You’ll know if the clay is “partially cured” because it forms crumbs that cannot be pressed together and even clay softener will not make the clay workable. Fun Projects for Hard Clay

Super Sculpey | davidneat Super Sculpey | davidneat

This polymer clay will stay soft and malleable until you bake it, so you can create finely detailed crafts and sculptures without worrying about the clay drying out. Super Sculpey won't "fill in" after tooling, meaning even the most delicate work will stay intact. The neutral gray color of Super Sculpey oven-bake clay allows for maximum visibility so you can see every detail as you work.On the one hand Super Sculpey has an attractive and suggestive skin-like surface, not only because of the colour but also because it is slightly translucent. On the other hand this means that very fine detail becomes difficult to ‘read’ properly while modelling. As mentioned above, this can be solved by intermixing with some more opaque polymer clay. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Parchment paper will provide an extra protective layer for both your clay figures and your baking tray. You can also use wax paper to line your baking tray. [6] X Research source A better way is to create a small kink in the end of the eyepin, before you embed it into the raw clay. This way it cannot pull out after baking. Here’s an example of what I mean: It’s all too common for a newbie to find out about polymer clay and buy everything in the clay aisle at the craft store, assuming that it’s all required for working with polymer clay. Not only can this be very expensive, but you really don’t need most of the tools you’ll see for sale there. Start with some basics, then add more as your experience grows and you have a better idea of what you like to make.

Avoid These 10 Sculpey Mistakes (and other clays, too!) Avoid These 10 Sculpey Mistakes (and other clays, too!)

The manufacturer warns that there are incompatibility issues between Super Sculpey and oil or solvent-based paints and recommends either priming with an acrylic base first or painting solely with acrylic paints. Super Sculpey is popular in both the film and toy-making industries as a material for character maquettes. It is very even and fine-grained, suitable for fine detail and with careful working can be smoothed to an almost glass-like surface. But it can also be worked into a very soft state between the fingers so that it can be applied, much like fresh natural clay or soft modelling wax, in an almost smearing action.

Another often recommended glue, especially for jewelry use, is E6000. While it can be a very good glue for some uses, it does tend to remain gummy and never fully harden on polymer clay. Many people DO have good results, but many others do not. I suspect the issue lies with the brand of polymer clay or perhaps the age of the E6000. But don’t be surprised if you find that this glue fails for you. There are many specific tools you can buy at craft stores to use on Sculpey clay, like craft knives and rolling tools.

Super Sculpey Polymer Clay - 1 lb/454 g, Beige (Pack of 1)

To mix these in, you can use a food processor, mix by hand, or use a pasta machine. It may take a long time for the clay to smooth out and mix completely with a pasta machine. Superglue is magical and it can be an incredible glue in the right circumstance. But it’s not the best glue for polymer clay. At least not the usual inexpensive superglue that we all know and love/hate because the cap gets glued on (so frustrating). It is a very brittle glue and polymer clay is flexible, so when the clay flexes, the hardened glue will pop right off and the bond fails. It’s better to use a gel version such as Loctite Gel Contol or a higher end version such as Lisa Pavelka’s PolyBonder. Many people assume that baking longer times at lower temperature settings will solve this problem. It’s common to read recommendations in forums to set your oven to, for instance, 215°F (100°C) and bake for an hour or so. Will this work? Well, it might work for a specific person because they’re compensating for an incorrect oven. What they think is 215°F might actually be 275°F in their oven. But when others follow this temperature advice, they end up with fragile, brittle, underbaked clay.All polymer clays, even across different brands, can be intermixed (having basically the same ingredients) so that colour, pliability or strength can be altered. For example Super Sculpey can be combined with more opaque types (such as white ‘Sculpey Original’ or Super Sculpey Firm) to create a more ‘visible’ surface. It is best to make a few blending tests using different proportions because not only colour but the consistency will be changed. There are plenty of polymer clay tools out there, and you want to leave enough money (and space) so that you can buy the things that will bring you the most enjoyment. So, what are the essentials? Here’s what I recommend to buy for your Polymer Clay Starter Kit. And when you do start buying tools, you can often find them quite cheaply when you start looking in creative places. Here’s more about finding cheap polymer clay tools. 9. Embedding Eyepins Without a Kink SG (‘specific gravity’ i.e. weight per 1 cubic centimetre) is 1.34. This is based on my weighing a fairly exact 100ml volume. I could find no official SG published. I am new to jewellery making and started out with Sculpey III because it was available but obviously it was a bit of a disaster! The stronger brands of polymer clay are durable enough that you cannot break them with your hands, even when used as thin as 1/16″ (1.5 mm). Of course to have this kind of durability the clay must be properly baked, which leads us to the next point. 2. Underbaking Polymer Clay

to Bake Sculpey Clay: 11 Steps (with Pictures Easy Ways to Bake Sculpey Clay: 11 Steps (with Pictures

Light colored or translucent polymer clay will commonly discolor and darken during baking. This is not the same thing as burning. To prevent this, first make sure that your oven truly is baking at the correct temperature. Then cover your pieces to prevent the oven’s element from toasting your polymer clay project. For more info on covering clay and preventing browning, see my class on Baking Polymer Clay. 4. Using Nail Polish as a Polymer Clay Glaze Oil can be added, but only tiny amounts, perhaps 2-3 drops per 2 oz bar. Too much can make your clay weak or result in your project oozing oil. Clay softeners are far superior. The photo above shows the test I make after reconditioning any old Super Sculpey. I do this in 50g pieces, because I’ve found that I can comfortably enclose this amount in my hand. I usually keep the hardened/dried Sculpey in my closed hand for a few minutes first because this minimal heat will begin to soften it, at least enough to make rolling easier. I do the rolling on a clean polyethylene chopping board, first rolling out gradually into a thin string, winding this together again and repeating. The slight texture of the chopping board not only makes rolling easier but also contributes to the ‘tenderising’ process. If the Sculpey has become so pliable that it can be bent into this curve readily and without fracturing, and if I can ‘smear’ the other end with the fingertip evenly, the clay is ready to use.If you can pinch together crumbs of the clay and make them workable, the clay is not damaged and merely requires “work”. using Sculpey Diluent in the same way, which can usually be bought from suppliers of Sculpey and made for this purpose or for reviving desiccated Sculpey. Another method which facilitates getting a smooth surface is actually modelling through a layer of cling-film! I’ve used this to control modelling when using wetter materials such as plaster or softer such as modelling wax either as containment or to give the surface a little more ‘rubbery’ firmness while working. In the case of plaster the cling-film needs to be left on until it’s set but in the cases of modelling wax or Sculpey it can be removed straight away. Warming your clay helps make this easier. Use body heat, or a heating pad, or submerge clay (in a baggie) into hot tap water. When I started working with polymer clay, I made a lot of mistakes. (I still do, by the way.) But experience has taught me a few things and here are some mistakes that I no longer make. (These tips apply to all brands of polymer clay, not just Sculpey. Read on if you use any oven-bake clay brand!)