Polymer Clay

[pipemaker]

I was intrigued by the possibilities this material offers, and purchased a bunch of different brands and colors.

After a little experimentation, I was able to achieve results that ranged from outrageous to very elegant and sophisticated.

The problem I am having is with the surface of the material after it is baked. Every piece had either what appeared to be tiny air bubbles or had small checks and voids on and below the surface.

I have tried rolling the material into both thin and thick sheets, tried the pasta machine, even constructed a mold that I could apply extreme pressure to. I have thouroughly kneaded the material, tried pre warming it until it was very soft, baked it at various temp settings, tried 4 different brands, and still can't eliminate the problem.

What am I overlooking? From the pictures of the polymer pens in some of the photo albums, the rest of you are not having this problem.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[JimGo]

Hopefully YoYoSpin will reply; he's done some really cool polymer clay pens. By the way, he wrote a four-page how-to article on Polymer Clay pen making in issue 2 of Woodturning Design magazine. Here's a link to where to pick up a copy: http://www.woodturningdesign.com/issues/backissues.html

 

[Bob A]

Mike, I had the very same problems and a few more such as starting a fire in my toaster oven. I can be of no help whatsoever though as I got totally frustrated and gave up. I can see the potential of some beautiful pens with the polymer so I may try again sometime.

 

[JimGo]

Mike, did you ever figure out how to get rid of the bubbles?

 

[YoYoSpin]

Mike,

The voids you're encountering are normal and pretty much un-a-void-able . Try this process...after you've turned the pen blanks to their final shape, and rough sanding (120-180 grit) is complete, apply a small drop of medium-thick CA in the void and then quickly sand at slow speed with 220 to 280 grit paper. This should fill the void with sanding dust.

 

[JimGo]

Thanks Ed!

 

[pipemaker]

Jim,

I have been getting good results by pre warning the polyclay to about 100 degrees F, hand kneading it, and rolling it into a blank between two flat boards, using spacers to determine the diameter. As the length of the blank increases, I push the ends back toward the center and roll it again. After repeating this procedure a half dozen times, virtually all the voids and air bubbles are elininated.

This also helps eliminate multiple colors from mixing and bleeding with one another.

 

[JimGo]

Thanks for the reply Mike!