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Techniques What is PMC®? Precious Metal Clay® consists of microscopic particles of silver in an organic (naturally occurring) binder with water to create a pliable material with a consistency similar to modeling clay. PMC can be worked with the fingers and simple tools to create a vast range of forms and surfaces that would be unattainable or more laborious with traditional techniques. When heated to a high temperature, the organic binder burns away and the metal particles fuse, forming solid metal that can be sanded, soldered, colored and polished like conventional material. Scientists working at the Mitsubishi Materials Special products division in Japan, developed Precious Metal Clay. In the early 1990's, after several years of experimentation PMC received its first patents. The principal ingredient in PMC is gold or silver, reduced to tiny flakes smaller than 20 microns in size. These flakes are so fine that it would take as many as 25 of them clumped together to equal a grain of salt.
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Keum-boo is an ancient Korean technique for bonding the 24kt. gold to the silver surface. Heat and pressure are used to complete this bonding process, resulting in a beautiful layer of gold on the jewelry. The two pure metals (fine silver and gold) form a diffusion bond, creating a permanent gold surface on the fine silver base. | ||||
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What is Enameling? Enameling is the centuries old technique of fusing glass to metal. Glass enamel powders are applied to the fine silver surface and heated to over 1400º F at which time the glass melts and fuses to the surface. Lead-free enamel is used on all jewelry. | ||
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