[Jewelry making - Article 00803] - Re: [Orchid] PMC in General

[James Binnion]

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>         A 31 gram package of Original Fine Silver PMC costs $32.50 USD
>     from Rio. You can compare that with the cost of sheet Fine Silver
>     yourself (it does vary, of course, but it never costs what PMC
>     costs weight for weight). What you are paying for with PMC is the
>     various ways that it can used and it's immediacy (see all the other
>     postings for all the other benefits). 

    It is hard enough to make any money when selling silver jewelry due
    to the perception that " it is only silver" even though the labor
    involved is in most cases equivalent to that of other jewelry
    materials like gold or platinum. So when a company sells you silver
    at over 3 times the market rate it makes it even harder to justify
    using PMC for anything but your own amusement. There is nothing
    wrong with this but I find it hard to look at it as a "Professional"
    material.  I am familiar with the cost of having silver powder made,
    I currently have about a kilo of it that I had atomized  for some
    experiments I am working on. It is not very expensive to have the
    appropriate powder made and the binder is cheap so it comes down to
    Mitsubishi positioning it to sell into the hobbyist, enthusiast
    market which is not as price sensitive as the limited production or
    manufacturer markets. This marketing position is one of the reasons
    I have a hard time taking PMC seriously. 

>    On another note:
>     Let me comment here on the negative postings re: PMC on this site.
>     New concepts are not always good concepts, but closing one's mind to
>     new concepts (like PMC), without fully exploring the benefits,
>     counters the very nature of the creative mind. Prejudice, in any
>     form, is a waste of human intelligence, energy and emotion. Bullying
>     via insult is coercive and nonproductive.

    I love learning new things, and I have been studying powder
    metallurgy for several years now  because it is one of the few
    places to learn about diffusion bonding, the understanding of which
    is central to my work. So I have nothing against PMC because it is
    new. I am not certain if this is directed at me but whether it is or
    not I am not certain where the "Bullying" or "Prejudice" or "Insult"
     is in the conversation we have all been having about PMC . Are you
    saying that I cannot have an opinion that differs from yours without
    being a bully or prejudiced? I feel that my opinions on PMC are just
    as valid and legitimate as yours. 

>         All of us jeweler/metalsmiths use whatever tools and materials
>     we need to create the end product...objets that are pleasing to us
>     and, hopefully, to others. PMC is JUST ONE OF THOSE TOOLS. It can
>     be used well. If it does not satisfy one's artistic vision at
>     first, there are two choices: (1) perhaps further exploration would
>     result in more expert and satisfying results; (2) it may not be a
>     suitable technique to reach one's goals. Just as a pitch bowl and
>     chasing tools do not deserve to be demeaned simply because the end
>     results might not be satisfying first time out, neither does metal
>     clay deserve that approach. A tool is a tool...and a poor
>     (uninformed/uneducated) craftsperson blames the tool for her/his
>     own inadequacies in it's use. 

    Up until the last sentence I agree with this last paragraph. But
    just because I do not sing the praises of PMC doesn't mean that I am
    uninformed, uneducated or that my skills are inadequate.  Many folks
    have found that they like PMC as a tool and that is wonderful. But
    just because you like it doesn't mean it does not have some
    significant issues with its use in jewelry making. Some like
    shrinkage can be dealt with by proper design and also have been
    addressed to a certain degree by the manufacturer with newer
    formulations of PMC. Some like its density and strength cannot be
    addressed without sintering dies and hot presses or other means of
    constraining the PMC during firing which are economically unfeasible
    for a studio metalsmith. And in my opinion Mitsubishi's pricing of
    the material is just too high for what it is. 

Jim Binnion

James Binnion Metal Arts
Phone (360) 756-6550
Toll Free (877) 408 7287
Fax (360) 756-2160
http://www.mokume-gane.com
jbin AT mokume-gane.com
Member of the Better Business Bureau

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