Newbie needs help with canes

wrote:
How much clay do you have? I'd be happy to buy it for my daughter.


Aw, that's kind of you, but the small amount that's left
wouldn't survive very well being shipped in this (still!) 100°
heat. I bet it would bake before it got to Phoenix!

--
^,,^ Miracle

I've had pretty good luck with canes using SculpeyIII over the 8 years I've
been using it. The key is to use it in cooler temps. If my apartment is
over 75 degrees, I move my workspace into my air-conditioned bedroom! Also
leaching that bright purple may be necessary...it seems to get nastily
sticky and gross. Letting it sit is definitely helpful. My cane's are
relatively simpler than something like a face or butterfly or something like
that. Experiment and decide for yourself.
On refrigerating: I don't do that anymore because when it comes out of the
fridge/freezer, it perspires and slides around on my workspace glass. If
you're cutting it on a non-stick surface, that will probably help a LOT.
ALSO, even within one brand, the softness can vary VERY much! For example,
Sculpey III chocolate brown and red hot red are typically hard for me, while
that bright purple I mentioned above is sometimes unusable. If you notice
while building the cane that the different colors vary during conditioning,
then the cane may come out a bit different than you planned. My first
(first out of TWO) face cane ended up looking like MonkeyBoy...totally
distorted, but brought a lot of laughs to people who saw it!

AEW


"Linda B" wrote in message
om...
You can also look at the types of clay you are using. Sculpy III is
terrible for canes. It is too soft and distorts a lot. I like to use
Premo or Fimo for my canes I sell on ebay. They remain firm but can be
softened up with work and warmth if needed. I also use a tissue blade
for my slicing. Always remember to let your cane rest occasionally
during the reducing process. As you are reducing you are also heating
and softening the clay. This can cause distortion. I reduce a cane
about 1/3 of the way, let it sit for about an hour or 30 minutes, and
other third and rest and then the rest of the way. This seems to help.
Good luck on your canes.

Linda B
http://www.geocities.com/pinchyspolymerplace/
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/pinchette/


"Dawn Stubitsch" wrote in message
...
If you freeze the cane first it might help too or throw it in the
freezer
when your cane starts to distort for a minute to firm it up.
Dawn Stubitsch
http://www.thumbprintkids.com
http://www.thumbprintkids.com/pages/caketoppers.html
"JAMES RICH" wrote in message
...
I've been experimenting with polymer clay for about a year with a
little
success; one thing I'd like to do more of is canes. I've done a few
with
some luck, but many of them seem to lose definition when I reduce
them,
which I understand is not supposed to happen. And even my ones that
stay
nice in the middle seem to get squashed a little when I slice them.
Any
advice how to avoid these pitfalls would be appreciated. Thank you.
Barbara