intermediate metal clay OPENWORK BEADS Use tools designed for polymer clay to make hollow-form metal clay beads. Build a Better Hollow The metal clay beads and bead caps are constructed over a bead form made of organic materials and binders that burn away when the metal clay is fired in a kiln. The beads are 1 1 2 x 3 4 in. (38 x 19mm), and the bead caps are 3 4 x 3 4 in. (19 x 19mm). FCT-CRON0216_ART36
Bead by Hattie Sanderson etal clay and polymer clay artisans often borrow each other s tools to try a new technique, adapt an old one, or think about their work from a different perspective. To make these hollow-form beads, you ll shape and dry cork or wood clay, using a bead roller and drying rack system that was designed to be used with polymer clay. The bead forms serve as a support for you to build openwork beads. You ll position metal clay shapes over a bead form, leaving some areas of the bead form exposed, and join the shapes with metal clay paste. While firing the metal clay, the bead form will burn away, leaving negative spaces in the metal clay bead where the bead form was exposed. You can use this technique to design beads that are as bold or as intricate as you like. 2007 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. facetjewelry.com
materials Metal clay: 50 60g Metal clay paste tools & supplies Cork clay or wood clay: 9g Bead roller (Pro Bead Roller: Bicone Bead Set 5) Bead-piercing pins Bead rack Dehydrator (dedicated to nonfood use) (optional) Pliers: flatnose Tissue blade 2 paintbrushes: flat tip, fine tip Craft glue (such as Elmer s) Flexible Teflon sheet Olive oil or natural hand balm Acrylic roller Playing cards Drinking straw: 2mm diameter Needle tool Texture sheet Circle template Permanent marker Clay cutter: 28mm (1 1 16 in.) long, teardrop shape Craft knife (optional) Emery board Needle files Pin vise Drill bit: 2mm ( 5 64 in.) Kiln, kiln shelf; fiber blanket or vermiculite Finishing items: Brass brush Tumbler, steel shot, burnishing compound Liver of sulfur Lemon juice (optional) States of dryness for metal clay Wet Semi-dry Mostly dry Completely dry Clay contains a lot of moisture and is very pliable Clay contains some moisture, but is firm and holds its shape Clay is nearly devoid of all moisture and is rigid Clay contains absolutely no moisture and can be fired Bead Make bicone bead forms. Place about 3g of either fresh cork clay or wood clay in a bead roller. Follow the manufacturer s instructions to form a bicone bead form [1]. Using the bead roller s built-in guides, push a bead-piercing pin through the center of the bead form until it exits the opposite end [2]. Repeat to make a total of three bicone bead forms, which you ll use to make two metal clay beads and two end caps. Because dried cork forms can be stored indefinitely, I made additional bead forms in a variety of shapes to use in future projects. Dry the bead forms. Use the pins to suspend the bead forms on a bead rack to dry for a few days [3]. You can speed up the drying time by placing the forms in a dehydrator for 24 hours. The cork or wood clay must be completely dry before you add the metal clay. Remove the pins. Use flatnose pliers to remove the pins from the bead forms. If necessary, twist the pins as you pull. 1 2 3 4 Make bead cap forms. Use a tissue blade to cut a bicone bead form in half at its widest point [4]. You ll use the halves to make the bead caps. Reinsert the pins in all the forms and return them to the bead rack. Coat the bead forms with glue. Use a flat-tip paintbrush to apply a coat of craft glue to the bead forms. Allow the glue to dry completely. The dried glue provides a better surface for the metal clay to adhere to the forms and burns away during firing, along with the cork or wood clay. Metal Clay You ll add balls, disks, and half-donuts [5] to the beads and bead caps to provide structural strength as well as visual continuity to the designs. Work on an oiled, flexible Teflon sheet to make these components. Make the balls. Roll a small pinch of wet metal clay between your fingers or palms to make a 2mm ( 5 64-in.)-diameter ball. Repeat to make a total of 24 balls. 74
Vertical centerline 5 6 Quarterline Quarterline Horizontal centerline Figure 1 7 Make the disks. Use an oiled acrylic roller to roll approximately 15g of metal clay to 3 playing cards thick. Oil the end of a 2mm ( 5 64-in.)-diameter straw and use the straw to cut eight circles from the clay sheet. Remove the excess clay and use a needle tool to make a hole in the center of each disk. Make the half-donuts. Roll about 5g of metal clay to 3 playing cards thick. Press the clay into an oiled texture sheet. Remove the clay and place it texture-side up on your work surface. Place a 10mm ( 7 16-in.)-diameter circle template on the clay, and use a needle tool to cut out the circle. Use a 5mm ( 3 16-in.)-diameter circle template and the needle tool to cut out the center of the circle, making a donut. Use the tissue blade to cut the donut in half. Repeat to make a total of 12 half-donuts. Set the components aside to dry completely (see States of Dryness for Metal Clay ). Bead Mark the bicone bead forms. Following Figure 1, you ll draw guidelines on the bead. As you twist the bead form on the pin, draw the horizontal centerline and the two quarterlines around the circumference of the form. Remove the form from the pin, and draw the vertical centerline around the form. Repeat to mark the other bicone bead form. Add teardrop components. Roll about 2g of metal clay to 3 playing cards thick and use an oiled texture sheet [6] to texture the clay. Use a 28mm (1 1 16-in.)-long teardrop-shaped cutter to cut out a clay shape [7]. Use a fine-tip paintbrush to apply metal clay paste to the back of the teardrop shape. Place the tip of the teardrop at the point where the horizontal and vertical centerlines intersect. Position the rest of the teardrop over the vertical centerline. Gently fold the rounded end of the teardrop over the edge of the form, covering the end. Cut another textured teardrop and overlap its tip with the tip of the first teardrop. Position it like the first teardrop. Gently fold the rounded end over the edge of the form, covering the end. Using the pin as a mandrel, rotate the form in the bead rack. Cut and paste two more teardrops to the form so that they mirror the position of the first two. Keep an equal amount of space between the two pairs of teardrops [8]. 75
quick tips on bead building Add metal clay shapes to the bead forms with care and precision. Use a generous amount of metal clay paste at all the joins. Reinforce joins with metal clay accents. Keep in mind that the metal clay design must stand on its own after the bead form is burned away during firing. 8 Remove excess paste from the bead form and refine the bead before firing. 9 Add a center strip. Roll about 2g of metal clay to 3 playing cards thick and texturize it. Use a craft knife or tissue blade to cut a 50 x 6mm (2 x 1 4-in.) strip from the clay. Apply paste to the back of the strip. Starting where two teardrop points meet, wrap the strip around the form s horizontal centerline. Secure the join with paste. Add balls. Before the strip is semidry, use paste to attach six balls to it, skipping the two areas where the teardrop points overlap. Space the balls evenly so there are three on each side of the form [9]. Add circles. Roll about 4g of metal clay to 3 playing cards thick and texturize it. Use a template and needle tool to cut two 11mm ( 7 16-in.)-diameter circles from the clay sheet. Apply paste to the back of a circle and place it on the strip, centering it where two teardrop points meet [10a]. Repeat with the other circle. Add half-donuts. Use paste to attach a pair of half-donut shapes against the clay strip, positioning them between the pairs of teardrops [10b]. Repeat with the other pair of half-donuts. Add partial teardrops. Roll about 8g of metal clay to 3 playing cards thick, texturize it, and cut out four teardrops. Apply paste to the back of one teardrop and place its rounded end on the form s quarterline, positioning it between (and overlapping) the pairs of teardrops. (The rounded end should be flush against a half-donut). Use a craft knife to trim the tapered part of the teardrop that extends beyond the end of the form [10c]. Repeat with the remaining three teardrops. Add disks. Use paste to attach the disk accents as shown [10d], and let the bead dry completely in the bead rack. Refine. Use an emery board and needle files to refine the bead. Make bead ends. Roll approximately 4g of metal clay to 3 playing cards thick and texturize it. Use a circle template and the needle tool to cut a 17mm ( 11 16-in.)-diameter circle in the clay. Keep the template on the clay circle and use the needle tool to mark the center of the circle [11]. Repeat to make a second circle. Remove the excess clay and set the bead ends aside to dry completely. Drill holes in the bead ends. Use a pin vise and a drill bit to drill a 2mm ( 5 64-in.)-diameter hole in the center of each bead end [12]. Refine the bead ends with an emery board. Add the bead ends to the bead. Remove the bead from the pin and use an emery board to remove any uneven areas at each end of the bead. Use the rough side of the emery board to give each end of the bead some texture. Reinsert the pin into the bead. Apply paste to one end of the bead. Slide a bead end on the pin and affix the end to the bead. Fill gaps with paste. Repeat on the bead s other end [13]. Let the bead dry completely in the bead rack. Carefully remove the pin from the bead. Use the pin vise and drill bit to remove any excess clay from the holes at each end of the bead. Make the second bead and the bead caps. Repeat the bead-construction instructions to make a second bead. Use the cork or wood clay half-bead forms to make the two bead caps. The caps are built in the same sequence as the beads; each cap should have a clay strip decorated with six balls. Allow the second bead and the bead caps to dry completely in the bead rack. 76
a b d c 10 11 Process photos by Hattie Sanderson. 12 13 Fire. Support the beads and bead caps in a fiber blanket or vermiculite and place them in a kiln. Cork and wood clay produce smoke and fumes when they re fired. Make sure your kiln is in a wellventilated area before you program the firing schedule. Cork or wood clay that contains any moisture when fired at high temperatures creates steam that can cause overlying metal clay to crack. To safeguard against this, I ramp the kiln at 1500 F (816 C) per hour to 800 F (427 C) and hold the temperature at 800 F (427 C) for approximately 20 minutes to allow the cork or wood clay to completely dry out and burn to ash at a lower temperature. Then I set the kiln to ramp at full speed to the time and temperature required in the manufacturer s instructions. Finish. Allow the beads and caps to cool. Remove the cork or wood clay ash from the beads and caps by gently tapping them against the edge of a trash can. Use a needle tool to remove any residual ash. Use a brass brush and soapy water to polish the pieces. Place the beads and caps in a tumbler with steel shot and burnishing compound. Tumble for up to 3 hours, checking at 30-minute intervals to make sure the beads retain their surface details. See Tumbler Troubleshooting, for more information about tumble polishing. Add a liver of sulfur patina according to the manufacturer s instructions. For more information on these finishing techniques, see Basics. tumbler troubleshooting So, you ve removed your tumbled beads from the tumbler and they look dingy instead of shiny and bright. Discolored beads and tumbling solution indicate that residual ash from the cork or wood clay has contaminated the tumbler. To clean the tumbler and shot, remove the metal clay beads and add a solution of 50 percent lemon juice and 50 percent water to the tumbler. Tumble the shot for approximately 1 hour. Rinse the shot and repeat if necessary. Re-tumble the beads and caps. Use a pair of hollow metal clay bead caps to draw attention to a focal bead. 77