Metal Clay Jewelry Making From the Top

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Fine silver metal clay is one of those materials that can be fitted into any studio. The tools you need are minimal (although there are many more you may want!), you need little space to work, and you can be creative in how you fire your finished designs. If metal clay is a new material for you, or if it’s been awhile, I’m happy to share some basics of metal clay jewelry making. There are a variety of metal clays on the market and different manufacturers. The following information references fine-silver metal clay.

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Tammy Honaman shares metal clay tools and tips on Beads, Baubles & Jewels

Clip sourced from episode 2806 from the 2800 series.

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What is Metal Clay?

Metal clay is a clay-like material comprised of fine particles of metal, an organic binder, and water. It’s important to note that metal clay is an air-dry product and should be handled with care so it doesn’t dry out prematurely. To prevent drying – cover the clay with or store in plastic wrap.

Metal clay can be rolled, flattened, shaped, layered, stamped, carved (when dry), and so much more. Depending on the formula of fine-silver clay, you can embed other materials, like glass, gemstones, and sterling silver. One tricky note—metal clay shrinks as the water evaporates and the clay is fired. The rate of shrinkage varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and formula to formula; average is 8-12%.

Metal Clay Forms

• Lump – go to as the main component of your metal-clay designs; pinch some off to start your design
• Paste/Slip – a spreadable clay used for assembling, adding embellishments, and more
• Syringe – similar to paste but thin enough to be extruded through a fine-tip nozzle of a syringe yet hold dimension; great for drawing or writing in metal clay
• Sheet/Paper – a unique formula of metal clay that does not dry out; suede-like feel. Can be cut with scissors, paper punched, folded like origami and so much more!

Working Metal Clay

Before working with clay, apply a release agent to tools, hands, and work surface to prevent the clay from sticking. Natural and olive-oil based products are best.

Rolling Out a Sheet of Clay

Create an even thickness of clay by rolling across thickness guides. Place a lump of metal clay between playing cards, plastic slats, or matte board. These tools create a guide for your acrylic roller to pass across, preventing the clay from getting thinner than you’d like.

Thickness is often termed in “cards thick” which refers to how many playing cards thick the clay should be rolled to. Playing cards were the original form of measurement used, so no matter where you lived, we could be speaking the same language. Plastic slats are more commonly used now and offer a longer runway to work across, making it easier to create a longer design. Despite the passing of time, some manufactured slats still carry the term “card thickness” but also includes millimeters.

Most projects will indicate how many “cards” to roll to, so you know how thick the piece should be to achieve the desired effect/look as well as so the design can hold up to wear and tear.

Acrylic Roller

Any type of roller will work to flatten clay, but an acrylic roller offers a smooth surface which prevents adding any unwanted texture.

Work Surface

Keeping with the concept of smooth and not adding unwanted texture, it’s best to use a smooth work surface when rolling out your clay. My favorite is a piece of safety glass or acrylic sheet.

Once the clay is rolled to the correct thickness, I transfer it to a non-stick sheet which allows me to move the clay around much easier.

Textures

Thanks to the density of metal clay, it is amazing at taking texture. The texture is only amplified during firing, thanks to the shrinkage rate.

Cutting Tools

My favorite tools for cutting clay are a fine-pointed awl and a tissue blade. The awl is great when cutting out shapes using a template. A tissue blade is ideal when cutting straight lengths of clay. Shaped cutters work, too and there, the possibilities are endless!

Forming the Clay

While the clay is wet, it can be formed over shaped surfaces. This is great when forming domes or curves. You can also form wet clay in molds. The molds shown are made using silicone molding compound which works great at capturing every fine detail.

Refining the Surface: Wet Clay

Water helps ease all rough edges. Apply water with an artist’s-quality paintbrush and you can remove nearly all imperfections in wet clay before you set it aside to dry. Silicone tipped tools are also great for cleaning up and moving the clay while it’s still wet.

Note: It’s best to clean up the clay at each stage so you minimize waste and time.

Refining the Surface: Dry Clay

Once the clay is dry, you can further refine the surface using a variety of abrasives. A salon board in medium to fine grit will do the heavy lifting. Follow with polishing papers (a personal favorite)—they are flexible pieces of micron-graded paper available in a range of grits. Get into openings or hard to reach places with jeweler’s files (dedicated to metal clay) or sanding needles.

Firing the Clay

Once the clay is as perfect as you can get it, it’s time to fire. You can fire pieces that are smaller than a US half-dollar (less than 25 grams) using a butane torch and butane fuel. Read Torch-Fire Metal Clay Jewelry Making for tips on firing metal clay with a torch.

This is not the optimum firing method for metal clay but it is an option. Be sure to fire safely and with a fire extinguisher, water, and fire-safe gloves on hand.

Optimum firing for metal clay is in a temperature controlled kiln. If you don’t have a kiln, there might be someone in your area who is willing to fire for you, including pottery studios. Metal clay, without any inclusions, should be fired to 1650-degrees F and held at that temperature for 2 hours. If you have added anything fun to your clay, like gemstones, be sure to follow the guidelines for the inclusion.

Polishing the Surface

Once the metal has been fired and cooled, it’s time to polish and bring up that shine. To start, you can use a brass brush to burnish the surface. Follow that with a metal or agate burnisher. You can further polish using a tumbler and mixed stainless-steel shot along with burnishing compound.

This is not metal clay “soup to nuts” but this should help you get from point A to point B. For more information and instructions, be sure to check out all of these resources with even more on interweave.com.

Free Tutorials: Rings and Other Metal Clay Jewelry Making Projects

Free Metal Clay Jewelry Project: Stencil Masked Design

Free Tutorial + Video: How to Make Metal Clay Rings

Create Your Own Domed, Textured Metal Clay Ring

Free Video Tutorial: How to Fire Stones in Metal Clay

Free Metal Clay Jewelry Project Video: Make a Lentil Pendant

Tammy Honaman
Director of Content, Interweave