Keeping your metal clay moist- Part 2 – Reviving your clay
Posted in Uncategorized on March 9th, 2010 by HeatherIn all reality many people end up with dry or cracking clay. With the costs of silver metal clay being so high it is important to know how to bring clay back to life or to reclaim pieces that aren’t quite right. So what do you do if your clay dries out?
- Metal clay before it has been fired can be reclaimed into a clay or paste type. Although you may never get your clay back into the exact fresh consistency as when it came out of its package….often you can come real close.
- First don’t try and mix partially dry clay with fresh…you will end up with a lumpy mess.
- If you find your clay is starting to crack as you roll it out; the quickest and easiest solution is to roll it out and paint a layer of water and then fold the clay in half trapping the water inside. Then roll again and repeat adding water and rolling the clay to compress the water in repeat until the clay becomes the consistency you are looking for. Ideally allowing the clay to rest after adding water will give you the best consistency. (A variation of this is to roll the clay between two lightly oiled pieces of plastic this works better for some and can help deal with the problem that some people find with the clay sticking to the roller).
- If the clay is partially dry (meaning it is beginning to hold its shape and drying on the surface) the above technique may not work. I have found that putting the piece in a humidifier that I described in last post works well.
- If you have completely dry piece that you want to reclaim; there are several solutions a) Place the piece in a humifier and let it sit for 12-24 hours until it softens (then roll and add water as above) b) break it up into bits them place inside plastic wrap and add a few drops of water and let sit for 12 hours or more then you want to knead the lump through the plastic and add more water if needed and proceed until you get it to the consistency you want it to be. (Some people find that they need to break the clay into a powder form which they use mortal and pestle, coffee grinder or other tools; for me this creates quite a bit of silver dust which I try and avoid as much as possible) Be careful not to add too much water. If you do add too much water you may turn it into paste. I personally like to have a thick paste on hand for filling any cracks or helping in my sculptural work.
There are some ideas of what to do to revive your clay. Hopefully this helps-stay tuned for the final part in this three part series –Fixing cracks.
Keep an eye out for a post on Promethius Bronze – My order finally arrived so stay tuned for the results!
Art Clay Copper linked Chain
Fired and Unfired Art Clay Copper
AC Copper Birdhouse
AC Copper Chain unpickled