White Bronze Clay is Now Available
Hadar’s Clay™ – White Bronze is now available on my online store.
You can find the instruction manual on the right-hand pane of this blog and on the White Bronze product page in the store. Please download the instruction manual before you begin firing, since White Bronze behaves somewhat differently from copper and bronze clay. As with all other manuals, the White Bronze manual will be updated on a regular basis. The date of the last update appears at the top of the first page.
Copper clay has a wide range of sintering temperatures, while bronze has a narrower range; White Bronze has a very narrow range. A change of 10°F can determine whether a piece is not sintered or melts. Since kilns are so different from each other, it is important that you find the right firing schedule in your own kiln.
I tested the firing schedule in a top loader and a front loader kiln. The results are reflected in the firing schedule suggested in the manual. Please regard these temperatures as a starting point to determine your own firing schedule. I do not recommend firing actual pieces before firing test pieces. The instruction manual explains how to use test pieces.
White bronze fires when tucked deep in carbon, with slow ramping to a relatively low temperature, and 2:30 hours of hold time.
What can’t you do with White Bronze?
You cannot tell a customer that it’s silver (just kidding, it wouldn’t cross your mind).
You cannot fire it with a torch. The firing temperature is low and the firing time is long (2:30 hours).
You cannot combine it with copper and bronze clay unless the copper and bronze have been fired first.
You cannot bend or hammer it after it’s been fired. Although it’s very hard after firing, it is not flexible at all.
What can you do with White Bronze?
You can make big, chunky pieces that look like silver without feeling guilty.
You can combine White Bronze with copper and bronze in the same piece, without having undesirable reactions as between silver and bronze.
Unlike silver, you can inlay White Bronze in copper and/or bronze after they have been fired, and they will fuse without separating.
April 1st, 2010 at 3:08 am
Hadar, thank you so very much for all the research time and work you put into this. Can’t wait to give it a try!
April 1st, 2010 at 3:26 am
Fabulous! Can’t wait to try it.
April 1st, 2010 at 4:04 am
Hadar, a question… have you tested it with the coal based acid washed carbon? the one you recommended in January… I still have a huge box of it.
Thanks!!
April 1st, 2010 at 5:34 am
This is a wonderful gift to the metal clay community. I just ordered some and can’t wait to start playing. Thanks so much, Hadar!
April 1st, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Patricia,
No, I haven’t tried it with coal-based carbon. Sorry.
April 1st, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Thanks for your reply, Hadar. I have ordered a couple jars this morning and I am going to try it with the carbon I have on hands for now.
I can’t wait to receive it!!!!
April 7th, 2010 at 8:09 am
When you talk about “pressure” on the white bronze, what do you mean, exactly? That the white bronze needs to be surrounded on all sides by the other metal? Or that it has to have an undercut or something to hold it to the other metal? Or just that it can’t be loosely draped across the other metal and expect it to fuse?
Thanks!
amy
April 7th, 2010 at 9:27 am
Amy,
Exactly: you can’t put unfired white bronze on top of fired copper or bronze and expect it to fuse. Just like when you solder, you need to apply pressure either by holding the pieces with crosslock tweezers or by using a binding wire to hold them tight together. If the white bronze is surrounded, or if there is an undercut, it will work. Only once I had a piece fuse to copper just by sitting on it, but it never happened again.
April 9th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
I gave an “Art Chat” on metal clay tonight at a coop gallery I belong to here in Ohio, and I kept talking about Hadar Jacobson, and Hadar’s Clay, and “Hadar says . . “! Thanks for all your hard work and experimentation so that we can all have so much fun successfully making beautiful stuff.
May 6th, 2010 at 8:12 am
Hi Hadar.
I am so exciting! I’m waiting to go next month to England to have a workshop with you about all these materials.
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:07 am
Hi Hadar,
I wasn’t aware that white bronze actually existed, until I read your blog. It will definitely open a lot of possibilities! Does it tarnish like regular bronze? Does it take a patina?
I am planning to do inlay in copper or bronze, using etched sheet metal for the background. Can white bronze be inlaid into regular bronze (or into copper)?
I look forward to working with white bronze in the future! Thank you!
Rada
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:14 am
Rada,
White bronze tarnishes even less than silver. It takes patina beautifully, as you can see in one of my past blog posting “Introducing White Bronze”). And you can inlay it in copper and bronze, if the copper and bronze are pre-fired.
Hadar
June 2nd, 2011 at 9:52 am
Thanks for making this available, have to try!(Love your pieces)
July 20th, 2011 at 10:38 am
Hi Hadar,
I was wondering if the White Bronze, Rose, and regular Bronze could be fired in an Ultra-Lite Beehive Kiln.
Thanks your time!
Belinda
July 20th, 2011 at 8:15 pm
Belinda, I don’t think it is possible without a digital controller. Maybe you can have one installed?