Original silver metal clay, 99.9% pure fine silver, just doesn't have the density or strength to survive as fine piercing work in the context of everyday wear and tear...  at least not in my opinion. Last December Mitsubishi Materials released the much anticipated PMC Sterling Silver Clay, to the excitement of the metal clay community. I decided to put this new material to the test by creating a pretty traditional ring you most often see casted, the pierced knot work Claddagh. The main problem with sterling clay is it's unpredictable shrinkage rate, from testing I would guess the range to be approximately 18%-25%, making accurate ring sizing difficult at best. To me the easiest solution is to fire the band separately then trim to size and solder to finish. I'm defiantly not the queen of soldering, I'm a crossed eyed amateur at best, but it's certainly nothing to be wary of. In order to test the endurance of said ring, I gave it to my better half, whose rock hounding, guitar playing, and acidic PH stretches the limits of any kind of worn adornment. So far it's wearing quite well and all in all I'm happy with the workability and strength despite it's unpredictable shrinkage. A small trade off for the potential pay off of longevity. For the full downloadable PDF follow this link.

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Comment by Kimberly Nogueira on April 5, 2012 at 8:35am

it's great to see your step-by-steps, thank you Wanaree! i especially appreciate that you posted the shrinkage rate for the sterling clay, which i've been having difficulty finding. i love that you pack so much info in!

Comment by Wanaree Tanner on February 16, 2012 at 11:36am

My pleasure! I think this sterling clay has some really great potential, I'm really looking forward to what artists will do with it in the future.

Comment by Brigitte Martin on February 15, 2012 at 11:10am

I have not yet worked with PMC at all, so I am following your blog with great interest. Thank you!!

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