What Exactly is Metal Clay?

Metal clay is a remarkable material made up of tiny metal particles — copper, bronze or silver — suspended in an organic binder. When you work with it, it behaves just like soft modelling clay: you can roll it, texture it, carve it, shape it by hand. The magic happens in the kiln. At temperatures of around 900°C (for copper and bronze), the organic binder burns away completely, and the metal particles are left behind. They fuse together in a process called sintering — bonding at a molecular level — until what you have is a single, solid, dense piece of pure metal. Every ring, pendant and pair of earrings I make begins as soft clay and emerges from the kiln as genuine solid metal. It still amazes me every single time.