce extrude forms and as paper-like sheets, from which most of the moisture has been removed. Silver metal clay is also available in a dry powder form to which the user adds water to obtain any desired consistency.
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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.<ref>McCreight, Tim. "What's New?" ''Metalsmith'' Spring 2006, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p42-45, 4p</ref> PMC also manufacures 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 a lot less, only 8-10%.
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