I took a PMC ring making class!

[briolette]

Oh my goodness....it was so much fun. We worked with PMC (Precious Metal Clay) which you can form and fire in a kiln. The fire burns off the clay and you're left with a pure silver version of whatever you sculpted. In this case we made rings. I brought in a moissanite rose cut I had lying around to set and the teacher (Lydia Johns---amazing lady!) also provided us with lab stones and soome natural semi-precious faceted gems to play with. Here are the pieces I made.

Moissanite rose cut. I decided to do a satin finish and not oxidize this one. My favorite of the bunch:







Natural Peridot:



Lab Emerald:



The really cool thing is that there is no soldering involved! I had taken a ring making class before at a Jewelry studio and nearly singed my eyebrows off because I turned up the propane a little too high. Needless to say I like this method more. I still need to get better at my stone setting techniques, but I'm happy with how my rings came out!

 

[monarch64]

That's awesome! Both rings are so pretty. My next door neighbor bought a kiln last fall and spent the winter making all kinds of rings and pendants and earrings. She went totally nuts with it. She made some really fun stuff, and my husband gave her several stones from his collection to work with. She sucks at soldering, though (I asked her if she could re-attach a ss post onto an earring of mine and it turned out pretty bad) and now I know why!

It is a really cool hobby. Will you keep making things with pmc? I've seen you around CS (I lurk), don't you make other jewelry as well or are you a cutter? I can't remember. You don't have to answer, I'm just being nosy.

 

[ckrickett]

how fun is that!

 

[briolette]

It is a really cool hobby. Will you keep making things with pmc? I've seen you around CS (I lurk), don't you make other jewelry as well or are you a cutter? I can't remember. You don't have to answer, I'm just being nosy.

Haa haaa. It's okay to be nosy

Yes, I'm a lapidary and have my AJP and GG but my day job is not in the trade (I joke that it funds my hobbies ) I do make jewelry but mostly "cold working" (i.e, wire wrapping, beading, etc. ). I've done some soldering and lost wax casting and really need to practice more because open flames bigger than a Bic lighter kind of scare me....but I'm surprised how much you can do with PMC. I definitely want to get a kiln now and do more. One day, I'll have my dream studio.

 

[purplesparklies]

So fun!

 

[VRBeauty]

I've seen PMC projects when browsing through some beading journals - it looks like fun stuff! Please tell us more about it! Does it require a kiln, as opposed to a home oven? Is the finished product as durable as regular metal?

Your projects look great!

 

[briolette]

I've seen PMC projects when browsing through some beading journals - it looks like fun stuff! Please tell us more about it! Does it require a kiln, as opposed to a home oven? Is the finished product as durable as regular metal?

Your projects look great!

Thank you! Yes, it require a kiln. For these projects we fired at 1600 F for an hour.

You supposedly *can* get away with firing with a butane torch on a block with some types of PMC but they won't be as durable because the heating is not homogenous. Kiln fired pieces fired at hight temperatures are very durable as long as you are careful about letting your piece completely dry out before you stick it in the kiln (I guess it's really similar in principle to pottery).

Fine silver is on the softer side (similar to high karat gold) but it's still sturdy enough for jewelry purposes. it does scratch easily (hence al the purposeful texturing). Apparently there is such thing as a sterling silver PMC which would be a more durable material but it's a little more involved and finicky to work with (you have to pickle it and get rid of fire scaling much like you would if you were working with soldering)

I highly recommend taking a class or getting a comprehensive how-to book.

 

[chrono]

This is SO cool and my favourite of the three is the middle one (flower ring).

 

[tyty333]

Very cool! I would love to do something like that!

 

[monarch64]

It is a really cool hobby. Will you keep making things with pmc? I've seen you around CS (I lurk), don't you make other jewelry as well or are you a cutter? I can't remember. You don't have to answer, I'm just being nosy.

Haa haaa. It's okay to be nosy

Yes, I'm a lapidary and have my AJP and GG but my day job is not in the trade (I joke that it funds my hobbies ) I do make jewelry but mostly "cold working" (i.e, wire wrapping, beading, etc. ). I've done some soldering and lost wax casting and really need to practice more because open flames bigger than a Bic lighter kind of scare me....but I'm surprised how much you can do with PMC. I definitely want to get a kiln now and do more. One day, I'll have my dream studio.

Thanks for filling me in! I'm so glad you shared this project and about yourself. Really cool.

 

[thecat]

Your class sounds fun and I like the flower ring.

 

[briolette]

Thank you! I've been getting compliments when I wear them out
I think it's something fun that everyone should try. Not particularly difficult or dangerous.

 

[Fredbear]

Can you tell me if you set the moissanite before the ring went in the kiln ? I have read that moissenites can't be kiln fired ?

 

[pyramid]

Can't believe my eyes. That is great. Great fun too. Hope I get to see something like that sometime.

 

[pyramid]

Ha just read the posts and see that it is an older thread and also that you have practice and know about jewellery. Still beautiful though. I wouldn't mind a basic version one as my first attempt as it looks great fun.

 

[movie zombie]

old thread or not, I love Love LOVE the first ring!