Yikes! Its amazing how easily a week away can turn into 2 months. Its been incredibly busy around here - I'm sorry for the delay in getting back to blogging! I've been learning new techniques and trying to improve others - working with fine silver clay, soldering, using gilder's paste, and more.
Here's some pics of a pair of earrings I made using a mold of an antique button, fine silver clay (PMC3) and a handheld torch:
In this picture, the clay is dry and ready to be fired. I fired my pieces with a handheld torch since I do not have a kiln. I do all of my torch work out on my back porch so I don't get fumes in the house. You can see from the picture that it was a nice sunny day. I now do my firing later in the day so that it is easier to see the color of the clay as it heats up. For those of you who haven't worked with fine silver clay before, you have to keep the piece at a certain color (this indicates the temperature) for a certain amount of time.
Here's a pic of my beloved torch which I bought at Home Depot. I get the refills at Walmart and I always try to buy as many as I can afford at a time. The last time I went, I bought 12 refills, a bottle of denatured alcohol, a large jug of mineral spirits, paint thinner and some spray paint. The cashier kept giving me suspicious looks....I think she thought I was hatching an evil plan to blow something up, lol.
This pic shows one of the fine silver clay pieces after it has been fired (left) close to one that hasn't been fired (right). As you can see, the clay does shrink during the firing process. Because it was so bright outside, I had a hard time judging the color during the firing process and a small part on the right side got a little too hot - you can tell because it looks silver instead of white. When I saw it turn silver, I immediately pulled the torch back a bit to bring the temp down and continued firing.
And finally, here is the finished pair. The blue in the recessed areas is Gilder's Paste.
On the backs of the silver pieces, I soldered on sterling silver ear posts.
It had been a few years since I soldered and I really struggled with it. I used solder paste which comes in a syringe. This was my first time using the paste, but now that I have the hang of it I like it.
This past weekend, I tried another project with the silver clay and had a better experience with it. The more you do it, the better you get - its true! This time I fired the silver clay pieces closer to twilight which made it super easy to see and hold the right color during the firing process.
Acacia Earrings - fine silver, labradorite, smoky quartz, tourmalinated quartz, fluorite, moonstone, saltwater keishi pearls and sterling silver
I used another mold of an antique button and silver clay for the discs at the top. Before the clay dried, I made the holes using a pick. Once the silver clay dried, I made the holes larger and smoother using a round file. After firing the silver, I gave the discs a patina with green and gold Gilder's Paste. Once the paste had dried for 12 hours, I buffed it and then oxidized the pieces in liver of sulphur. After the final buffing, I added wire wrapped gemstones to dangle from the holes.
And this time, I soldered the ear posts without a hitch - yay! Now I just have to wait for my next shipment of silver clay....which really is the hardest part of this whole process.
Have a great day!
Kristina
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