FastFire BRONZclay Success!

After feeling a bit "burned" by base metal clays a few months ago, I went ahead and tried a new brand on the recommendation of jewelry artist Evelyn Pelati.  I went with FastFire BRONZclay by Metal Adventure and was happy with the results for a variety of reasons.  Here are a few...

To begin with the obvious, it fires fast.  It takes an hour to ramp and an hour to fire.  It is a one phase fire, so set the kiln and forget it.  I was looking for a base metal clay to use with multiple classes, so I do not always have the luxury of being able to run a multi-phase firing during my teaching schedule.  This allows me to not have to return to run a firing on my own time. 

There is the other obvious of the price, with bronze clays being around 30 cents a gram and silver clays being more than $2 a gram, it is the most economical, especially for introducing it to a large class.

The firing directions are clear and easy, particularly if this is your first attempt at base metal clays.  The descriptions of what you will find out of the kiln and what that means for your firing temperatures are also clear.  I was able to figure out my firing schedule after just two test fires, though I have had to make adjustments based on running a whole class worth of pieces at a time.

I have also been able to successfully fire in a ceramic firing vessel.  Since I am flip-flopping between silver and bronze, depending on the class, I am running multiple firings a day.  When you fire in a steel pan there is a black flake sort of fire scale that needs to be vacuumed from the kiln after your firings.  With a ceramic vessel, there is no evidence of the base metal firing.

Last, the workability of the clay has been great.  It has a silky flexibility that makes it great for draping and forgiving for students just learning to work with it.  When it dries, it is easy to reconstitute and continue working.

These were a couple of quick test pieces where the clay was rolled into scratch foam designs and run through the firing.  The bronze has a warm gold hue and nice weight once fully sintered.  

Tumble & Shine

Once I resolved the bails on this small series of simple pendants, it was time to fire and tumble them.  When silver clay is fired it does not come out looking shiny and metallic.  When I first tried metal clay I thought I was under-firing it because it kept coming out white.  Now I know that white is simply the fire-scale on the surface of the metal (below left).  It easily comes off with a brass brush, but leaves the silver sort of matte and in need of polishing.  A tumbler is a great way to polish up your pieces (not just metal clay) and it serves to help work-harden your pieces.  It also softens burrs that might be on your metal.  Tumblers range in price, I use the small inexpensive one above and can fit a number of pieces into it.  It's a simple tool, fill the barrel halfway with stainless steel shot (bought with the tumbler), a small amount of cleaning solution (see what your instructions recommend), place your pieces and fill with water just above the shot.  I run the tumbler for 2-3 hours depending on the degree of tumbling the pieces appear to need.  Below you can see the difference from the white fire-scale to the shine out of the tumbler.  A word of caution, soft materials such as pearls and turquoise may react badly with your cleaning solution, so know its compatibility and be sure precious metals are actually precious or the stainless steel shot may reveal more than a high shine!