Silverclay handbook

Does Art Clay Silver retain real silver?
Yes, silver clay consists of real silver particles, which means that after firing it completely transforms into pure silver (usually 99.9% pure silver, also known as fine silver). Silver clay contains microscopically fine particles of silver powder, a binding agent and water. The binder helps hold the particles together, making the clay malleable. During the baking process, the binder burns and the water evaporates, leaving only the pure silver. This makes the finished product truly silver and it can be treated in the same way as any other silver item. You can do soldering, polishing, oxidation treatments and much more.
After firing, the Art Clay Silver 950 Professional consists of 95.0% real silver, the remainder is copper.

How long does the clay last?
Normally, silver clay in unopened containers has a long shelf life, often several years, as long as it is stored according to recommended conditions. Once the package is opened, the clay may dry out over time if not sealed properly. It can then harden and become less malleable. In general, it is not recommended to store silver clay in the refrigerator. Silver clay and other similar malleable metal clays are generally stored at room temperature, in a dry place, protected from direct sunlight and moisture.

 How how long should I dry the clay?
The drying time is in a conventional oven (100 °C) for about 10 minutes, with a blow dryer for 20 minutes, and only allowed to air dry your clay is dried after 24 hours (very thick pieces take longer). The new Art Clay Silver 950 Profesional has a bit longer drying time.

You can check the dryness by placing your piece on a hot mirror. If vapor on the mirror then stores the piece has still more drying.

My piece is broken before firing. How can I fix it?
If your dried piece is broken, you can perform a repair with the Silver Clay paste or silver clay syringe. Be sure to wet the dried clay before adjusting the paste so that the dried clay does not pull moisture from the paste. The paste is a thin form of the silver clay you dilute with some distilled water.

The new Art Clay Silver 950 Professional still exists only in clay form, you can make easy your own paste with leftover clay. The regular silver clay and the new Art Clay Silver 950 Professional can be combined. So you can fix your work with the regular silver clay paste.

My work piece is broken after baking. How can this be?
The metal particles in the clay consist of tiny little balls. These melt balls which on the surface at a certain temperature but retain their form. The longer the temperature is maintained for the deeper the layer of liquid will be and the hitting parts fusing together. The longer it is baked, the tighter so. If the workpiece is not heated long enough than the metal particles are not melted properly attached to each other, if the workpiece is not hot enough to melt the particles then they are not fired at all to each other. Of course, it may also be that a compound was not well finished or the workpiece is simply made to thin.
Repair is possible with Overlay paste or with the new Paste.

How can I fire silver clay?
Regular Art Clay Silver is bake 3 ways, the new Art Clay Silver 950 Professional is only in the oven.

1: With a grille on the gasstove,
2: With a micro torch,
3: In a special hobby kiln (kiln or enamel rob). Fire your silver clay always long enough off better too long than too short. The larger your workpiece, the longer it must be Fired. Look at the product heating table to see which method you can use and how long it needs to be baked.

1. Regular Silver Clay fired at the stove.
   On the stove, you can fire smaller pieces of 10 to 15 grams of easy firing. By placing the workpiece on a grate at the place where the fire touches grate. Make sure the clay fired long enough, fire longer will not hurt but too short baking ensures that your work can be broken. Begin timing once the silver has an orange glow inside. This is the temperature at which the silver is sintering. The silver can not melt on the grid because the grid receives a portion of the heat and dispersed.
   NOTE: This method is not suitable for the new Art Clay Silver 950 Professional
   
   
2. Regular Silver Clay firing with a burner.
   firing with a soldering gun requires some practice. With a burner is the danger that the workpiece becomes too hot and melts. In order to avoid this you have to move off and on with the flame in circles. This allows you to keep control over the process. If your piece begins to glow, it is important that we maintain this heating long enough. Provide a surface that is heat resistant, a fiberboard or ceramic tile, or a charcoal grill are some examples.
   NOTE: This method is not suitable for the new Art Clay Silver 950 Professional
   
   
3. Regular Silver Clay fired in a kiln.
   It is important that the furnace temperature is set so that our work piece is not too hot and melt. 800 °C is a frequently used temperature. A kiln gives you (when properly baked) control over the process, what considerably reduces the risk of breakage. Pleasant to a kiln is that you can work with other materials such as glass, gold foil, gold paste, enamel, and other metal clays.
   
   
4. Art Clay Silver 950 Professional firing in a kiln.
   Put your workpiece in a cold kiln and heating the 1st stage to 500 °C for 10 min in order to let out the binder burn, now go through the 2nd stage, and heating by a simple rate to 870 °C for a minimum of 1 hour and allow to cool to a minimum of 200 °C or cold before taking out your piece.
    

My clay is fired, what now?
If your clay is fired, you can check whether it is properly fired (when cold) by dropping it gently on a hard surface. Your piece should sound like metal. If it sounds dull work the silver not sintered well. Fire the workpiece again until the silver is fully sintered. If your silver clay is fully sintered you gonna brush the silver with a very fine steel wire brush. You can then use the abrasive mats, abrasive discs (Dremel) or other materials such as, for example, a polishing needle for a high gloss finish.

I can fire an sterling silver ring?
Sterling silver of the jeweler consists a certain percentage of silver 92.5%, and often a portion of another metal. This silver is harder than 99.9% fine silver. The problem is that is sterling silver oxidizes turns black at high temperatures. The temperature to fire with sterling silver is also important, bake no hotter than 750 °C due to embrittlement of the alloy used. The best for sterling silveris to be baked in active carbon, it sees to it that oxygen is kept away from the workpiece so that it will not turn black. In addition, silver clay shrinks about 9% because the binder will burn out. There must therefore be taken to ensure that the silver clay does not come lose from the existing ring.

How can I keep silver clay?
The silver clay should be stored airtight, cool and dark. A sealed bag of Silver Clay can be stored for about a year. Once opened, you can get the best clay wrapped in cling film surrounded by a damp cloth to keep in a close jar. An empty jar of cream or photo roll tube lends itself perfectly for. If there is a closing strip is present in the container (20g or 50g) than the original packaging can also be used.

My clay is dehydrated can I use it again?
What you can do is the dried clay is smaller by eg rolling over with a glass bottle so you get little bits gegruisde clay. Caution: Do not try fine with metal to make because you polish the silver in the clay.

With you can now add a few squirts of water a spray bottle of distilled water to the small pieces of clay (powder) and then grab it right in clingfilm in covered with a damp cloth. Stop the clay now with the cloth in a sealable jar and let this nice withdraw a few hours to a day, the longer the better.
Check the clay and knead it into the film by each other, hard pieces can be felt. Do not add too much water in the temptation, as the clay is still too dry you can add a puff of water. (You can also count drops instead puffs). When the clay is good, he does not stick more to the film or on your hands. If the clay is too wet, you can let some air drying but beware of heat, as the clay is too hot dry weather too fast and you can start again.