| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Frewen Feltmaker |
silver clayWhat do people know about this stuff? Is it like plaster of paris mixed with metal (ish)
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| Cathryn |
 You have been browsing the same sites. I don't know either. We shall have to find out. Exciting! 
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| Frewen Feltmaker |
There seem to be different types and firings though - like ceramics and metals blended 
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| sally_in_wales |
I've used it a few times, it looks remarkably like a small dollop of blu-tak when you get it, but a little chalkier to manipulate. It was pretty easy to fire using just an ordinary plumbers blowtorch and a few firebricks to make a little 'cave' to hold the heat.
With care, you can set stones in it before firng it, though obviously you run a risk of cracking them if you don't get the heat right. The finished piece is lighter than normal silver, due to the clay or whatever it is burning off in the firing, but its good fun to work with. I made Gareth a ruby set ring all covered with little swirls and twiddles that would have been a right pain to do with normal silversmithing methods, and also made a couple of pendants, one was a press mould of a leaf, a bit like you might make chocolate rose leafs. Its fun stuff, expensive, but definately entertaining to work with. |
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| Cathryn |
Ok Frewen, you find out the price and don't tell me. 
It sounds fun, not like doing the real thing but tempting. |
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| Frewen Feltmaker |
Ah - all makes sense - knew someone of your calibre would know 
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| sally_in_wales |
If I recall, the cheapest way to buy it was through the US Ebay, even with postage it was much cheaper than buying it over here, but it was a couple of years back now | ||
| Cathryn |
YouTube.
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| wellington womble |
I am absolutely positive there are silver jewelry making courses (some of them one day Saturday ones) at Missenden Abbey, where Frewen goes to school. You need to find somewhere to stay, of course
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| Cathryn |
One day just wouldn't be enough. I am going to go and look.
(I am starting to agree we shouldn't bother with pm's at all. )
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| Frewen Feltmaker |
Oh don't be silly Cathryn - woman of your experience - and I'll be out of felting 101 at about 10 pm 
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| Cathryn |
Missenden Abbey...the smart conference centre? | ||
| Frewen Feltmaker |
Thats the one - just dont stay there
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| Cathryn |
Ok - I will do a course there and accept that I will have to rough it when it comes to accommodation.
(WW can you find out without too much effort, what courses there are please? I want to be taught how to mount stones.) |
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| Stacey |
I've made a few pieces with it but found the blowtorch wasn't hot enough really and the finished silver is very brittle | ||
| wellington womble |
Didn't know it was a smart conference centre. My prospectus ran out in June, but I'll pick a new one from the library on Tuesday. | ||
| gz |
It sounds like something based on the idea of Egyptian Paste
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| sally_in_wales |
is that the same as faiance? |
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| gz |
It is usually blue (but can be other colours) and is used to make small items, mostly beads, fired on high temperature wire.
It is like glaze and body all in one . Seen in the pyramids, hence the name. Faience aka majolica is tin-glazed earthenware, with colourful and/or lustre decoration .
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| sally_in_wales |
Faiance is what the Egyptians and other bronze age cultures made beads and amulets with, you get it in this country too in some early archaeological contexts- heres an egyptian example
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/n/bead_and_pendant_necklaces.aspx I don't think its the same sort of stuff as the silver clay, I think thats particles of existing silver suspended in a binder that burns off leaving the silver behind, doesnt faience change chemically during the firing process? I must confess I've never made faience from scratch, though I have colleagues who are researching it based on some British archaeological examples, and my impression is its rather more chemically variable than the pmc idea 
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