While I was working last night, I realized that I've come up with lots of little tricks for working with PMC. I'm always thinking I should do some tutorials, but that's probably not going to happen any time soon so I thought I'd share some of my little tricks from time to time and hopefully they will help someone else.
I have a lot of designs that use domed circles, and no matter what I do, there is always some distortion in going from the Teflon square I work on to the doming ball (wooden spheres with a flat bottom I get at Beverly Crafts). And as anyone who works with metal clay knows, a little distortion in the pre-fired stage turns into a lot of distortion post firing. Argh! So I finally figured that once my distorted domes are dry, I can use a circle template and draw a circle on them, which shows me where I need to sand. No more distorted circles!
8 comments:
I just was sanding a disc last nite and of course just never seemed right!! great tip! thanks!
oh and love your stuff by the way!!
can't wait for more tips and tricks!!
Great tip, thanks so much for sharing.
yeah, my favorite part of working with pmc is the sanding, not! hee hee
Great idea! No more eye-balling circles.
;-)
How do you keep the perfect dome shape during firing? Do you have a form or do you use a kiln pillow? I haven't attempted a dome but my flat pieces never stay flat (but at least I can hammer those out)
I use a fiber blanket that I've made dome impressions into, and always fire the pieces face down. Things usually require a bit of tapping, but not much. I read somewhere about carving out a soft kiln shelf, but I haven't tried that yet. I use rubber block and wooden dapping tools to reform the domes.
I think your jewelry is absolutely beautiful. My favorite piece is the Acaica Tree. Something about that tree reminds me of an old and ancient wisdom that mimicks my grandmother. She was a very precious soul and the beauty of that tree reminds me of her. Great work with the precious metal clay!
Thanks for sharing! I'll try that. I love your work. You are such an artist.
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