[Zach Gordon]

Hi
So I went into a craft store the other day, and they had this "chainmail and wire jewelry" magazine and I started looking through it. In the magazine they had an advertisement for metal clay. The ad said it was silver powder, clay stuff, and a bonding agent. You use it like regular clay pretty much, but when you are done you fire it (or use like a blow torch). The clay-stuff and bonding agent melt away leaving 999.9% pure silver.
So my question, cause I havnt heard of this stuff before is:
Is it real?
How long has it been around?
Is it ever used on swords, like hilts and stuff?
Can you use other metals, or only silver?
How hard is it to use?

It sounds pretty freakin awesome if it's real!
Thnx
Z

[Sean Flynt]

http://www.pmcguild.com/pmc.html

CHAPES!

[Chad Arnow]

They have a gold alloy and bronze one as well. Interesting.

[Sean Flynt]

If I'm following it correctly, PMC3 is the latest version, with the least shrinkage and lowest fire time/temp (1600+ for ten minutes in kiln, pot or torch). It's not cheap, and it would take awhile to calculate the shrinkage. Still, it opens up great possibilities for, say, decorated dagger chapes.

[Matthew Amt]

This sort of product has been around for a couple years, at least. I've never seen it, but from what I recall from those who have tried it, the end result is not nearly as strong as solid metal. It's more like metal powder bonded together, not actually molten and cast to shape. So if you want to make a buckle you may be able to form this clay around a metal base or armature, to get the look from the clay and the strength from the armature. But a buckle made completely from the clay would not be strong enough to be functional.

Chapes might work fine, though! Hmm, and spiffy bronze decorations on Valsgarde helmets, hmmmm......

Matthew

[Julian Reynolds]

I looked at bronze clay to make sword/scabbard fittings, and whilst it gives lots of scope for modelling and sculpting, it is effectively bronze (or silver) powder in an organic bonding agent, and even if high fired in a kiln, does not have the structural strength of cast bronze (or silver). I recently got to use silver clay for a jewellery commission - it was easy to sculpt and fired well (with a blowtorch, very cheap and simple), not too difficult to clean up (it goes all white once fired), but it is a very pure form of silver and the end result is not as strong as a casting. But I guess it's well suited to pendants and earrings that don't need to be hugely strong. And yes, it isn't cheap!

Julian

[Reinier van Noort]

I think an important question is how porous and brittle the final product will be.

[Michal Plezia]

My brother tested this clay http://www.planetart.pl/sklep/shopping/?id=20...lay%20Blok

It is quite nice to work with, but the pice is rather high.

[Ken Nelson]

I have worked with PMC for a few years now, mostly for jewelry work. I have found it to be a wonderful material, but like any other material there are advantages and disadvantages. My comments are regarding silver PMC, as that is the one I have worked with the most.

Some of the advantages include being able to shape everything by hand, and change it until you are happy. You can collect and reuse the filings. It makes a great replacement for solder on some parts.

Disadvantages are shrinkage, and cost. it does cost more than strips and sheet of the same material and weight.

The strength is roughly that of cast silver if you have good control of your heat, but if you do not, it will either be weaker, or melt. nice thing is, if a PMC part breaks, just use PMC slip and re-fire it to repair.

Now, as for using it on swords....I have been doing experiments with it to combine it with steel and iron. I was fascinated with some of the old methods of decoration that were done by mixing gold or silver with mercury ad then burning the mercury off. Mercury fumes are one of those things that I do NOT want in my shop. When I first looked into PMC, I thought of using it in a similar way. I have met with varying degrees of success.

If you are going to try, some things to keep in mind:

Keep the steel CLEAN, there is no such thing as too clean, any dirt or oils could cause bonding problems

Heat the piece in an environment as free of oxygen as possible. you need some oxygen to help burn off the organic material, but too much and you will oxidize the steel also causing bonding problems. I have found that a CO2 line to a kiln works well, as does a salt dough covering.

Remember that the PMC shrinks much more than steel. it shrinks as the binder burns off and again as it cools. This is double important if you are using a blade steel. Most steels expand slightly when they are hardened. if you are using it for an inlay in a blade, you must use enough to allow it to shrink and fill in the crevices in the steel, not just cover it.

However, it is really nice when a piece works out well. Attached is a picture of Silblixt, a 480 layer viking blade made for a friend of mine. the lettering in the blade is filled in with PMC2, as the firing temperature for that matched the hardening temperature for the steels used in the blade.