Metal Clay

Metal Clays are an extra-ordinary line of products - and possibly one of the only truly "new" things in jewelry in a long time. Metal Clay, as they areknown generically (there are a number of different brands now) is a finely-ground metal powder  that is mixed with a organic, clay-like binder. It has the texture and appearance of ordinary pottery clay, and can be worked using the exact same techniques as are used for clay - using simple, household items like scrapers and files. (Some brands come as a dry powder and need to be mixed with water, others come pre-mixed as a clay already.)

Once it has dried to the "greenware" stage - it can be fired in a kiln and the clay substrate burns away and the metal particles "sinter" (attach at the molecular level) - leaving you with a solid metal object - much like a cast metal piece. This is so amazing - I'm going to say it again. It's a piece of clay that you fire and bingo - it turns into pure metal! Awesome!

It is a very sophisticated and beautiful medium - with the potential for huge amounts of creativity. In particular - it lends itself to very organic and fluid forms in a way that can be quite challenging to acheive with traditional metal forming techniques.

In the last decade, we have seen a wide range of new products become available, and exciting new metals and metal combinations - what was once just pure silver now has expanded to include copper, bronze, steel, and even powder to you can mix to make your own blends!

In addition, we also offer a Metal Clay Firing Service. See here for details.