Product Description
Goldie Snow Bronze - a white shade of bronze.
** Requires Kiln Firing
The particles which make up Snow Bronze are bit larger than in the case of other bronzes, so you might find it a bit grainy after mixing with water - but don’t worry, the material will become smooth after firing. White bronzes with over 18% of tin are fragile and easy to break, but Snow Bronze is different; despite a high content of tin (21%) it’s not easy to break, thanks to large powder particles.
Goldie Snow Bronze is an environmentally friendly product, and the binders are organic and non toxic. It contains approximately 79% copper and 21% tin.
Unlike our other metal clays, all Goldie Clays come in powder form, which is then mixed with water.
Available in size: 50g, 100g, or 200g
To mix it, follow these steps:
- Put the whole amount of powder into a jar or bowl.
- Add around 12 drops of water, or spray in a little water and mix well with a knife or spoon, adding more water as required, until you get a clay or a plasticine-like consistency.
- Roll the lump clay out thinly and fold over. Roll again, rolling away from the fold. Repeat this action several times. This is very important to ensure that all the air is removed from the clay and to get a smooth consistency before using. Insert into a plastic bag or container and wait for 30 minutes.
How to use:
- To join elements, mix a little powder with water to make a paste. Elements can also be joined with just water, in the same way as silver clay.
- Pieces can be dried naturally or by using heat, e.g. on a hotplate or in a dehydrator. Dry at 90°C or lower. Higher temperatures may cause cracking, and create steam bubbles.
- Remember to always clean your tools well between using different types of metal clay to avoid cross contamination. The above comment does not apply to metals from the Goldie Metal line, because you can mix them together with Mokume Gane, or other techniques.
How to fire:
- Ensure the clay is completely dry before firing. Any moisture will boil and ruin the piece.
- Lay the pieces in a stainless steel firing container on a layer of activated coconut shell carbon with a minimum depth 1cm under the pieces. Make sure the pieces are at least 1cm apart. Place the open container into a cold kiln and fire at full ramp to 350°C and hold for 30 minutes.
- Carefully remove the container from the kiln and place on a heatproof surface. Fill the container with a layer of activated coconut shell carbon with a minimum depth 1cm over the pieces, and place back into the kiln.
- Full ramp to 730-760°C and hold for 1h50 min.( The temperature depends on the thermal efficiency of the kiln. The smaller kilns – higher temperature). This period of time can be reduced even to an hour in case of small elements, we encourage you to experiment.
- Fired pieces can be removed from the kiln hot or cold.
Goldie Snow Bronze shrinks by about 16%-30% during firing, depending on the shape and the size of the piece, and the temperature of firing. The temperature depends on the thermal efficiency of the kiln. The smaller kilns – higher temperature. Dried clay can be ground up to a powder and reconstituted, which makes it simple and economical to use!
* These clays take texture very well but we suggest using quite a deep texture as these show up better than shallow textures.
* Shake the bag well before opening to ensure an even mix of metal powder and binder.
* Always wear a respirator mask to prevent breathing or ingesting Goldie Clay powder*
Did you know we stock embeddable bronze findings? 'Embeddable' means you can add them to your clay in the wet stage and fire all at once.
Click here to see our full range of embeddable findings
Packaging is moving over to paper, but some sizes may still arrive in foil packaging.
