How to Use Bronze Clay
Create distinctive jewelry and small decorative craft projects using bronze clay. Made with real metal, bronze clay manipulates, cuts and shapes like regular polymer clay. The metal is encased in a binder that melts away during the firing process, leaving your project solid bronze. Traditional jewelry tools, such as sanders, polishers, carvers, drills and patinas work with fired bronze clay, but the tools should be dedicated to the bronze so as to avoid cross-contamination between other materials.
Things You'll Need
- Olive oil
- Distilled water
- Lavender essential oil
- Water tray
- Scissors
- Plastic wrap
- 12-inch square ceramic tile
- Artist's paintbrush
- Clay roller
- Clay cutter
- Jewelry template/rubber stamp
- Skewer
- Kiln tray
- Coal or coconut carbon
- Jewelry kiln
- 220 grit sanding stick
- Polishing tool
Instructions
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1
Condition your hands with olive oil or a similar release agent so that the bronze clay will
not stick to your skin.
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2
Fill a small water tray with distilled water. Add two drops of lavender essential oil to the water to help prevent the bronze clay from oxidizing.
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3
Break off the desired amount of clay for your project, and then wrap the remaining clay in plastic wrap. Place the plastic wrap tightly around the clay so as not to allow oxygen to reach the clay.
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4
Cut the sealed wrapper from the clay. Place the clay on top of a work surface. A 12-inch square ceramic tile is one choice of material you can use as a work surface. Press the clay with your finger to test the moisture content. If the clay gives under slight pressure, it's ready to work with. If the clay is too dry, brush on a small amount of lavender water to moisten the clay.
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5
Knead the bronze clay with your fingers for your project. As the clay softens, flatten the clay into a sheet, and then form it into a ball that you can squeeze with your hands. Conditioning bronze clay is the same as conditioning any polymer clay.
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6
Place the clay ball onto the work surface. Roll the bronze clay into a sheet that is the desired thickness for your project using a clay roller. If you are making beads, roll the clay sheet into a snake. If you are making a pendant or a charm, leave the clay sheet flat.
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7
Press a cutter onto the bronze clay sheet to cut out the desired shape of the pendant or charm. Slice the snake into separate sections equal to the size of the beads.
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8
Press a jewelry template or rubber stamp onto the surface of the flat clay cutout to make a design for the face of the pendant or charm. You can also press a design on one or both sides of each bead.
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9
Place the clay pieces into a kiln tray dedicated to bronze clay projects. Place the bronze clay objects inside of the jewelry kiln tray lined with coal or coconut carbon. Fire the pieces based on the kiln manufacturers and the clay manufacturer's recommendations. Let the pieces cool after firing.
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10
File the edges of the pendant or charm with a 220 grit sanding stick to remove any loose clay particles. Polish the pieces with a polishing tool.
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