What is Metal Clay?
Silver and gold metal clays have been available to the public since the mid-1990's. Mitsubishi and Aida Chemicals make Precious Metal Clay (PMC) and Art Clay Silver respectively. The ingredients are just fine silver particles, an organic binder and water. They can be worked in the same way as ceramic clays - rolled, formed, textured and cut. When the water is allowed to evaporate and the dry piece is fired, the result is a 99.9% fine silver item which is hallmark quality. There is also a gold variety of metal clay which works the same way. To find out about the history of PMC, click here.
Bill Struve was the first person to develop bronze and copper clays which come as ready mixed lumps of clay and have the brand name Bronzclay™ and Copprclay™. These were released in mid 2008.
Hadar Jacobson has produced bronze and copper clays that come as powders which you mix with water. Both these products work in a similar way to the silver and gold clays although the firing is more complicated. The original bronze and copper clays require an oxygen free environment to fire so the dried pieces are buried in activated carbon in a stainless steel pan and fired in a kiln. They cannot be torch fired and require a very long firing in the kiln.
The makers of Art Clay, Aida Chemicals launched their own copper clay, called Art Clay Copper, in September 2009. This has a much simpler firing schedule than the other copper clays available and can be torch fired or kiln fired. Find out more about Art Clay Copper here.
Prometheus Copper Clay is also now available. Prometheus Copper Clay fires in 30 minutes at 850 degrees C and requires no special firing pan. And it comes as syringe clay as well as lump clay.
Hadar Jacobson launched a copper clay powder and a bronze clay powder with a simpler firing schedule in December 2009. They are called Quick-Fire Copper and Quick-Fire Bronze.
Prometheus™ bronze clay is also available. Developed in Europe, this bronze clay has a shorter, lower temperature firing schedule without the need for activated carbon. It still needs a kiln to fire it. Available as lump clay and in syringe form.
Hadar Jacobson has also developed Stainless Steel Clay which became available in December 2009. It comes in two forms, traditional and Quick-Fire. Hadar launched White Bronze Clay in early 2010. In June 2010, Pearl Grey Steel clay powder became available. In July 2011, Hadar launched Rose Bronze Clay.
Bill Struve launched Fast Fire Bronzclay™ in July 2010. Mitsubishi launched PMC Pro in July 2010. Both these products were launched at the PMC Conference.
In December 2010, Meteor bronze clay was launched by a French developer and then Meteor copper clay was released in January 2011. Meteor white bronze clay was launched in July 2011.
Metal Clay Mania Clay has developed bronze, copper and brass clays that come in powder form.
In early 2011, UK teacher and artist Lisa Cain developed hallmark quality Sterling silver metal clay by combining the existing commercial clays. She shared her method of mixing and firing this clay with the metal clay community through the March 2011 edition of Metal Clay Artist Magazine.
In November 2011, Mitsubishi announced that they'd developed PMC Sterling which was launched in the US in December 2011.
Check back often to find out what's new in the world of metal clay, send us your questions and we'll add them to the FAQ page.
If you are a complete beginner, check out our metal clay beginners page. You'll find basic information, links to more resources and a useful article about how to work with metal clay without spending lots of money on tools and equipment.
