Four moves,
thirty minutes
No kiln, no workshop, no diploma. The torch is in the box, the guide explains the rest.
Knead
You take the clay out of the bag and work it between your fingers. It is soft, it is grey, it looks like nothing at all.
Shape
You wrap the strip around the mandrel, to your size. You texture it, you press in stones if you want.
Fire
Two minutes of torch. The binder burns off, the metal particles fuse. This is where it is decided.
Brush
The piece comes out white and matt. Thirty seconds with the brush and the metal appears. Nobody will believe you.
Grey paste in.
Solid metal out.
This is not plating. The clay is metal powder held together by an organic binder: in the fire the binder disappears and only the metal is left. In silver it is 999 — purer than the sterling silver used in jewellery.
It shrinks by about 8 % as it fires. The guide accounts for that, which is why we have you shape the ring one size up.
Bronze or silver?
Same price, same workshop, same moves. What changes is how much material you get — and so how much room you have to fail.
Nine shapes,
no stones
One firing.
That is all.
Until you light the torch, you can start over: the clay rehydrates, rekneads and reshapes as many times as you like. There is only one irreversible move, and it is the fire.
We publish our failures every week. If a kit promises you a perfect result first time, it is lying to you.
What we get
asked most
Is it really fire?
Yes. A butane torch, like the one for a flambé dessert. It comes with the kit, the gas does not — refills cannot be shipped. The exact format is given in the guide.
Do I need to be handy?
No. If you can roll a coil of modelling clay, you can make a ring. The only real difficulty is not panicking during the two minutes of flame.
Is it real metal?
999 fine silver for the silver version, meaning 99.9 % pure silver — purer than standard sterling. Real bronze for the bronze version.
What age is it for?
Not recommended for anyone under 18. There is an open flame above 1,000 °C and a piece at 600 °C involved. Gloves, tongs, a non-flammable surface and a ventilated room are mandatory — the detail is on the Precautions page.
