Metal Clay – More Than Just Play-Doh

Strange title for a blog you might think, well yes, probably, but ‘Play Doh’ was a term that I heard applied to Metal Clay when I first encountered it a few years ago, mainly from purists in jewellery industry who saw it as nothing more than a passing fad – not worth taking the time to research. Well time has proven what a wonderful and versatile product it is and I, for one, am hooked!

What is Metal Clay?

Well in simple terms it is a combination of very fine particles of precious metals such as Silver, Gold and Platinum mixed with an organic binder (in this case the clay) and water.  From a UK prospective the first major developments in metal clay were undertaken by Mitsubishi (yes the car manufacturers’) in the early 1990’s.  Their product was to become known as PMC, and was for a while was the only avenue for this remarkable product in this country.

Metal clay was slow to make a major impact on the jewellery trade here in the UK with people not understanding its potential or finding it too fiddly and time consuming to be profitable. The price in the early days was prohibitive; demand for the product wasn’t high, with very few suppliers in the UK and little competition to bring prices down. With the American jewellery makers’ leading the way the product has become more popular and you can now work in:  Platinum, Gold, Silver, Copper, Bronze and Steel.

So how does it work?

This is not a lesson on how to use metal clay in fine detail, merely an introduction to what you can achieve with this most remarkable of mediums.

Firstly you need to remember that while the finished item is precious metal the main component during construction is clay, any restriction you have initially will be dictated by that medium first and foremost, so forget you are a metal smith and become a potter. 

You can buy the clay in lump form of various weights, in a syringe or as a very fine sheet and you can use one or all of these to make your piece.  Because clay is the dominant material you can manipulate it in a variety of ways. It can be rolled, moulded and stamped, you can add texture to all or parts of it and it can be built up in layers to produce interesting effects. The picture below shows a clasp that I made with one side fired and ready for polishing and the other side still in the ‘dry’ state waiting for final sanding and finishing before being assembled prior to firing.

The Platinum, Gold and Silver versions can be fired with a hand torch in what is a relatively quick process if you don’t have a kiln; however, until recently the copper and bronze versions required a very long 2 stage process involving activated charcoal.  They have now introduced quick fire versions in both mediums which has made them accessible to a wider range of crafts people.

Metal clays are never going to replace the traditional metalsmiths’ techniques and nor should they.  My hope is that they will become accepted as another way of stimulating people’s imagination into different areas and ultimately giving us one more avenue to be creative with.  Just to whet your appetite to the possibilities - this is what I produced from my first experiments with copper clay, finished and ready to be fired - they sold within a week!