Controlled Mokume Gane Polymer Clay

[KMCloonan]

Well, this pen does not look like much, with muted colors and bad photography, but It was incredibly fun to make. I found a YouTube video on a technique called "Controlled Mokume Gane", and when I watched the video, my jaw literally dropped. It was SO COOL. I'll put the link at the bottom of this post for you to check out.

How on earth do people invent this stuff? But, the beauty of this technique is that although there is a learning curve, it's not too steep.

This pen is a bit of a mashup, because the cutting/embossing tool that I used (a floral cutting die) was not large enough to cover the little sheet of clay I made, so I pressed the die into the clay multiple times, which created a lot of overlap. I didn't really care, because I was really wanting to try out the technique of using a thin clay cutter to literally filet the clay sheet, removing parts of the top layer, exposing different colors in the layers below. That was amazing.

I went out today and bought some more vivid colors of clay, and a new embossing roller, so I hope to show a much better pen in a couple days.

I mentioned last week that the pen I made using pre-made canes did not really feel very "artistic" - but this pen has opened a new technique to me that is going to be a lot of fun to experiment with. Thanks for reading!

I almost forgot the YouTube Link:

 

[Displaced Canadian]

That is awesome.

 

[KenB259]

Yes, this is the technique I have been playing with.

 

[Todd in PA]

I'm the video a knife is used to cut off the top layers and reveal the colors below. I wonder if you could wrap it on the tube, bake it, and cut off the top layers on the lathe?

 

[TDahl]

Very cool video

 

[KenB259]

I'm the video a knife is used to cut off the top layers and reveal the colors below. I wonder if you could wrap it on the tube, bake it, and cut off the top layers on the lathe?

I actually turn mine down so in essence, that's what I'm doing

 

[KMCloonan]

I wonder if you could wrap it on the tube, bake it, and cut off the top layers on the lathe?

Yes, Like Ken mentioned, however you remove the material (turning with a cutting tool or sanding), you expose colors from the layer(s) below. When I sanded the blank for this pen, the orange color started to pop out, but not enough to really stand out. I could only sand so far before I went below the bushing diameter. I think scraping layers off while it's still a sheet gives you a better opportunity to control the thickness of the clay - if the clay is still too think, you can always thin with a roller before putting on the tube. It's going to be trial & error for a bit. I plan to take good notes.

 

[Stwil]

Is this just polymer clay? If you wrap a tube with it , then do you bake it then sand it. I am just curious of the process?

 

[Woodchipper]

Where to get the embossing roller?

 

[KMCloonan]

Is this just polymer clay? If you wrap a tube with it , then do you bake it then sand it. I am just curious of the process?

Yes, this is polymer clay. You wrap the tube, and bake at 275F for about 20 minutes. Opinions vary on whether to turn the blank using wood turning tools, or to just sand it. I have had mixed results with turning - I get some tear-out which exposes lower layers of the clay, which can be undesirable. Sanding followed by application of several coats of CA has worked ok for me.

 

[KMCloonan]

Where to get the embossing roller?

The tool I used for this pen I picked up at Amazon

Yesterday I picked up an actual roller at Michael's - it came in a 2-pack, with 2 different textures. I also picked up a bunch of brighter color clays to play with.