Search results matching tag 'BRONZclay'

Re: BRONZclay information resource

MSchindel — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:31:31 GMT

Hi Roni, thanks for the great feedback! When I was doing online research on bronze metal clay, I was confused by the large amount of conflicting/contradictory information about working with BRONZclay. I realized that I'd need to talk with several experts as well, including BRONZclay inventor Bill Struve. What I found out was that a lot of the information published online about BRONZclay is either incorrect or out of date (even the "official" guides published by distributor Rio Grande contained outdated information because they were written and printed while the clay was being formulated). So I realized there was a need for a central source of reliable information vetted by experts to help clear up some of the confusion about this material and to provide some techniques and tips to help artists avoid common problems, such as stiffness/stickiness of the clay, inconsistent sintering, etc.

I really appreciate your letting me know that my lens was helpful to you!

Thanks again and best wishes,

Margaret

Re: BRONZclay information resource

ahronya — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:59:01 GMT

Dear Margaret,

Your info resource article on Squidoo is PERFECT!!! Thank you so much for all the work you did.

I decided to get into bronze and copper clays b/c of money and was finding myself finding info all over the place. During my researching, I came across almost every bit of info you have in your article, but now all the GOOD stuff is all together, concise, up-to-date and organized!! Mardel and Hadar and Bill are my faves....Celia, too!

Thank you, Margaret!!

Roni

BRONZclay information resource

MSchindel — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:54:29 GMT

There have been many questions about BRONZclay on this forum, so I wanted to let everyone know that I've published a Squidoo "lens" that you may find helpful. My goal was to pull together the best and most up-to-date information I could find on BRONZclay into a single, convenient resource organized to make it easy to find whatever information you' need. I spent several months doing research and interviewing many of the top BRONZclay artists and instructors, as well as BRONZclay inventor Bill Struve, Kevin Whitmore of Rio Grande, and Hadar Jacobson, author of "Silver and Bronze Clay: Movement and Mechanisms." There is detailed information for every stage of the BRONZclay process, including several recommended firing schedules to try and some great BRONZclay "eye candy." It does not cover every possible topic, but it's fairly comprehensive. I hope you find the information useful! Here's the link:

http://www.squidoo.com/bronzclay

Margaret

My first bronze piece

childeroland — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:16:24 GMT

I wanted to try something really simple for starters but I had just made these cool seahorse molds and couldnt resist using them. The bronze looks so good on rawhide!

Silver PMC on Bronze

childeroland — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 12:59:29 GMT

Hello all

I have just had my first bronze projects fired! They all survived the process with no problems and I love the patina they developed. I am loving this stuff!

My question is about combining silver and bronze after the bronze has been sintered. Has anyone had any success and what did you do?

I have thought about trying semi-mechanical connections by adding silver clay through a hole in the finished bronze and torch firing. I am guessing the lower temp will not cause the bronze to "eat" the silver.

I made a "throw away" bronze piece to experiment on so I am not risking much...just some pmc3.

My goal is to set stones in the bronze pieces so I have several different methods in mind but I would love to learn from your experience before I make a mess!

Thanky so much!

Firing vessel for PMC bronze

Fire Dance — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:52:15 GMT

I am new to this forum and I am about to try the new bronze clay. I am trying to find a "firing vessel". So I guess I'm curious about what others are using and where they got it. Thanks - FD

Re: Bronze clay firing concerns

ispasCH — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:24:48 GMT

Hi Mardel,

Thank you for posting on this thread.

I am quite new to metal clay in general so I can't say for sure if the pieces were just oxidized but to me they looked burned, they had a 1.5mm coating that had the consistency of carbon and that looked completely black, to "save" my pieces I could only file away the black coating. (very hard and time consuming) I had placed the pieces sort of in the middle of a high pan with carbon granules both underneath and over and didn't fill the container up to the top but left a 1inch empty space underneath the lid.
I don't know if they are solid or powder in the middle, I suppose the only way to find out is to saw them in the middle?

I know your site and find your articles very informative and interesting. I have tried your firing schedule on my second attempt to fire bronze clay. My kiln is 2300 watts, I see you haven't tested kilns over 2000w so I used the 1490F target temperature with 298F rate of heat per hour for various pieces, the thickest of which was 5mm. Unfortunately when I took the pieces out they weren't completely fired, basically some areas were still clay. What I did was fire the pieces again with a faster schedule: 770F ramp per hour to 1540F target temperature, held for 1 hour. They came out fine, the bronze looks like bronze should look, no black coating. However I don't know if they're totally sintered through.

On my third attempt I tried this for 5mm pieces: 245F per hour to 1540F target temperature, 2 hours hold.
Some pieces were fine except for 2 which again looked black although less than the first time. Those 2 were the thickest ones and were placed at the top of the pan with a good 1inch layer of carbon covering them.

For my next try I will reduce again the rate of heat and hold times. Hopefully one day I'll get it right.

Isabelle

Re: Bronze clay firing concerns

mardelrein@cooltools.us — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:46:34 GMT

Hi Isabelle,

You can find some very interesting information on firing BRONZclay at www.cooltools.us. I've done a lot testing on this and have discovered that a different schedule for firing thick pieces was needed. I have posted several articles on working with, drying and firing the clay on our website. It was very exciting to pull a 1" thick piece of clay from the kiln that was solid....not powder in the middle. My schedule has been tested by the inventor of BRONZclay (Bill Struve) and it works for him as well. He's currently testing it for a 2" diameter ball of clay.

From what you are describing, your piece is probably not totally sintered through, but that depends on how thick it was. The firing schedule you used is only good for pieces up to 5mm thick. After 5mm, you need a slower heating. The black is oxidation. Did you fill the container totally to the top with carbon? I've found that NOT filling it full is better. Check out the articles and let me know how you do with it.

Mardel Rein