Ask the Experts Setting Marcasite in Art Clay® Q&A

I'm interested in doing silver clay jewelry. What's the best way to get started? I love marcasite. Can I put them in the silver clay and then heat or is it best to glue them in later. Would I use jewelry glue or slip?

- Lorraine

Precious metal clay is a great way to create pure metal pieces without needing an expensive set up. You can start with the convenient Art Clay® Starter Kit. This kit contains everything you'll need to get started including Art Clay, an instructional DVD, files, ring mandrel, refillable butane torch and more. For larger projects you may want to consider a kiln. 

It is not recommended to fire your clay with the marcasite in place. Doing so can damage the stone. To glue it in place, you will want to make an indention in the clay piece for the stone. This indention should be slightly larger than the stone to allow for shrinkage during the drying and firing process (approximately 8% for designs made with Art Clay 650). Once you have fired your design and burnished the surface, you can glue the stone in place with jeweler's epoxy.

This chart provides information on the gemstones and natural stones that can be safely fired with Art Clay and which stones should be avoided.