How to make a simple Clay Roller for making flat strips of clay.
How to Slush Cast Plastic Resins
How to paint plastic resin castings "In the Mold"
How to make Self Hardening Clay
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HOW TO MAKE FLAT STRIPS OF CLAY WITHOUT AN EXTRUDER Often when making a mold box, or walls to contain a moldmaking material, you need to make flat strips of clay. If you do this a lot, you can get a piece of equipment called an "extruder" that forces the clay into long strips of most any shape. Extruders are available from ceramic supply houses such as those listed in your Castcraft Source Guide. Be aware though, that most extruders are made for forming soft water-based clay. It takes many times as much pressure to extrude an oil-based clay such as "Klean Klay ", and most extruders can't do it. Ask before you buy. Here's an easy way to get strips the size you need: just roll it out with a rolling pin, using some strips of wood or dowels to act as thickness gauges. If you use a 1/2 inch diameter dowel as your thickness gauge, you will roll out a strip of clay 1/2 inch thick, and so on. You can use a larger dowel (1 inch or so diameter) to act as a rolling pin if you don't want to use a real rolling pin. Use water as a "release agent" (with oil-base clay) so the clay doesn't stick to wooden rolling pins or dowels. When the clay is the right thickness, just slice it into strips the width you need. Here's a homemade clay-rolling setup made on a plastic cutting board. Some metal strips were used so the replaceable wooden dowels wouldn't shift around. You could use wood strips, or make permanent thickness gauges from wood if you always need the same thickness of clay.
One final tip: you can use some silicone-coated parchment paper under the clay to keep the clay from sticking to your work surface. Here's an online source for the parchment paper: http://www.kingarthurflour.com. The easiest way to find the paper is to go to their catalog section and search for "parchment". |
