Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist – September 2019

(やまだぃちぅ) #1

Jewelry Project FIT FOR A FINGER


4


Bake it according to the manu-
facturer’s instructions. It should
look something like this.

5


Roll a second strip of polymer
clay of similar thickness, plain.
Trim the edges to be about 2mm
wider than your actual ring will be,
and angle the edges to make a sharp
edge once the narrow strip is also
curved. This will be the shape for
the inside of the ring. I think of this
form as a “pusher,” because I push
or press the metal clay into the mold
using this piece on top. The degree of
dome does not need to be the same.

Tip: Keep the dome fairly shallow,
especially if you are doming both
the inside and the outside, to keep
the ring from being too thick to fit
comfortably between fingers.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE,
PRACTICE
Once your polymer pieces are
formed and fi red, you’re ready to.

.. do a bunch more experimenting
using polymer clay.


I urge you to use polymer clay to go
through the entire process of making
the ring so that you don’t end up
drying out your metal clay while you
try to get the steps just right. You
may fi nd that you need to change the
width or the degree of curve of one
part or another, and much better to
fi gure that out using polymer clay.
So even though I will now describe
the making of the metal clay ring,
practice it fi rst! This is especially
important if you are using a form of
metal clay that is less forgiving than
my favorite, EZ960.

6


Roll a cylinder. Hopefully you
have experimented enough to
have a good sense of how thick it
should be. For my ring, I needed
about half of a 25g package of clay,
rolled out to about 5mm.

7


Apply oil or lubricant to the
mold. Wipe off any excess.
Lay the metal clay carefully on the
center of the pattern. If you are not
doming the inside, roll it fl at on the
back while pressing it into the mold.

7


5


8


6


9


4


Keep the


dome


fairly


shallow,


especially


if you are


doming both


the inside and


the outside, to


keep the ring


from being


too thick to fit


comfortably


between


fingers.


TIP!


56 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST

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