[Jewelry making - Article 00865] - Re: [Orchid] Incorporating PMC into fired pottery

[Suzanne Wade]

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Mona,

    You will be limited to the melting point of fine silver, I am
    afraid, which is 1760F. Once you cross the melting point, it will,
    uh, melt. I would expect that you would experience deformation as you
    approached the melting temperature, as well. You'd also have to think
    about possible problems caused by the shrinkage of the metal clay and
    different COEs in the materials. 

    In addition, be aware that ceramics kilns typically do not feature
    highly accurate temperature control, and often have "hot spots," so
    if you're trying to flirt with the limit of what the silver can take,
    and fire to 1750, for example, you may well find you've melted the
    silver when part of the kiln soared way above that temp. That's why
    ceramics kilns are normally not recommended for PMC. 

    That said, there are artists out there who are experimenting with
    different ways of incorporating metal clay into ceramics, with some
    success. There was an article in the Winter issue of Studio PMC
    about using PMC almost like a glaze on ceramics. I can send you a
    copy, if you like, and I'd be happy to forward an e-mail to the
    author, if your friend would like to get in touch with him.  There
    was also a presentation at the PMC Conference by Tonya Davidson about
    using ceramics as a base for PMC: you can find a description of the
    process among the 2004 conference handouts at www.PMC-conference.com.
     (The presentation title was "Ceramics as Armature.") On the same
    site, you might be interested to read about Noortje Meijerink's
    reflections on PMC and ceramics entitled "A Dutch Ceramicist's Vision
    on PMC." 

    I know there are also  a number of other people experimenting with
    metal clay and ceramics, and there may be some other approaches out
    there. You might also want to post the query on the PMC Guild forums
    at www.PMCguild.com and see what the folks there have to say about
    it. 

    There's also a FAQ with a lot of basic info about PMC on the site,
    which your friend might find interesting if he's inclined to
    experiment. 

Good luck!

Suzanne

Suzanne Wade
Writer/Editor
Phone: (508) 339-7366
Fax: (928) 563-8255
suzanne AT rswade.net
http://www.rswade.net

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