Thank you so much for your video. Your ring is beautiful. It's also nice to see someone doing a video, using mostly everyday materials for tools, rather than just making the whole video feel like a promotion for expensive tools.
You are very welcome and thanks for watching. I don't have any sponsors and most videos that are produced do so they push there products. If I use a product or tool and find it helpful or its a great tool I'd mention it. I also like to find cheaper tools that work the same and are just as good. Again thank you for watching and let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you so much! A lot of the tools can be expensive and there are tools that can be used with spending a fortune. If you have any other questions let me know. Thanks again!
Thanks Claudia, That's very kind of you. I try to teach the way I'd like to learn. Thanks again and your comment but a big smile on my face cause it makes me feel I'm teaching the process the right way. If you have questions please feel free to reach out and ask them. Have a wonderful day and Happy creating! Jo
Thanks for sharing I really appreciate it, I've been making jewelry for a while but just started with metal clay/blacksmithing. As we know it's a very expensive hobby so info out there is so helpful! And the ring was gorgeous.
Your very welcome! I like to share what I know and thank you on the ring. One is enameled and the other is a moonstone. The moonstone I had cast because I had a lot of interest in it. I have some other ideas for more videos just have to find the time to make them. I'm a little busy trying to complete work for shows that are coming up soon. Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great day! Happy creating!
Sorry for the delayed response. Thank you for your kind words. I love creating as much as sharing. Let me know if your interested in the ring. Its has a moon stone and is made from sterling silver. Have a wonderful day!
Sorry for my late reply. You can torch fire but I'm not sure if it will sinter all the way to the center where the clay is against the pellet. You might want to try it out on a test piece. I use a kiln so I get even heat but many use the torch fire method. Please let me know if you have any other questions and thanks for liking my video! Happy creating!
Hi Teresa, thank you for liking my ring! I don't torch fire my pieces. If you do decide to try it, I wouldn't put the ring on a pellet (ring stopper). I'm thinking the stopper might prevent proper firing of the clay while on the pellet. Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy Creating!
Hello, I enjoyed your video! I have 3 questions about PMC. Let's say I fire a strip of PMC in a kiln. Can I then heat it and shape/hammer it into a ring, or does PMC crack? What about if I have a PMC pendant that I want to add a bezel and gemstone to. Is it possible to add after the kiln firing? Just wondering, I've never worked with PMC. And lastly, what brand of PMC do you recommend to work with? Thanks:)
+Vlatka Ljubisic Glad you enjoyed the video! The silver clay that I used was PMC3 . I have had it crack. If you use more cards while your rolling out your clay it will be thicker and it might hold up better to shaping with a raw hide mallet once fired. I usually fire my clay in a shape or cut it into a configuration where I don't have to do to much shaping after the clay is fired. There are other clays like copper, white copper and bronze that hold up to hammering and heating. There's also a sterling silver clay that works beautifully. When you use PMC3 you have to remember that its mostly made up of fine silver particles and fine silver is pure silver and softer. Heating PMC3 sometimes can also create a problem. Some people torch fire the pmc3 and you can overfire and loose your pattern or design. It takes a little bit of experimenting but I'm sure you'll be happy with your results. Hope I answered your questions. If you have any other questions please feel free to ask! Happy Creating! JoAnn Wadler, JoAnnWadler.com
One other question! Sorry...I have only fired pendants in my kiln in either acid washed or coconut shell in a steel container. But I see you fired the rings on something else...what is that black netted thing and the white board. I have a solderite shelf...will this work? Would the solderite board with the little 1/2" ceramic feet on all four corners work? or do I need that black netted looking thing too? Thanks again for any help you can offer me! I am SO excited to try this out. Planning to get some white copper clay (never worked with it), and use some bronze clay as well to make rings. Then maybe make some fine silver ones after I play with the white copper and bronze....
+Jack Snow The black screen Is a stainless steel firing rack. I also use them for enameling. The white board is a firing board. Again many of the suppliers like Cool Tools and Metalclay supply carry them. You can use the solderite board but make sure its not to thick. Some of my students have used really thick pieces of solderite and have had trouble sintering there pieces. You can use ceramic feet to raise your board instead of the stainless steel firing rack. I'm glad your experimenting with the less expensive clays to see your results before using the silver clay. I wouldn't use the ring pellets for the copper and bronze clays. My results have been very promising. The clay cracks because those clays shrink a lot. If you make the ring large enough and place it on the pellet or stopper you might be able to control the cracking. I have a formula for calculating the shrinkage and a ring gauge I make but it to difficult to explain. I'm working on some other videos and it will probably be one of them.
+JW Jewelry Studio Awesome! Yes, I would love some kind of calculation to use to give me some kind of idea regarding shrinkage of these metals and taking into consideration how many cards thick I make a ring. So you don't fire the bronze or copper clays in the coconut shell or acid washed....just on the firing board? I was under the assumption that copper and bronze had to be in the black stuff (carbon?). Sorry, I am fairly new to all this PMC and metal clay, stuff! I have worked with fine silver clay and fired it with my butane torch, but the only things I have fired in my kiln are bronze and copper and they were flat pendants. Thank you SO much for all your help and videos...so appreciate it :)
+Jack Snow Sorry, just read the post below...looks like you haven't had any luck making bronze or copper rings, but buy ring blanks to embellish. Darn! I was really hoping to make bronze rings...simple and organic bands (stone-less)
+Jack Snow Glad I could help. I fire in a container with carbon for bronze and copper. I use a ceramic vessel not stainless steel. The directions on the video are for PMC3 or silver art clay. If you torch fire the bronze or copper it will turn black. Firing in carbon prevents oxidation from happening. Happy Creating!
Thanks Kristen for your kind words. If you want to experiment you might want to work with some of the less expensive clays. Like copper or Bronze. Another suggestion is to make your pieces out of fimo, sculpey polymer clay this way you can get an idea of what the ring, pendant or earrings would look like before using the more expensive clays like PMC or silver metal clay. By the way it has come down in price. It was more expensive when silver was $30.00 an ounce. Silver clay fluctuates with the silver market. Please fell free to contact me if you have further questions. JoAnnWadler.com
Hi, thanks for the video. Wondering about the pellet sizing. You created your ring around a size 11 pellet to become a size 10 finished ring. Did you remove the size 11 pellet after greenware was dry, and insert a size 10 pellet prior to firing? I am having a hard time understanding how the ring can fire and shrink to size 10 if there is a size 11 pellet inside. Does the pellet shrink as well? Thanks so much.
Hi Kim, For some reason the pellet shrinks a little because of the compression of the clay shrinking. The good thing about it is if the ring shrinks too much you can always sand the inside by placing the sand paper 220 grit on a ring mandrel after it fires and sand the inside to make it larger and if its too big after firing you can add some slip or clay to the inside. If you bought the ceramic stoppers you might get a more true size. I make my own and I don't reuse them once fired. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy creating!
Did you make the ring round using Fimo? That is an amazing thing is it 1 inch thick and high? I am so going to make a bunch of these!!! Thank you for this!
Hi Monie! So happy you liked the project! Please don't use Fimo. It will burn and it will release toxic fumes. I use investment . Its like plaster and a mold to make the pellets. They shrink slightly when fired. You could use the fimo (Baked in a toaster oven) to support your design then transfer it to a ring pellet. You might get some cracking since the clay shrinks while drying. Happy Creating! joannwadler.com facebook.com/JWJStudio/
Thanks for the video! I have a couple questions. Since you are a size 10 ring, and you used a size 11 pellet (2 sizes up), how does the metal shrink since it can't shrink smaller than the size 11 investment pellet? Also, in general pendant/jewelry pieces with metal clay, fine silver only shrinks 10% and copper and bronze I believe about 25%. So how does the difference in shrinkage affect what pellet size to use since the bronze and copper will shrink more. Will it "crack" when fired if using bronze or copper if you only size up 2 sizes? I think I am completely confused about using the pellet 2 sizes larger than desired size since the ring will not end up shrinking smaller than the 2 sizes up pellet you use. Am I missing something?
+Jack Snow Hope I answered some of your questions in the other posts. This video is intended for using PMC3 or silver art clay. I don't reccomond using this video to make bronze copper clay rings. You can purchase ring blanks with various ring sizes that you can embellish with the clays. My expereience is that those metal clays crack because they shrink so much. The pellet also shrinks while its heated in the kiln thats why I recommended the sizes in the video. They do sell ceramic pellets or ring stoppers that don't shrink but they are expensive and it more cost efficient to make my own since I teach and need to make different sizes for my students. If your interested please visit my website JoAnnWadler.com I do teach Skype classes and I have a Facebook page if your interested in update and more tips. Happy Creating! facebook.com/JWJStudio
Hi Jenifer, I don't sand the ring after its on the pellet. It actually causes the pellets to disintegrate and create a little mess. We want the pellet to break apart after firing. Unless your using a ceramic one. If you like you can form the ring on something you can slide the ring off of once dry but you might get some cracking. After the ring is fired I usually clean up the ring with some fine sand paper 600 grit. Just on the edge. If you cut out your leaf cleanly there shouldn't be a need to clean it up. Tumbling for a good 30 minutes or more should also soften the edge. If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to ask. Happy creating!
Sorry for my delayed response! I've been busy doing some craft shows. The tumbler I'm using is called a thumler tumbler. I bought it many years ago. Its not the model that's all metal. The drum is rubber and plastic. The base is metal. I also use shot to tumble my pieces with a few drops of dawn. And it works on my other jewelry that I fabricate. Happy creating!
Yes I make my own ring pellets from a mold and use investment. The tumbler is called a Thumbler . Not sure if they make this one anymore? You can buy a cheap one from Harbor Freight . You'll need to buy shot for it that they don't sell. Hope this helps! Happy Creating!
Jeffrey Ross Thanks! Yes I do make my own ring pellets. Its cheaper since I teach and need to make various sizes. You can buy a mold with half and full sizes. The investment is also available online as well. There's a new silica free investment that I've used. They both work well. Just be careful not the pour the extra investment down the drain, you don't want to clog the drain when the investment hardens. Once your ring is fired you need to break the pellet apart. I use running water but be careful again so that the used pellet doesn't go down the drain. One more last tip, I sometimes oil my molds so the pellet comes out easier. Cooltools, Metalclay Supply, PMC Connections, and I think Metalclays carry the pellet molds and investment. Shop around for the best prices. Hope this helps! Happy Creating! JoAnnWadler.com
+JW Jewelry Studio - I was looking at CoolTools and they have the silica free and ultra smooth. The ultra smooth sets up in 25 min, while the silica free takes 2 hours. I like that the US only takes 25 min, but is there any advantage disadvantage to using the fast one? Silica free...not sure what silica is, so is this a more "green" eco option or does it have other advantages in jewelry making? Note: I am only interested in making rings and using the investment for pellets :-)
+Jack Snow Hi Jack, I'm very happy to answer your questions. The Silica free investment basically doesn't have silica in it. Silica isn't very good for your lungs if you breathe it in. So they developed the silica free investment. I've used both. But stick to the silica free investment now since I make a lot of pellets and want to protect myself. Never pour the investment down the drain. It will ruin your plumbing. If you want to speed up the drying time I place the mold with the investment that and place it in a warm oven. Your not trying to cook the mold just warm it enough to dry the pellets. If they are still damp which they usually still are I pop them out carefully not to break them and place them back in the warm oven or I let them dry over night on a paper towel that seems to do the trick because it draws out the water. Its important that they are dry to work with.
Hi George, Slip is what you can make with the clay and water. It creates a paste and helps in putting your projects together. I also use it to fill cracks and seam pieces of clay. You can also buy slip pre made. Hope this helps.
You could, but I haven't. Just make sure you do a test first and I would torch it again after you remove the pellet. This way you can make sure the ring is fired all the way through. I don't use a torch because I get uneven firing and you need a lot of ventilation. I honestly don't know if the pellet will hold up but I'm sure it can take the heat of a torch since I fire then at 1290 F. They do sell ceramic pellets which might work for you as well.
My apologies for not responding sooner. Have been getting work together for a few craft shows. There are lots of stores online that carry metal clay. You need to google it. You can do a search for metal clay, PMC etc. supplies and they will give you results. Happy creating!
Beautiful ring, and great explanation/video! I've read a bit about using cork clay for molds for PMC projects. Is that usable for rings, and if so, how does it compare to using the ring pellets made from investment?
Hi Wendy! I like using cork clay for hollow forms like beads. I've never used cork clay for making rings. I'm sure you could. But I would make sure its the right size when you make it for your ring. I'm not sure if it shrinks so you might have to do some experimenting. I also stopped using the cork clay because it produces a lot of smoke when it burns away. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thank you so much for your video. Your ring is beautiful. It's also nice to see someone doing a video, using mostly everyday materials for tools, rather than just making the whole video feel like a promotion for expensive tools.
You are very welcome and thanks for watching. I don't have any sponsors and most videos that are produced do so they push there products. If I use a product or tool and find it helpful or its a great tool I'd mention it. I also like to find cheaper tools that work the same and are just as good. Again thank you for watching and let me know if you have any questions.
Great tutorial. I liked that you showed how to use simple tools
Thank you so much! A lot of the tools can be expensive and there are tools that can be used with spending a fortune. If you have any other questions let me know. Thanks again!
Who disliked this? It's purpose is literally to tell you how to make this ring which is done perfectly! Great video, really helpful
Humans can suck it sometimes. I thought this was beautifully done!
Wow I wish all tutorials were this clear. Plus your camera angle is perfect, we can see everything you are doing. Thanks so much!
Thanks Claudia, That's very kind of you. I try to teach the way I'd like to learn. Thanks again and your comment but a big smile on my face cause it makes me feel I'm teaching the process the right way. If you have questions please feel free to reach out and ask them. Have a wonderful day and Happy creating! Jo
@@jwjewelrystudio7480 I see you made a new video...I hope you continue! Thanks!
@@claudiaghidella2255 Thanks again! Yes I have a few more video ideas that I'd like to make. Just have to find the time.
Clear directions, supply list and detailed explanations. Wonderful"
Thanks for sharing I really appreciate it, I've been making jewelry for a while but just started with metal clay/blacksmithing. As we know it's a very expensive hobby so info out there is so helpful! And the ring was gorgeous.
This is too cool. The only thing is, a kiln is out for most of us. But I love this art. Its beautiful! 😍🥰🤩🥰😍🥰🤩😍🥰🤩
Some can be fired with the gas torch.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge! Somehow i have only just discovered this stuff and will try it all soon!
+Aleishia Aird Its very user friendly! I love sharing and teaching! Metal clay is a little addicting. Once you start its hard to stop!
Excellent video. Perfect instruction. Thank you so very much
Thanks for sharing and I love your ring.
Your very welcome! I like to share what I know and thank you on the ring. One is enameled and the other is a moonstone. The moonstone I had cast because I had a lot of interest in it. I have some other ideas for more videos just have to find the time to make them. I'm a little busy trying to complete work for shows that are coming up soon. Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great day! Happy creating!
looks Gorgeous.
Bless your hands. thanks for sharing.
(love the ring on your left finger).
Sorry for the delayed response. Thank you for your kind words. I love creating as much as sharing. Let me know if your interested in the ring. Its has a moon stone and is made from sterling silver. Have a wonderful day!
Love it!! Very engaging and informative!!
What a beautiful ring, Joann! It's definitely going in my "to be tried" file!
Thank You!! Happy Creating!
I post project on my facebook page as well.
facebook.com/JWJStudio/
joannwadler.com
Great video. Can you fire with a torch instead of a kiln?
what is your solution for tumbler? Thank you for your time.
Thanks so much for sharing this! Great work.
Great video!!!I love this ring!
GREAT VIDEO, LOVE THE RING DESIGN
You are an excellent teacher
Thank you! If you have any questions let me know. I'll try and answer them for you! Have a great day and happy creating!
Can this be torch fired? Wonderful video, thank you.
Sorry for my late reply. You can torch fire but I'm not sure if it will sinter all the way to the center where the clay is against the pellet. You might want to try it out on a test piece. I use a kiln so I get even heat but many use the torch fire method. Please let me know if you have any other questions and thanks for liking my video! Happy creating!
I want to try this and I love this video. It explains so much
That's awesome! Go for it and would love to see what you come up with!
Great video and beautiful ring design!
Can this be torch fired? Beautiful ring.
Hi Teresa, thank you for liking my ring! I don't torch fire my pieces. If you do decide to try it, I wouldn't put the ring on a pellet (ring stopper). I'm thinking the stopper might prevent proper firing of the clay while on the pellet. Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy Creating!
Hello, I enjoyed your video! I have 3 questions about PMC. Let's say I fire a strip of PMC in a kiln. Can I then heat it and shape/hammer it into a ring, or does PMC crack?
What about if I have a PMC pendant that I want to add a bezel and gemstone to. Is it possible to add after the kiln firing? Just wondering, I've never worked with PMC.
And lastly, what brand of PMC do you recommend to work with?
Thanks:)
+Vlatka Ljubisic Glad you enjoyed the video! The silver clay that I used was PMC3 . I have had it crack. If you use more cards while your rolling out your clay it will be thicker and it might hold up better to shaping with a raw hide mallet once fired. I usually fire my clay in a shape or cut it into a configuration where I don't have to do to much shaping after the clay is fired. There are other clays like copper, white copper and bronze that hold up to hammering and heating. There's also a sterling silver clay that works beautifully. When you use PMC3 you have to remember that its mostly made up of fine silver particles and fine silver is pure silver and softer. Heating PMC3 sometimes can also create a problem. Some people torch fire the pmc3 and you can overfire and loose your pattern or design. It takes a little bit of experimenting but I'm sure you'll be happy with your results. Hope I answered your questions. If you have any other questions please feel free to ask! Happy Creating! JoAnn Wadler, JoAnnWadler.com
One other question! Sorry...I have only fired pendants in my kiln in either acid washed or coconut shell in a steel container. But I see you fired the rings on something else...what is that black netted thing and the white board. I have a solderite shelf...will this work? Would the solderite board with the little 1/2" ceramic feet on all four corners work? or do I need that black netted looking thing too? Thanks again for any help you can offer me! I am SO excited to try this out. Planning to get some white copper clay (never worked with it), and use some bronze clay as well to make rings. Then maybe make some fine silver ones after I play with the white copper and bronze....
+Jack Snow The black screen Is a stainless steel firing rack. I also use them for enameling. The white board is a firing board. Again many of the suppliers like Cool Tools and Metalclay supply carry them. You can use the solderite board but make sure its not to thick. Some of my students have used really thick pieces of solderite and have had trouble sintering there pieces. You can use ceramic feet to raise your board instead of the stainless steel firing rack. I'm glad your experimenting with the less expensive clays to see your results before using the silver clay. I wouldn't use the ring pellets for the copper and bronze clays. My results have been very promising. The clay cracks because those clays shrink a lot. If you make the ring large enough and place it on the pellet or stopper you might be able to control the cracking. I have a formula for calculating the shrinkage and a ring gauge I make but it to difficult to explain. I'm working on some other videos and it will probably be one of them.
+JW Jewelry Studio Awesome! Yes, I would love some kind of calculation to use to give me some kind of idea regarding shrinkage of these metals and taking into consideration how many cards thick I make a ring. So you don't fire the bronze or copper clays in the coconut shell or acid washed....just on the firing board? I was under the assumption that copper and bronze had to be in the black stuff (carbon?). Sorry, I am fairly new to all this PMC and metal clay, stuff! I have worked with fine silver clay and fired it with my butane torch, but the only things I have fired in my kiln are bronze and copper and they were flat pendants. Thank you SO much for all your help and videos...so appreciate it :)
+Jack Snow Sorry, just read the post below...looks like you haven't had any luck making bronze or copper rings, but buy ring blanks to embellish. Darn! I was really hoping to make bronze rings...simple and organic bands (stone-less)
+Jack Snow Glad I could help. I fire in a container with carbon for bronze and copper. I use a ceramic vessel not stainless steel. The directions on the video are for PMC3 or silver art clay. If you torch fire the bronze or copper it will turn black. Firing in carbon prevents oxidation from happening. Happy Creating!
Thanks Kristen for your kind words. If you want to experiment you might want to work with some of the less expensive clays. Like copper or Bronze. Another suggestion is to make your pieces out of fimo, sculpey polymer clay this way you can get an idea of what the ring, pendant or earrings would look like before using the more expensive clays like PMC or silver metal clay. By the way it has come down in price. It was more expensive when silver was $30.00 an ounce. Silver clay fluctuates with the silver market. Please fell free to contact me if you have further questions. JoAnnWadler.com
Hi, thanks for the video. Wondering about the pellet sizing. You created your ring around a size 11 pellet to become a size 10 finished ring. Did you remove the size 11 pellet after greenware was dry, and insert a size 10 pellet prior to firing? I am having a hard time understanding how the ring can fire and shrink to size 10 if there is a size 11 pellet inside. Does the pellet shrink as well? Thanks so much.
Hi Kim, For some reason the pellet shrinks a little because of the compression of the clay shrinking. The good thing about it is if the ring shrinks too much you can always sand the inside by placing the sand paper 220 grit on a ring mandrel after it fires and sand the inside to make it larger and if its too big after firing you can add some slip or clay to the inside. If you bought the ceramic stoppers you might get a more true size. I make my own and I don't reuse them once fired. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy creating!
Can the clay be bent in a ring mandrel as a last step in the process?
Beautiful design!
Did you make the ring round using Fimo? That is an amazing thing is it 1 inch thick and high? I am so going to make a bunch of these!!! Thank you for this!
Hi Monie! So happy you liked the project! Please don't use Fimo. It will burn and it will release toxic fumes. I use investment . Its like plaster and a mold to make the pellets. They shrink slightly when fired. You could use the fimo (Baked in a toaster oven) to support your design then transfer it to a ring pellet. You might get some cracking since the clay shrinks while drying.
Happy Creating!
joannwadler.com
facebook.com/JWJStudio/
Thanks for the video! I have a couple questions. Since you are a size 10 ring, and you used a size 11 pellet (2 sizes up), how does the metal shrink since it can't shrink smaller than the size 11 investment pellet? Also, in general pendant/jewelry pieces with metal clay, fine silver only shrinks 10% and copper and bronze I believe about 25%. So how does the difference in shrinkage affect what pellet size to use since the bronze and copper will shrink more. Will it "crack" when fired if using bronze or copper if you only size up 2 sizes? I think I am completely confused about using the pellet 2 sizes larger than desired size since the ring will not end up shrinking smaller than the 2 sizes up pellet you use. Am I missing something?
+Jack Snow Hope I answered some of your questions in the other posts. This video is intended for using PMC3 or silver art clay. I don't reccomond using this video to make bronze copper clay rings. You can purchase ring blanks with various ring sizes that you can embellish with the clays. My expereience is that those metal clays crack because they shrink so much. The pellet also shrinks while its heated in the kiln thats why I recommended the sizes in the video. They do sell ceramic pellets or ring stoppers that don't shrink but they are expensive and it more cost efficient to make my own since I teach and need to make different sizes for my students. If your interested please visit my website JoAnnWadler.com I do teach Skype classes and I have a Facebook page if your interested in update and more tips. Happy Creating! facebook.com/JWJStudio
+JW Jewelry Studio AH! Didn't know the pellet shrinks....good to know
Awesome 🍃
Thanks glad you liked it. Thank you for commenting! Sorry for the late reply!
Amazing !!!!
Thanks! Glad you liked it! If you have any questions please let me know. Have a wonderful Holiday!
After the piece dried on the coffee warmer I didn't see and filing or sanding?
Hi Jenifer, I don't sand the ring after its on the pellet. It actually causes the pellets to disintegrate and create a little mess. We want the pellet to break apart after firing. Unless your using a ceramic one. If you like you can form the ring on something you can slide the ring off of once dry but you might get some cracking. After the ring is fired I usually clean up the ring with some fine sand paper 600 grit. Just on the edge. If you cut out your leaf cleanly there shouldn't be a need to clean it up. Tumbling for a good 30 minutes or more should also soften the edge. If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to ask. Happy creating!
Great video! What brand is your tumbler?I'm interested in purchasing one.
Sorry for my delayed response! I've been busy doing some craft shows. The tumbler I'm using is called a thumler tumbler. I bought it many years ago. Its not the model that's all metal. The drum is rubber and plastic. The base is metal. I also use shot to tumble my pieces with a few drops of dawn. And it works on my other jewelry that I fabricate. Happy creating!
What tumbler are you using, and do you make the ring mold yourself?
Yes I make my own ring pellets from a mold and use investment. The tumbler is called a Thumbler . Not sure if they make this one anymore? You can buy a cheap one from Harbor Freight . You'll need to buy shot for it that they don't sell. Hope this helps! Happy Creating!
Stunning.
NICE!.. Do you make your own ring "Pellets"?
Jeffrey Ross Thanks! Yes I do make my own ring pellets. Its cheaper since I teach and need to make various sizes. You can buy a mold with half and full sizes. The investment is also available online as well. There's a new silica free investment that I've used. They both work well. Just be careful not the pour the extra investment down the drain, you don't want to clog the drain when the investment hardens. Once your ring is fired you need to break the pellet apart. I use running water but be careful again so that the used pellet doesn't go down the drain. One more last tip, I sometimes oil my molds so the pellet comes out easier. Cooltools, Metalclay Supply, PMC Connections, and I think Metalclays carry the pellet molds and investment. Shop around for the best prices. Hope this helps! Happy Creating! JoAnnWadler.com
+JW Jewelry Studio - I was looking at CoolTools and they have the silica free and ultra smooth. The ultra smooth sets up in 25 min, while the silica free takes 2 hours. I like that the US only takes 25 min, but is there any advantage disadvantage to using the fast one? Silica free...not sure what silica is, so is this a more "green" eco option or does it have other advantages in jewelry making? Note: I am only interested in making rings and using the investment for pellets :-)
+Jack Snow
Hi Jack, I'm very happy to answer your questions. The Silica free investment basically doesn't have silica in it. Silica isn't very good for your lungs if you breathe it in. So they developed the silica free investment. I've used both. But stick to the silica free investment now since I make a lot of pellets and want to protect myself. Never pour the investment down the drain. It will ruin your plumbing. If you want to speed up the drying time I place the mold with the investment that and place it in a warm oven. Your not trying to cook the mold just warm it enough to dry the pellets. If they are still damp which they usually still are I pop them out carefully not to break them and place them back in the warm oven or I let them dry over night on a paper towel that seems to do the trick because it draws out the water. Its important that they are dry to work with.
What is "slip" ?
Hi George, Slip is what you can make with the clay and water. It creates a paste and helps in putting your projects together. I also use it to fill cracks and seam pieces of clay. You can also buy slip pre made. Hope this helps.
Slip is also called paste if you purchase it.
Lubed up
Can i use a torch to fire?
You could, but I haven't. Just make sure you do a test first and I would torch it again after you remove the pellet. This way you can make sure the ring is fired all the way through. I don't use a torch because I get uneven firing and you need a lot of ventilation. I honestly don't know if the pellet will hold up but I'm sure it can take the heat of a torch since I fire then at 1290 F. They do sell ceramic pellets which might work for you as well.
Thank You
Your very welcome :)
From where i can buy this clay?
My apologies for not responding sooner. Have been getting work together for a few craft shows. There are lots of stores online that carry metal clay. You need to google it. You can do a search for metal clay, PMC etc. supplies and they will give you results. Happy creating!
Beautiful ring, and great explanation/video!
I've read a bit about using cork clay for molds for PMC projects. Is that usable for rings, and if so, how does it compare to using the ring pellets made from investment?
Hi Wendy! I like using cork clay for hollow forms like beads. I've never used cork clay for making rings. I'm sure you could. But I would make sure its the right size when you make it for your ring. I'm not sure if it shrinks so you might have to do some experimenting. I also stopped using the cork clay because it produces a lot of smoke when it burns away. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
JW Jewelry Studio Yes it does, Joann, thanks!
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