stuff that withstands the oven?
Julie Fishtein
I made a clock on an existing plastic clock armature and it collapsed the
other day. I know people don't recommend using plastic, but on the other
hand, some plastics work: switchplates for example. Is that the only kind
of plastic that will stand up? What if it's completely encased in clay?
I had a weird idea this morning to use an unwanted CD that I have. It's
the perfect size and shape for a cute little clock, but I have no clue as
to whether it is likely to withstand the heat of the oven. Any guesses?
The other thought I had was to use balsa wood, but again, I have no idea
what that's like to use as an armature. Any hints would be appreciated.
-Julie
--
jul...@oitunix.oit.umass.edu
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~julief/
neil mueller
that won't colapse under heat. I imagine you could test plastic with a
heat gun (mine has temp settings) or use a hair dryer, test heat temp
with an oven therm. Watch out for fumes with plastics.
Helen Fleischer
Nm> Julie, I have used wood, cardboard and tin foil extensively,
Nm> anything that won't colapse under heat. I imagine you could test
Nm> plastic with a heat gun (mine has temp settings) or use a hair
Nm> dryer, test heat temp with an oven therm. Watch out for fumes with
Nm> plastics.
That sounds like a good idea, especially if you do it outdoors. ;) It
would be nice if we could compile a list of the types of plastics we
have been able to bake with the clay, don't you think?
For instance, most "plastic" switchplates seem to be made of nylon and
many people, including myself, have found that they hold up quite nicely
when baked with Fimo and that the Fimo bonds to them securely in the
baking process.
BTW, It pays to shop. You can buy plain white switch plates in
contractor box lots of a dozen or so, for as little as 12 cents
apiece(less on sale). Or you could pay up to dollar each for similar
ones in single blister packs -- even in the same store (Home Depot).
It's probably not too surprising that nylon can take the heat since so
many kitchen spatulas are made of it. We might use clues like that.
I have lately taken to lining my old dedicated baking tray with smooth,
heat-resistant mylar, for instance. That's the stuff quilters use to
make templates they can use, in place, to iron fabric shapes. I may use
a scrap in a figure, but its advantage for baking is that the clay won't
stick to it. I'd need to give some thought to securing it if I were to
use it in a sculpture.
Things that generally don't work include: plastic film cans and PETE
plastics, which melt; and polystyrene which becomes brittle in the
presence of oils and oily plasticizers. Styrene foam has the added
problem of containing trapped gas which can expand and crack anything
formed over it.
I have also found that trapped gas inside things like bamboo makes them
hard to work with, as bubbles form in baking that weren't there before.
My next experiment in that direction will be to pre-soak the bamboo in
Future to see if that fills the air spaces and also gives the clay a
better bonding surface to adhere to. I'll let you know how that works.
... Hooked on fonix werked fur me!
* Q-Blue 1.0 * Helen Fleischer is he...@mbbs.com in Fairland, MD
Balestreri
beads. Is that true?
Sue B
Cane Jane
Yes, this is true. Dotty McMillan is one person I know who makes these
ping pong ball beads. There is a trick to it though which I forget. Dotty,
are you listening? (I'm sure she'll be answering this question for you!)
--Jane
Cane Jane
Someone at the natl polymer retreat in Virginia last year actually had
clocks for sale the faces of which were made from old CDs. They baked
perfectly and of course were great to use because the hole you need for
the clock hands in the center is already there for you! --Jane
Diana Crick
If you have the "Cutting and Measuring Template for Polymer Clays" check out
the front cover shot. The gorgeous "Outrageously Large Bead" was made by
Dorothy McMillan and if I remember correctly I believe she did tell me that it
was made over a ping pong ball. Isn't her work wonderful!!!!
In article
<Pine.SOL.3.91.96032...@helium.gas.uug.arizona.edu>
Balestreri <bale...@gas.uug.arizona.edu> writes:>From: Balestreri
<bale...@gas.uug.arizona.edu>>Subject: Re: stuff that withstands the
oven?>Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 17:35:12 -0700
>Someone told me that "people" are making polymer clay-over-ping pong ball
>beads. Is that true?
>Sue B
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Diana Crick - Grin & Bear It Clayart
"Cutting and Measuring Template for Polymer Clays"
NEW --> "Precision Cutting Guides for Polymer Clay"
(Cane Construction and Segment Cutting Sheets of Clay)
http://mindlink.net/diana_crick/template.htm - Online Order Form
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Sherry Bailey
well. BUT some that don't normally seem to do ok when covered with clay. I
guess the thing is to experiment, but keep the temperature as low as you dare
and bake longer if necessary to compensate.
With stuff like ping-pong balls, although I haven't tried those specifically,
my suggestion would be to pierce them before heating. Any sealed space when
heated runs at least SOME risk of breakage or explosion or whatever as the
interior gas expands. If there is an air hole, at least it shouldn't go boom!
(Don't completely cover the hole with clay, of course! Or if you do, watch
carefully for the clay to bubble there.)
I HAVE baked on those poly vinyl Easter eggs (the pastel color ones that are
kind of soft -- if you pinch them a little they give but usually pop back...)
and they work if you are careful about the temperature. When you aren't the
clay cracks as the eggs expand with heat. (As I have posted before, I make
these into critter hatching eggs.) I also baked a solid brittle plastic poly
styrene (I think) egg which had a hole in front and a built in "stand" meant
for painting and decorating. Melted into a blob! (I salvaged the rather pretty
clay shell and am working out something to do with it -- gold metallic stars
on a blue background... but the shape of the eggstand left a big odd hole not
usually a factor in salvage! ;^) ) Plastic film containers seem to be OK but
only if you cover them completely -- exposed plastic melted. Glass of course
covers just fine. Wood shaped can be covered with MOSTLY good results, but
it's recommended that you paint them first with Acrylic glue (Sobo) and let it
dry as a base to bond the clay to. (Again, bake as cool as you can, and really
press the clay on -- if you don't you are more likely to get bubbles.) Same
would probably be true for balsa wood. CD's are questionable -- I think the
plastic is poly carbonate and I have no idea of the "melt factor" for that. We
will have to give it a try! (At a guess, I'd guess it will melt though --
remember the warnings about cd's and laser discs in the sun in the car? Car
temps better NOT get to 265 degrees F!)
The one thing to remember is to be careful when experimenting with anything
you think might melt or, worse, burn -- poly clay on wood experiments might
result in wasted materials. Burned styrene lets off cyanide gas, and that can
cause lung damage and other nasty effects if things go badly. Better to play
safe and live to play with clay to a ripe old age!
Sherry
Cane Jane
clocks using old cds as the basic form. They baked up just fine and I have
been planning to try one myself but just haven't gotten around to it. If
anyone is interested in more details on this, email me and I'll go back to
my list from the retreat, get the person's name who has done this, and get
more information from her on this technique. But it is definitely possible
to bake the cds without a problem...I have seen it done. And Dotty
McMillan has had lots of success with the large ping pong ball beads but I
just can't remember everything she told me about this technique. She
definitely put a hole in the ball before baking, but there was something
else I think she did so the ball stayed round after baking and didn't
develop a flat spot. If anyone wants me to find out more from her, let me
know as I'll be spending the day next Monday with her down in San Diego.
--Jane
Adam C. Gott
>what that's like to use as an armature. Any hints would be appreciated.
I always test an item in the oven before I go to the trouble of
covering it with clay and finding out that it will not hold up to the
heat. You can also check with the manufacturers who can sometimes
give advice. I contacted Rubbermaid via the web and they sent me a
personal letter via USPS with the info that I requested.
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This tagline is my protest against the COMMUNICATIONS
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Newsgroups: rec.crafts.polymer-clay
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Sherry Bailey
cd's you saw, CaneJane, support that theory?) (The "melt factor" for laser
discs (which are like LARGE cd's) has more to do with warping than meltdown,
and that seems like the sort of thing that happens when shapes are
unsupported.
I'm curious about how cd's and clay were combined if you would care to
describe it.. (I am a librarian, and I have a bunch of them in a drawer --
can't offer them out due to contract restrictions with the producer, but I
have been trying to come up with an interesting decorative use for my
library...)
Sherry
Cane Jane
I wish I had asked more about that cd clock last year at the
retreat...there seems to quite a lot of interest in trying this! All I
saw was the finished clock but the face of it was perfectly flat...no
warping. The clock was made with with one of those small little battery
operated clock mechanisms. The hands of the clock came through the cd hole
and the mechanism was hidden behind. The cd was entirely covered with clay
and was a "hickory dickory dock" clock with little mice taking the place
of the numbers for hours. I think there was also a little kitty on the
bottom of the clock looking up at all those mice. Let me go through my
pictures from the retreat last year and I'll see if I was smart enough to
take a picture of this clock. If so, I'll be able to tell everyone more
about it. --Jane
NetworkN
melting. Just don't bake with the clock parts, add them later.
Ping pong balls are another thing all together. Covered, they bake fine,
uncovered they come out looking like something other than a ping pong
ball.
Nancy in Atlanta
Julie Fishtein
>Baking CDs - not too complicated - covered or uncovered it bakes without
>melting. Just don't bake with the clock parts, add them later.
Thanks! I've been waiting for someone to tell me that. I would have
tried it myself but I only have one to spare so I didn't want to take a
chance. Do you happen to know if it'll be okay even if it has a design
on it already (i.e. it is not just a blank CD)? The paint on it won't
burn or anything, will it?
Sherry Bailey
(including CDs at prices that were for crafting, not for listening, although i
don't recall how low they got. They had kits for the "works" and everything,
although no mantion of poly clay was involved in the literature.
If anybody wants to contact the company let me know, and I will see if I can
dredge up the catalog. (I wouldn't have thought about baking the disks, so I
didn't remember them until now.)
Sherry
Nancy Witom
You are a librarian? I'm a student but am currently working at a
library. My department, Technical Services, tossed a whole bunch of
Supercat CDs in the trash. We get about 6 a month or perhaps more of
the cataloging discs. I'm going to take them home with me from now on.
I'll have lots of CDs for free! I'll go on a clock-making binge!
Erica
Cane Jane
I'd like the info on how to order these CD clock parts if you can find
your catalog. I'm kind of getting interested in this project again now
that we've been discussing it here. I don't know of anyone around my area
making clocks so it might be a cute thing to try for some upcoming craft
fairs. --Jane
Vickie Limparis
That would be great Shelly if you can find it. If your desk looks anything
like mine it could be a real challenge :-)
Vickie
--
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Choose from 350+ poses to put on over 70 products in 110+ breeds.
See our home page on the WWW at
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Kraftey
that was dicussed previously though! :o}
Klockit
PO Box 636
Lake Geneva WI 53147
800-KLOCKIT
Sherry Bailey
interested. (One person says she already ordered from them!)
Sherry