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A Cane Slicer on the Cheap!

By: ornamento.blog January 9, 2020February 27, 2020

Art, cane cutter, Polymer Clay, Tool Making, videoArt, Polymer Clay, Tool MakingLeave a Comment

I am gearing up for Clayathon 2020. I haven’t touched polymer in a while but started working with it again recently because I figured it would be good therapy for my hand and thumb.

I used to make a lot of canes and even wrote a little article on making geometric canes which you can read here. There is so much better information on Youtube nowadays. But once you make the canes, you have to slice them. Below are two videos showing how to make inexpensive cane cutters. I made the first video (which I totally forgot about until someone saw it on YouTube this week and left a comment) to send to a friend to see if it was feasible to manufacture and sell an inexpensive cane cutter. Maybe it would have been, but the project never came to be. None of my ideas for the cane cutter, however, are particularly brilliant. If you find anything that inspires you, please feel free to copy, share, or whatever. I

The second video by Unruly Housewife, shows how to make a cane cutter that works on the same basic principles as mine (which were not original with me), but that is much easier to make. Her instructions are clearer and her video is definitely better shot than mine.

A third low-cost option for a cane slicer is this one developed by Sherman Oberson and sold through Penn State Industries. Not very high tech, but it holds all shapes of canes steady for slicing and its small size makes it handy to throw into your toolbox.

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Happy cane slicing!

Make Yourself Some Pottery Tools

By: ornamento.blog July 27, 2017July 27, 2017

Art, DIY, jewelry making tools, Pottery tools, ToolsArt, Jewelry Making Tools, Pottery tools, Tool Making2 Comments

My posts on making jewelry tools have been so popular that I decided to share some ideas for making pottery tools with you. None of these are original but they all present my twist on things. The first one is a clay texture tool. I found a foot massager at a thrift store, took it apart, and now I have two new texture tools plus some to share.

You can also saw up a broomstick a dowel and apply craft foam or hot glue to make patterns to texture clay. There are some examples below.

The glue stick makes a nice texture.

05.GlueRoller

Make a clay cutter to cut canes for Nerikomi. I cut the end off a metal plant hanger and strung it with 24 gauge wire. You can use any form that will keep the wire taut and if the wire breaks, it’s easy to replace.

I love the idea of a tool that will bevel the edges of clay slabs. Enter the beveler! I got the idea to make my own from this site but mine is a bit different. The wood I used is a sidewalk find. I trimmed the smaller piece so the edges were straight. Then I nailed it to the larger piece so I would have two beveling angles, one shallow and a longer one. I didn’t measure anything; I just eyeballed it. I notched the four corners to keep the wire in place and used a screw eye to hold the wire taut. I tried my beveler out and it works beautifully. It really comes in handy when you are beveling curved edges.

And finally, although this is not a pottery tool, I had to include it. I made myself a rawhide hammer from a dog chew following Charles Lewton-Brain’s directions here. My conclusion? Go out and buy one. The dog chews ended up costing about as much as a small hammer and it was much more difficult the make than the instructions let on. But still, I like the way my hammer turned out and I’m using it.

11.mallet