June Project part 3 - success at last!

I decided to try again with my silver clay pendant using the rest of the clay and what I had learnt making mistakes the first time!

I couldn't removed the fireproof stones from the disaster piece so I had to buy some new ones which I got from this website. I got a mixture of different sizes and colours and I am glad I did because the piece looks better for smaller coloured stones rather than the clear ones in the pack, in my opinion.

Here is the piece, stamped and cut.  I took two attempts to get it how I wanted. Then I set the stones into the clay.  These are lab created gemstones and suitable for firing but you should never quench a gem set piece as the stones could shatter! I chose two 1.5 mm stones, one a sort of lavender and one that looked like a peridot. I also chose a 2mm red-orange stone for the larger flower.

I sanded the edges of the piece after it was dry.  I didn't need to do much as cleaning up the edges with a damp paint brush before allowing it to dry out sorted most issues.

 Here it is straight after firing. You can see from the marks on the heat block how it has shrunk.  This is normal, PMC generally shrinks 10% during firing as the polymer that holds the silver burns off leaving you with pure silver..  I really took my time over the firing, used a lower amount of heat and worked in quite dim light so I could observe colour changes more easily.  it was more time consuming but it was worth it!

 Here is my newly fired piece with the failed one. It appears white because of the oxide layer on the silver from heating .

 Here is the pendant after polishing with a stainless steel brush

Comparison with the disaster piece!

                       
                                       After burnishing and using a silver polishing cloth. 

I am very happy with the end result and I am wearing it right now! Just need to order some better silver chain for it soon. :-)