How to Make a Box Style Pendant
Make a box style pendant with metal art clay. Metal art clay is a moist clay that contains silver particles, organic binders and water. Once the clay has been molded, dried and sanded it is baked or "fired" with a butane torch. The flame of the torch heats up the clay, which "burns" off the organic binders and causes the silver particles to sinter or melt together to become dense and strong. The clay pieces shrink about 10 percent during this process and transform from gray clay box to a box made with 99.9 percent silver.
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Things You'll Need
- 2 playing cards
- Metal silver art clay
- Clay roller
- Clay texture sheet
- Smooth floor tile
- Small rectangular metal cookie cutter
- Craft knife
- Toothpick
- 180 grit coarse sandpaper
- 280 grit fine sandpaper
- Round jeweler's file
- Art clay syringe, green nozzle
- Fire stone
- Blowtorch
- Metalworking tongs
- Brass brush
- Silver polish
- Silver cloth
Instructions
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1
Take a 2-inch piece of art clay and place it between two playing cards on your workspace. Roll the clay flat, to 1/4-inch thick, and out to the edges of the playing cards. Remove the clay.
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2
Place a smooth floor tile onto your workspace. Set a texture sheet onto the floor tile. Set the clay on the texture sheet. Move the roller over the clay to press it into the texture sheet and make a pattern in the clay.
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3
Set the cookie cutter onto the clay and press it into the clay to cut out the front rectangular piece of the box pendant. Set the cut-out onto the clay and cut around it with a craft knife to make a similar sized back piece for the pendant. Let them sit in the open air for one hour or until they have dried.
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4
Roll a piece of clay into a 1-inch rope or "snake." Thin the clay out into 1/4-inch thick with the roller. Set the clay onto the texture plate and press it into the plate to press a pattern into the clay. Remove the clay and cut it into two short strips that are 1/8-inch wide and the same length as the short sides of the front and back rectangles. Cut two long strips that are 1/8-inch wide and the same length as the long sides of the front and back rectangles. The strips will make a rectangle shaped frame for the box style pendant.
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5
Insert a toothpick 1/4-inch down from the top of the left and right side pieces of the rectangular box to create a hole for the pendant chain to slide through. Let the pieces sit in the open air for one hour or until they have dried.
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6
Sand down the sides of the clay pieces with 180 grit coarse sandpaper. Sand the sides with 280 grit fine sandpaper. Keep the sides as straight as possible as you sand them down. Insert a round jeweler's file into the holes on the long strips and sand them smooth.
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7
Insert art clay into the art clay syringe. "Glue" the clay box pendant together to create a frame for the box. Depress the plunger of the syringe and run a bead of the clay along the edges of the sides and press them together. Adhering the top piece to the left side, and the bottom piece to the right side to make two L shapes that will fit together into a rectangle frame. Wait 1 hour or until the clay has dried.
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8
Adhere the two L shapes of the frame together with the clay syringe. Line the interior of the box frame with a bead of clay and smooth it out with a finger. Let it sit and dry overnight. Sand the clay frame corners smooth.
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9
Run a line of clay with the syringe around the top of the frame and set the front of the box onto the frame. Repeat for the back side. Pick up the newly assembled box sand press the front and back sides together. Press in any clay that may have pushed out when you pressed it. Add more clay with the syringe to the joints as needed to fill in any holes or pockets. Let the box style pendant sit overnight to dry. Sand down the joints.
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10
Roll out two small circles of clay. Insert the toothpick to create a reinforcement ring for the holes in the box style pendant. Make the holes as large as the ones in the sides of the box. Run a bead of clay around the holes on the sides of the pendant with the syringe. Press the rings onto the sides. Let them sit one hour or until dry. Sand the rings down until they are smooth.
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11
Set the box style pendant onto a fire stone. Light the blowtorch and run the flame of the torch over the box pendant to fire the clay. Move it slowly side to side, for six minutes to sinter the silver in the clay together. Turn the box over with metal working tongs and heat the other side. Let it sit for 30 minutes to completely cool.
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12
Scrub the pendant with a brass brush to reveal the sintered silver. Scrub until the entire surface of the box is silver. Sand the box with a fine 280 grit sandpaper. Place silver polish onto a silver cloth and polish the silver box pendant.
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Tips & Warnings
Dip the silver box pendant in a weak solution of liver of Sulphur to create a patina or dark black finish to the pendant.
Always handle open flames with care as they can burn and start fires.
