After about six months of experimenting and working with Goldie Bronze, I pledge my allegiance to this lovely metal clay material!
What I enjoy about Goldie Bronze
Having experimented with most of the bronze powder/metal clay products on the market, I've come to really enjoy the following qualities of Goldie Bronze:
- Powder form: allows for long shelf life, especially when dear Val Lewis has a sale!
- Wonderful working texture: rubbery, pliable and not at all crumbly when properly hydrated (that said, an additional, slight, layer of Slik or Badger Balm on the palms takes me back to my play dough years).
- Long life: In it's wet form, it remains beautifully hydrated when stored in plastic wrap. I rarely rehydrate it, even after it's been sitting untouched for several days. Easy.
- Nice long working time: I don't feel like I have to rush when working in it's wet form as it stays nice and moistly malleable for a long time (definitely felt rushed with FastFire).
- Tough stuff: Relatively speaking, not too brittle when green-dry.
- Easy firing: I have consistently great results in my (hotter than most) kiln with 1) a full ramp, 662°F, 30 minute pre-fire (on either carbon or steel mesh shelf), and 2) a full ramp 1505°F, 40 minute sintering fire.
- CZ gems fire nicely: No problems with dulling of various colored cz gems embedded in Goldie bronze (I have consistently good results with all my CZs from Cool Tools & Metal Clay Supply)
- Minimal shrinkage: Oh how heavenly, for me, to keep the math out of my art! Goldie Bronze shrinkage is officially 5-9%, but depending on the shapes I create (especially rings), size reduction can be almost negligible and doesn't become a headache in planning pieces.
FYI: Hard Goldie Bronze does take a while to finish and polish (mostly because I love mirror finishes), but the color and feel is absolutely beautiful.
Needless to say, all of the above works beautifully when I've ensured the all obvious basics: mixed the all clay in the container thoroughly (no batches!), carefully reinforced joints, prevented cracks/bubbles/fissures, dried the piece thoroughly and prevented warping in drying and firing placement.
WOW! Goldie Bronze & Paste Maker, a marriage made in heaven!
Thanks to the clever teachings of Wanaree Tanner I learned about the magic of Paste Maker by Sherri Haab. Paste Maker and Goldie Bronze together, are practically symphonic!
My water spritzer sits solemnly at the back of my work station, rarely used. I substitute it for Paste Maker at every joint, repair or slip-mix. Of course I do mix the powder with water at the outset, and perhaps use a spritz or two during the life of the wet clay, but that's about it. Paste Maker is amazing! I rarely have cracking or joint separation problems anymore and I think it's because the Paste Maker really super-bonds the clay particles together vs water's tendency to create more porous, 'airy' joints.
Indeed, other bronze clays have the advantage of more varied Mokume-gane combinations, or quicker firing, but I find this to be the all-around friendliest bronze clay, until the next bronze clay medalist is released!
NOTE: Just tried Goldie Snow and it's a very different animal! Completely contrasting (granular) texture, with a longer firing time and higher shrinkage. Goldie Bronze and Goldie Snow worked well when wet-joined and fired together (fired at the Goldie schedule but doubled in time, pre-fired on a steel mesh shelf). The color of Goldie Snow is silver, but perhaps a bit closer to the grey of steel. Nice stuff, looking forward to experimenting more...
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| Booklet lockets inspired by the great teachings of Wanaree Tanner. |
Having experimented with most of the bronze powder/metal clay products on the market, I've come to really enjoy the following qualities of Goldie Bronze:
- Powder form: allows for long shelf life, especially when dear Val Lewis has a sale!
- Wonderful working texture: rubbery, pliable and not at all crumbly when properly hydrated (that said, an additional, slight, layer of Slik or Badger Balm on the palms takes me back to my play dough years).
- Long life: In it's wet form, it remains beautifully hydrated when stored in plastic wrap. I rarely rehydrate it, even after it's been sitting untouched for several days. Easy.
- Nice long working time: I don't feel like I have to rush when working in it's wet form as it stays nice and moistly malleable for a long time (definitely felt rushed with FastFire).
- Tough stuff: Relatively speaking, not too brittle when green-dry.
- Easy firing: I have consistently great results in my (hotter than most) kiln with 1) a full ramp, 662°F, 30 minute pre-fire (on either carbon or steel mesh shelf), and 2) a full ramp 1505°F, 40 minute sintering fire.
- CZ gems fire nicely: No problems with dulling of various colored cz gems embedded in Goldie bronze (I have consistently good results with all my CZs from Cool Tools & Metal Clay Supply)
- Minimal shrinkage: Oh how heavenly, for me, to keep the math out of my art! Goldie Bronze shrinkage is officially 5-9%, but depending on the shapes I create (especially rings), size reduction can be almost negligible and doesn't become a headache in planning pieces.
FYI: Hard Goldie Bronze does take a while to finish and polish (mostly because I love mirror finishes), but the color and feel is absolutely beautiful.
Needless to say, all of the above works beautifully when I've ensured the all obvious basics: mixed the all clay in the container thoroughly (no batches!), carefully reinforced joints, prevented cracks/bubbles/fissures, dried the piece thoroughly and prevented warping in drying and firing placement.
Thanks to the clever teachings of Wanaree Tanner I learned about the magic of Paste Maker by Sherri Haab. Paste Maker and Goldie Bronze together, are practically symphonic!
My water spritzer sits solemnly at the back of my work station, rarely used. I substitute it for Paste Maker at every joint, repair or slip-mix. Of course I do mix the powder with water at the outset, and perhaps use a spritz or two during the life of the wet clay, but that's about it. Paste Maker is amazing! I rarely have cracking or joint separation problems anymore and I think it's because the Paste Maker really super-bonds the clay particles together vs water's tendency to create more porous, 'airy' joints.
Indeed, other bronze clays have the advantage of more varied Mokume-gane combinations, or quicker firing, but I find this to be the all-around friendliest bronze clay, until the next bronze clay medalist is released!
NOTE: Just tried Goldie Snow and it's a very different animal! Completely contrasting (granular) texture, with a longer firing time and higher shrinkage. Goldie Bronze and Goldie Snow worked well when wet-joined and fired together (fired at the Goldie schedule but doubled in time, pre-fired on a steel mesh shelf). The color of Goldie Snow is silver, but perhaps a bit closer to the grey of steel. Nice stuff, looking forward to experimenting more...
