Art Clay Copper is a clay material that you can use to make a wide range of pieces such as jewellery, craft designs, and objects like sculptures and models. Art Clay Copper can be fired in an electric kiln without using carbon, with the resulting fired piece being more than 99.5% pure copper. The percentage of copper in the Art Clay Copper in clay state is 90%.
Art Clay Copper works a little differently to Precious Metal Clay Silver and Art Clay Silver in that extra care needs to be taken in heating the material.
On this page we go into detail about how to work with Art Clay Copper so that you can get the best results.
Keep the clay indoors at a moderate room temperature and out of direct sunlight. Try to use the product as soon as possible after opening the original product package.
Art Clay Copper is a water-based clay, and dries naturally in the air. After opening your package of clay, the surface of Art Clay Copper will naturally start oxidising and the colour will darken if left in the air. To avoid drying when starting your piece, only take out the needed amount and if you see a darkened surface appear, scrape off the darkened layer and use the internal clay to make your piece.
To avoid oxidation of unused clay after unsealing the original product package, you can wrap in several layers of plastic wrap tightly, then place in a zip up type plastic bag, or an airtight container.
The shrinkage of Art Clay Copper during firing is under 10% in length, so be sure to consider this when designing and making your piece.
Apply a small amount of water to some soft clay or ground powder of dry clay, and blend well while crushing in any hard pieces. You can use this paste for filling up any cracks in your main design once dry as well as for joining clay parts.
Dry completely after moulding. The dried clay will become hard like plaster, so you can enjoy the process of drilling, filing and sanding with hand tools and equipment. The following drying instructions and drying check method should be completed before firing.
Clay Dryness Test
Place your dried design on a piece of stainless or glass plate while still warm. Leave for a couple of seconds, then remove your piece from the plate. If you do not see any vapour cloud on the plate where the piece was, drying is completed.
Drying guideline for drying a piece up to 1mm thick, 5g (if the piece is larger than this size, drying will need more time):
Hot air dryer: more than 10 mins. Place the piece as close and as safely possible to the hot air while taking care not to drop it.
Electric hot plate: more than 10 mins at 150°C/302°F
Electric kiln: more than 10 mins at 150°C/302°F
Natural air-dry method: more than 24 hours
Important: Do not dry the art clay copper over 250°C/482°F, or the binder will be destroyed during drying and deform the shape in the firing process.
Place the fired Art Clay Copper into a solution made with pickling compound to take away any oxidised layers on the surface. For any oxidised layers around detailed design areas, use a polishing point with an electric rotary tool such as the Dremel 4000 Multi Tool.
For use and proper, environmentally friendly disposal of the pickling solution follow the instructions included with the product.
After firing your design is now pure copper!
You can enjoy its beautiful metal lustre by polishing with a metal brush, burnisher, polishing points, polishing papers or a tumbler.
Discover our tool kit aimed at beginners, including all the essential tools and supplies you need for your first metal clay project.
Get all the metal clay tools and supplies you need online with Kernowcraft. Explore our range of metal clays and range of accessories and tools.
If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with our friendly team who will be more than happy to give you advice over email or on the phone.
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