Tools
Many of
the tools you need will be simple household items that you use everyday
so there is no need to go out and buy a lot of expensive new equipment
~ unless you want to of course!
The tools you may need will depend
to some extent on what you want to make, but the following items will
be needed in most instances:
| Craft knife or scalpel |
Used for cutting and shaving
the art clay |
| Roller |
Used to roll the clay into a thin
sheet |
| Spacers |
Used as a gauge for rolling the clay
to a uniform thickness |
| Tweezers |
To pick up small, fiddly pieces, can
also be used to texture the clay |
| Paint brushes |
Flat and fine brushes used to apply
paste or water |
| Files |
Fine and medium grade files, needle
files to finish your piece |
| Sandpaper |
Used for the final finishing and shining |
| Stainless steel mesh or net |
Use when firing your piece on a gas
stove, OR |
| Kitchen blow torch |
Use to fire your piece |
| Mandrell |
Used for making rings |
| Burnisher |
To harden and shine your finished
piece |
| Plastic hammer |
For shaping and forming |
| Polishing cloths and silver polish |
For that final polish and shine |
| Small plastic containers |
Use to store the clay once
opened to stop it drying out |
There are no rules that say you
have to use 'proper equipment', improvising can be great fun and by
using your imagination you will find there are many everyday items
that most of us will have around the house can be used in a variety
of different ways, for example:
Nail
files |
To file
the dry clay before firing, great for small and fiddly pieces |
Cookie
cutters |
Cut perfect geometric
shapes for pendants |
Rubber stamps |
Can be used to create
fantastic surface patterns |
Glass chopping boards |
Smooth or textured,
great as a working surface for your clay |
Bottle tops |
Great shapes for
cutting |
Toothpaste caps |
The ridged edge
would create an interesting surface pattern |
Tree bark or leaves |
Wonderful shapes
and textures |
Shells |
More great shapes |
Baking paper |
Cheap, non-stick
working surface |
Probably the most important thing
to remember is that all the tools you use must be clean and smooth
so that you don't end up with marks and scratches where you don't
want them. If you also use a small amount of olive oil on cutters
and stamps, this will stop them sticking to your clay, and a small
amount rubbed into your hands will help to stop dry skin from drying
out the clay as you use it.
If you want to make larger pieces
or even fire several small pieces at the same time, you will need
to consider purchasing a kiln. There are several craft kilns available
on the market, these can be plugged into a regular domestic power
supply, and are around the same size as a microwave oven. Although
relatively expensive, they are brilliant tools to have and will vastly
increase the range of pieces you can make.
