Slide 2:
PMC® (Precious Metal Clay) is a clay consisting of tiny silver particles in an organic binder. It comes in a lump and canbe worked much like anyother clay.
Slide 3:
While wet, the PMC is textured, shaped and cut…
Slide 4:
. . . assembled . . .
Slide 5:
…and dried.
Slide 6:
When the PMC is dry, repairs and refinements are made and the greenware is filed smooth.
Slide 7:
When it is completely dry,
the PMC is fired at a temperature just under the melting point of the metal for a length of time to allow the metal particles to fuse together, also known as sintering.
Slide 8:
After firing, the silver is fully sintered. The piece appears to have a white film on it. However, that is the silver particles “standing up.” Burnishing compacts the molecules and makes the
piece shinier.
Slide 9:
At this point, the piece is fine silver (99.9 percent silver) and can be filed, soldered, polished and worked like any other silver piece.
This pair of earrings was given a patina with Liver of Sulphur.
Slide 17:
© 2010 Lisa Salsbury
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