Making Metal Clay Jewelry
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THE ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS GUIDE BEGINNERS ABSOLUTE THE THETHE ABSOLUTEABSOLUTE BEGINNERSBEGINNERS GUIDEGUIDE Absolute beginner? Absolutely no worries! Making Want to learn more about what metal clay is and how to work with it? Inside you’ll nd information on exactly what supplies, tools, and techniques you’ll need to start creating Metal Clay charms, earrings, pendants, beads, and rings with this easy-to-use material. Jewelry Making Jewelry Metal Clay Includes 20 jewelry projects designed CINDY THOMAS PANKOPF has to help you learn all the basic skills! attained the master level of instructor certifi cation with Art Clay World and is a certifi ed instructor in PMC as well. Rolling and stamping Her beadwork and metal clay designs have won many awards including recognition in Bead&Button magazine’s Stone-setting Bead Dreams competition. Her website is cindypankopf.com. Using syringe clay “My goal is to give you Forming the knowledge and con dence to begin Special techniques exploring this amazing and inspiring medium.” More help for you everything Pankopf the ABSOLUTE BEGINNER! 64315 U.S. $21.95 CAN $28.95 need to know to THE ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS GUIDETHE ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS GUIDE ISBN 978-0-87116-431-5 Stitching Making 52195 Beaded JewelryWire Jewelry 9 780871 164315 0 64465 16431 8 get started THE ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS GUIDE Working with From the publisher of Bead&Button, Polymer BeadStyle, and Art Jewelry magazines Clay Cindy Thomas Pankopf www.KalmbachBooks.com you need to everything know to get started Lesley Weiss THETHE ABSOLUTE ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS BEGINNERS GUIDE GUIDE Making Metal Clay Jewelry BKS-64315-01.indd 1 8/4/11 3:57 PM THE ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS GUIDE Metal Clay Cindy Thomas Pankopf BKS-64315-01.indd 2 8/4/11 3:57 PM THE ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS GUIDE Making Metal Clay Jewelry Cindy Thomas Pankopf BKS-64315-01.indd 3 8/4/11 3:57 PM Contents Introduction 6 Basics 7 Materials 8 Tools & supplies 12 Techniques 21 Projects BASIC TECHNIQUES PROJECT1 Stamped charms 30 PROJECT2 Mobile earrings 33 Kalmbach Books 21027 Crossroads Circle PROJECT3 Antique coin pendant 36 Waukesha, Wisconsin 53186 www.Kalmbach.com/Books PROJECT4 Gingko pendant 40 © 2011 Cindy omas Pankopf PROJECT5 Draped lace pendant 44 All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review, this book may not be reproduced in part or in whole by electronic means or otherwise without written permission of the publisher. STONE-SETTING Photography of nished jewelry projects by Kalmbach Books. PROJECT6 Bejeweled cobra earrings 47 All other photography by the author. PROJECT7 Simple sparkle earrings 50 e designs in Making Metal Clay Jewelry are copyrighted. Please use them for your education and personal enjoyment only. ey may not be taught or sold without permission. PROJECT8 Sea urchin bracelet 54 Please follow appropriate health and safety measures when working with torches and other equipment. Some general guidelines are presented in this book, but always read and follow manufacturers’ instructions. Published in 2011 15 14 13 12 11 1 2 3 4 5 Manufactured in the United States of America ISBN: 978-0-87116-431-5 Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pankopf, Cindy omas. Making metal clay jewelry / Cindy omas Pankopf. p. : ill. (chiey col.) ; cm. – (e absolute beginners guide) “Everything you need to know to get started.”–Cover. ISBN: 978-0-87116-431-5 1. Jewelry making–Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Art metal-work–Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title. TT212 .P26 2011 745.594/2 4 The Absolute Beginners Guide BKS-64315-01.indd 4 8/4/11 3:57 PM Contents USING SYRINGE CLAY PROJECT9 Garden links bracelet 60 PROJECT10 Fairy Hollow necklace 64 FORMING PROJECT11 Cannoli slider 69 PROJECT12 Hollow lentil beads 72 PROJECT13 Crossover ring 76 PROJECT14 Twisted ring 79 SPECIAL TECHNIQUES PROJECT15 Nature’s beauty earrings 83 PROJECT16 Pea-in-the-pod pendant 86 PROJECT17 Molded charms 91 PROJECT18 Mosaic pendant 94 PROJECT19 Paper overlay pendant 98 PROJECT20 Copper clay pendant 101 Beyond the basics 106 About the author 111 Making Metal Clay Jewelry 5 BKS-64315-01.indd 5 8/4/11 3:57 PM Introduction THE EASE AND VERSATILITY of working household items, and investing a little time, with pure metal in a clay form is wonderful. you’ll be able to create fabulous ne silver or Metal clay has made making metal jewelry pure copper jewelry at home. My goal with accessible to everyone—you don’t need a this book is to give you the knowledge and jeweler’s workshop! Aer gathering some condence to begin exploring this amazing basic supplies, including many common and inspiring medium. You’ll be able to create fabulous ne silver or pure copper jewelry at home But how can I find it? Chances are, you’ve heard about metal clay but are a little puzzled about where to buy it—you usually won’t find it in a store. The silver metal clay I focus on in this book is distributed through a network of certified instructors—people who know the product well and can answer many of your questions.Your local bead shop may be a great place to begin; someone at the shop may be certified to teach or may know a teacher. A great way to stay informed and move ahead with metal clay is to find one of these instructors in your area who sells materials and can offer instruction beyond the basics. Check these websites for lists of certified instructors in your area: artclayworld.com or pmcguild.com. You can also check out a Yahoo group called Metal Clay Classes that shares information about classes happening everywhere in the world. Many online sources also sell metal clay and related supplies and are easy to locate with a quick search. 6 The Absolute Beginners Guide BKS-64315-01.indd 6 8/4/11 3:57 PM Basics Silver clay was the rst mass-produced Silver clay = fine silver metal clay, and it was the foundation for After silver clay sinters, it becomes 99.9% pure silver, also known as fine silver. This is different than sterling all other metal clays (which now include silver, which is 92.5% silver and 7.5% of another metal, usually copper. This mix of metals, called bronze, copper, and gold … and the list an alloy, has more strength than silver alone, but is more prone to tarnishing. Sterling silver will develop continues to grow). It’s the most reliable and firescale at the high temperatures, forcing the copper consistent form of metal clay, especially for to form unsightly oxides that must be removed by soaking in an acidic solution called pickle. Because beginners, and so it’s my clay of choice for silver clay is virtually pure silver, it’s very slow to tarnish and none of these treatments are required. the projects in this book. That’s good news for you! Silver clay is made up of tiny real silver particles with a little bit of water and an organic binder that holds everything together and makes it clay-like. e silver particles are so ne they resemble cake our. As you work with the clay, you’ll take advantage of its dierent states. You’ll use some techniques only when the clay is wet, and then you’ll dry the clay and work with it in other ways. Finally, you will re the clay. During ring, the binder burns o and the silver particles heat to a temperature that enables them to bond to each other without fully melting. is process is called sintering. It is critical that metal clay is fully sintered or it will be very fragile and could break if you drop it or whack it on a table. As the binder burns away and the particles pull in and fuse to each other, the clay shrinks anywhere from 9–28%, depending on the brand and variety of clay. For pendants and earrings, the shrinkage won’t matter much. But for a ring, the shrinkage rate is enough to make all the dierence between the ring tting perfectly or not at all! (More on this later.) I designed all of the projects in this book so you can re them with a simple-to-use, inexpensive, handheld butane torch. It’s a great way to get familiar with the ring process. Because all of the pieces are fairly small, they will sinter successfully this way; larger pieces require a kiln. Aer you create some of these projects, if you nd that you love working with metal clay, then look into purchasing a kiln: You’ll be able to re large pieces and more than one piece at I know it’s tempting to skip ahead and get started a time. Although torch-ring will work to create small pieces on one of the projects. Don’t do it! Please read this that stand up to light wear, kiln-ring assures a very thorough sinter and creates the strongest possible metal from the clay. Basics section before attempting any of the projects. is information will save you lots of frustration and prevent you from wasting clay. Making Metal Clay Jewelry 7 BKS-64315-01.indd 7 8/11/11 8:53 AM Basics MATERIALS ere are two major brands of silver clay: Art Clay Silver there are slight di erences and people usually have their (ACS), which is manufactured by AIDA Chemical preference, but ultimately both are cola. With metal clay, Industries, and Precious Metal Clay (PMC), manufactured despite their similarities, each has its super-secret formula, by Mitsubishi Materials. Both are made in Japan, are very creating subtle di erences that preclude mixing brands.