PMC Pendants

Plastic place mat

mat board

acrylic brayer (or small section of PVC pipe or dowel)

rubber stamps

small round bottle caps

razor blade (or exacto knife)

skewer

emery board

PMC is fired in a kiln. PMC+ and PMC3 were developed with lower firing temps so it can be fired with a torch. Since I don't have a kiln, this is what I opted to use and it worked like a dream.

Tools:

butane torch (Home Depot)

butane fuel

fire brick (a brickyard)

boiled egg
Ziplock bag

fine sandpaper

Roll out the PMC+ between 2 pieces of mat board or two piles of several playing cards on a plastic place mat. This insures that the clay is a uniform size and the right thickness for a piece of jewelry.
Rub a little oil on the surface of the clay and stamp with rubber stamps. (mine just happen to be unmounted, but mounted work as well)

Cut out the pendants with small caps. The clay will shrink, but only about 10% so keep that in mind when choosing the size of the cutter.

Carefully remove the excess clay with a razor blade. (the left over clay can be rehydrated with water and used again) Poke a hole in the top of each circle with a skewer. Allow the clay to dry completely. The dried circles will easily pop off the placemat. Turn them over and allow the backs to dry. This size took about 4 hours to dry. You can hurry this with a hair dryer. After the pieces are completely dry, clean up the edges and any blobs by sanding with an emery board.

Fire in a dimly lit room. I positioned myself between the light and the clay to cast a shadow. Working on one pendant at a time, heat the clay on a fire brick. Keep the flame moving and about 1 1/2" away from the piece. The clay will emit a small flame. When the clay begins to glow a peachy orange (only visible in dim light), begin to time your firing. Fire for one minute. Allow to cool.

If you fire from the back of the piece, you won't damage the front if it starts to melt. If the pendant begins to melt, back the flame away a bit. You can tell if it is melting because the piece will bubble and get shiny.

Fully fired clay will be white. Scrub it with a brass wire brush to remove the residue. The above photo shows the before and after; the large circle has not been brushed, the smaller one has.
Here is the fired and wire brushed circle.

Boil an egg and while it is still hot place it in a larger size zip lock bag. Break the egg to expose the yolk which is the part of the egg that causes the patina. Place your silver pieces into the bag but don't let it touch the egg. (Why? I don't know)

Here is the pendant after about 3 hours. Lightly sand the pendant with fine sandpaper to remove the dark patina on the surface and allow the dark indentions to show up.
Add a jump ring and hang it from a wire or chain.
No one will have any idea that you made this in your kitchen with a creme brulee torch.