Ask the Experts Clay Q&A

During a recent shopping trip, I bought three containers of what was grouped with the metal clay supplies in a local hobby and craft store. The product brand is Pardo, and the company website gives the product as the metal listed combined with beeswax to help hold shape until firing. Firing is supposed to be done in a home or convection oven at 266 degrees Fahrenheit (130 degrees Celsius) for 30 minutes per 1/4-inch thickness. I bought one jar of gold, one jar of silver and one jar of bronze. My questions: How does this product match up to the other metal clay products on the market? Could this product be fired using a torch instead of an oven? And how might this product stand up long-term in items crafted with any of the clays purchased? Thank you.

- James

Pardo is a polymer product. Polymer clay and metal clay are entirely different types of products and cannot be fired together. Polymer is not fired; it's baked at a low temperature in a regular oven. Metal clays (silver, bronze and copper) are fired in a kiln or with a torch.

You can create and fire a metal clay piece then add a polymer addition or inclusion and bake in a home or convection oven. Or you can glue the baked polymer piece into the fired metal clay piece using 2-part  Jeweler's Epoxy.

- Kristal Wick, Designer, Author and Jewelry-Making Expert