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Art Clay™ – Cork Clay
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Handout #68-007-10
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[Characteristics]
Cork Clay comes from Japan and is distributed through the Aida instructors and dealers. It is easily modeled into any shape and makes an excellent internal structure for Art Clay™ Silver.
[Directions]
Shaping and drying
Make your shapes for beads or sculpture and completely dry the cork overnight or at 200°F in a toaster oven for a few hours. Slow drying is the best.
If the cork is moist and you fire it inside an Art Clay™ piece, the heat of the firing may turn the moisture into steam. The escaping steam may develop enough pressure to damage the Art Clay™.
When covering the cork armature with Art Clay™, leave some vent holes for firing. You can fill/repair vent holes with additional Art Clay™ or oil paste in a second firing.
After drying, the cork may be filed, drilled, sanded and otherwise finished to enhance and promote the finishing process.
Firing
Art Clay™ that is fired with cork clay must be fired at the lower temperatures that are listed for each product: 1470°F for 30 minutes for original Art Clay™ Silver, or or 1200°F for 30 minutes for Art Clay™ Silver 650. This is especially important if a significant amount of cork clay is used in the mold.
At higher firing temperatures, the burning cork may cause the air in the kiln to superheat, raising the internal temperature near or to the silver’s melting point. This may result in damaged or distorted pieces.
Irregular forms should be supported with a soft fiber blanket
[Hints]
Keep all unused portions of the cork clay tightly wrapped. If it dries, it cannot be remoistened.
Store at room temperature. If you see dark spots develop (mildew), this will not affect the use of the clay. These spots will burn off in the firing.
Do not add water to the cork clay. If you have two pieces of cork clay to join together, you can moisten the pieces in the area where they will join. Usually pressure and the moisture in the cork clay is sufficient to join the pieces.
Cork clay makes smoke as it burns. Please fire in a well-ventilated room. If you see smoke escaping from the kiln, this is normal. DO NOT OPEN THE KILN DOOR! This would provide oxygen to the fire and possibly cause a flash fire, endangering anyone standing in front of the kiln.
A small amount of green ash residue will be in your piece. This easily can be removed with running water after the piece is cool.
HAVE FUN!!! As an internal sculptural structure, this medium saves you hours of time in making hollow forms.
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