I saw something online once about buying coppper wire and then stripping the plastic off of it, using each wire individually, what type of wire would this be and would anyone know the guage?

Cheers

If I don’t see any traffic here, by tomorrow, I think I’ll post a link to your comment on a newer page, ‘cuz people need to see your excellent tip! Thanks!

Here’s a link to one — be sure to read it, (very important usage info!) Baking on a bed of cornstarch (and covering your piece with it) will support and protect your bezel while baking, ensuring it doesn’t change shape and still fits your rock. Remember to read the articles on
baking, and don’t forget to use an oven thermometer to monitor the temperature of your oven. Bake at the correct temperature for at least an hour so that your piece is thoroughly cured! When it’s done, remove it from the oven. While the clay’s still warm, put the rock back into the bezel, and let them cool off together for a really nice fit. Once the clay is cool it will stay hard.

I asked how heavy your rock was, and if it had a hole, because I was wondering how much weight the clay would be handling. If your rock is heavy, you’ll want to make sure your clay is strong, & thick enough to support its weight, and thick enough so that the screw that you’re using has plenty of clay to grab onto (it needs to be deep enough into the clay, as well.) I can give you more info on this if you like, just leave another question. And a note: for future projects, you might want to consider making faux rocks & stones. They look so realistic, yet weigh next to nothing. (Check out this Faux Turquoise video, or do a search for “faux rocks” or “faux pebbles.”) These videos and articles on other projects can help give you ideas on how you might want to make your bezel or get many different looks for a future polymer clay project.

There are lots of ways to get a metallic look for your clay bezel. Some techniques are done before baking, and some after. Here’s an article with some cool ideas for adding “Bling” to polymer clay.

I know you’re not looking for glitter, I linked to the article because it shows some of the clay-safe products used to get a gold metallic look. It has links to other articles, too, that tell you how to use them, like mica or Pearl-ex powders, gold leaf or foil, etc. The leaf & foil techniques are done before baking, and give it a really cool metallic gold look. Here’s what “Crackled” Gold Leaf looks like. It could look awesome with your clay bezel. You could add gold powders, paint, or inks, as well. Lots for ways to make your rock bezel look like gold. If you decide to use paint as a patina, or to give a distressed look, use acrylic paint. Oil paint can only be used with raw clay (it won’t dry properly on cured clay.)

Anyway, back to your baked piece — which then needs to be finished. Usually, you would sand and buff your piece to a shine, then use a clay-compatible adhesive (2-part epoxy, E-6000, Weldbond, etc.) to glue the rock back into your clay bezel. But, the surface technique you used affects how much you sand. You might want to sand just a little, enough to remove fingerprints or imperfections, and leave your distressed / hammered-looking surface ready for acrylic paint. Or, if you used mica powders or metallic leaf, you probably don’t want to sand at all — unless you want to intentionally remove some of the materials (which looks good if you want a “distressed” look.) You’ll want to protect whatever surface treatment you used with some sort of sealant or varnish. Make sure you use one proven to work with polymer clay. Otherwise, they may never dry, or create other messy problems. A really popular, yet inexpensive finish for polymer clay is “Pledge with Future Shine” floor wax. You can find it at discount or grocery stores. Or you could go with something like Studio by Sculpey Glaze, which comes in gloss & satin formulas (about $4 at JoAnn’s or other craft stores) and is made to go with polymer clay. You can check out these articles, or click on “finishing” in the topic categories at the upper left, to get more information about protecting the metallic finish on your PC Bezel.

One last thing, if you want a really good way to learn all the important information about working with polymer clay, the best way is with Cindy’s Fundamental/Polymer Clay Basics course. There’s a link for it at the top of the page. She covers all of the basics, as well as throwing in all kinds of valuable tips and tricks to make it easier and so much more understandable. Her videos are top notch — you can get 3 of them free by signing up for her newsletter; the link for that is at the top of the page, too.

Well, I hope this helps you, Rocky, and I hope you enjoy working with polymer clay. It is such an amazing medium; it can imitate just about any kind of material. Let us know if you have any other questions. Best of luck with your project!