polymer clay pens

[barrels]

I have been working on polmer clay.

Very interesting, comments welcome

Eric

Thanks for the feedback

 

[PenWorks]

Nice designs, I played with it several years ago. Could never get the shine I wanted on the pen
and there was an issue of durability of the material holding up to the daily use.

 

[les-smith]

Nice pens. I like the last two best. I've been doing quite a few polymer clay pens. I made four of them about 6 months ago and gave them away as test pens. Two of the people hang the pens on a lanyard around their neck that holds our ID badges. The plating has begun to wear off those two pens, but the clay has held up fine. I used a CA finish on them and it looks just as good now as it did when I finished them. My biggest problem is the clay flaking as I turn them. I've been thinking about cooking big blocks of the clay and then trying to drill them. As it is now I've been wrapping the tubes.

Good looking pens. I kind of look at polymer clay as the poor man's resin casting.

 

[louisbry]

Nice pens. I like the bottom two.

 

[alxe24]

The look very nice, mor so the bottom ones.
Interesting thing is that today I bought some clay at the store and need an oven to give this a try and see how they come out.
Congrats

 

[Johnathan]

very nice and unique work.

 

[Blind_Squirrel]

Originally posted by PenWorks
<br />Nice designs, I played with it several years ago. Could never get the shine I wanted on the pen
and there was an issue of durability of the material holding up to the daily use.

Anthony,

I used a clay pen as my daily driver for a good bit to test the durability of them. I seal my polomers with thin CA, then do a medium CA finish over that. I had no problems with wear.

Eric,

Nice looking pens!

 

[les-smith]

Originally posted by alxe24
<br />Interesting thing is that today I bought some clay at the store and need an oven to give this a try and see how they come out.
Congrats

I just use my house oven/stove. There isn't much of a smell at all.

 

[txbatons]

I like the look of the pens, especially the second one. My daughter's been bugging me to do a clay pen for her. This might be the weekend.

 

[karlkuehn]

I like the blue and purple one the best, but they are all nice! Is it easier to work with than resin?

 

[les-smith]

Originally posted by karlkuehn
<br />Is it easier to work with than resin?

I've made a bunch of clay pens and I don't think it's easier, I think it's just different. It doesn't stink. You don't need a lot of extra equipment to mix the clay. You don't have to color your tubes. It's cheaper to make than resin. It tends to chip and flake when turning (I wrap the clay around my blanks). It really clogs the sand paper. It has its own special problems, but for me it is worth it.

 

[angboy]

I love the bottom two- and Billy should as well! Great colors!

 

[gwilki]

Les
I've been able to avoid the voids by simply rolling sausages of clay and drilling them after baking. I glue the tubes with 5 minute epoxy or CA and none have failed yet.