Goldie Sculptor's Copper™ Powder Clay

Goldie's Sculptor's Copper

Goldie Sculptor's Copper is copper of a beautiful pure red color. It is formulated with long carbo-hydrogen chains in the binder formula to have much greater strength and more resistance to collapse under its own weight than regular bronze clays and is more cohesive when wet and stronger after the first firing step. This allows the artist sculptor to create much larger designs. Another aspect of Sculptor's Copper is its silky smooth texture and with appropriate hydration it can be thrown on a potter's wheel.

This clay is well suited for sculptures and larger forms of jewelry. You can shape the wet and dry clay using chisels and other traditional sculptor's tools.

Goldie Sculptor's Copper is environmentally friendly. The powder contains 99.9% of pure dendrite copper. The binders are organic and non toxic. It shrinks by about 15%-23% on firing, depending on the shape and the size of the piece.

This clay comes in dry powder form. The dry powder can be kept for years. Mix only the amount you need so you always have fresh clay with the perfect texture. You'll have longer working time and a more workable product when the clay is mixed fresh as you need it.

TO MIX

Put the all amount of powder into a jar or bowl.

Add about numerous 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 of a plasticine like consistency. The water does not need to be distilled – tap water is fine.

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.

TO USE

Goldie Sculptor’s Copper™ is well suited for sculptures and larger forms of jewelry. You can shape the wet and dry clay using chisels and other traditional sculptor’s tools.

To join elements and repair seams in Goldie Sculptor’s Copper™ clay mix a little powder with water to make a paste. Elements can also be joined with the water only method 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 200ºF (94ºC) or lower. Higher temperatures may cause cracking, and the creation of steam bubbles.  Larger pieces can be dried in a kitchen oven as long as 200ºF is not exceeded.

Components up to 100 grams will typically dry naturally in 24 hours.  Weights in excess of 100 grams should be naturally dried for 2-5 days. A faster method is to use a warming plate allowing the components to dry for 2-5 hours. Large items (above 300g) should be dried for 6-10 hours.

Remember to always clean your tools well between different brands and types of metal clays to avoid cross contamination. This does NOT apply to metals from the Goldie Metal™ line because you can mix them together for Mokume Gane and other techniques.

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 1/2” (1cm) under the pieces.  Do not cover with carbon for this step. Make sure the pieces are at least 1/2” (1cm) apart. Place the open container into a cold kiln and fire at full ramp to 580°C(1076°F) and hold for 30 minutes for pieces up to 100g.  Pieces larger than 100g hold for 45 minutes, larger than 200g – 45 minutes, larger than 200g – 1 hour, larger than 300g – 1.5 hours.

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 1/2” (1cm) over the pieces and place back into the kiln. Do a full ramp to 960°C(1760°F) and hold for 1 hour  10 min for pieces up to 100g. In the case of large elements, the time should be properly extended to 2h-30min for 100-200g. For elements over 300 grams fire for a minimum of 2 hours for more flat elements and a minimum of 3 hours for more rounded elements.

Fired pieces can be removed from the kiln hot or cold.