Handmade Tools

Learn how to transform cast-off bits and pieces into useful tools you'll reach for again and again. If you have some polymer clay, a collection of odds and ends from around the house and garage, and a little imagination, you're ready to start!

There are plenty of reasons to make your own texture tools. For starters, they're cheaper than store-bought tools. If you're interested in recycling and upclying, this is the way to go. You can mold the handles of these tools to fit your individual grip-- and decorate them to fit your own sense of style. (Or keep them plain and utilitarian-- like ours.) Because they're handmade, you'll know that your tools are unique; not every other clayer around the world will be using the exact same textures as you. It's also just plain fun to make something useful from nearly nothing.

• Polymer clay
  • Scrap will do just fine, but you can also make fancy tools using any colors you like-- including canes.
• Found bits and pieces
  • Preferably those made of metal, glass, or any other material that can withstand curing temperatures.

• Work surface
• Accordion-folded cardstock (food packaging, index card, etc.)
• Oven and associated tools (baking sheet, thermometer, oven mitt, etc.)

• Liquid clay
  • Can be used as a "glue" prior to curing.
• Super glue
  • May be necessary, if bits come loose after curing.
• Aluminum foil
  • Useful as core material when making large-handled tools.
• Craft wire
  • Useful for securing beads to handles.

Grab a little container of some sort and go on a treasure hunt!

Collect any promising bits and pieces you come across (that you are willing to dedicate to craft-only use). A few good places to start are your kitchen (or office) junk drawer, that little box or jar in the craft room where you put stuff that has no real use (but that you can't bear to throw away), and the jar where you store rancom bits of hardware (or the bottom of your tool box, or wherever else such odds and ends accumulate).

Look for (but don't limit yourself to) needles, buttons, screws, nuts, bolts, beads, bead caps, scraps from nonfunctional mechanical objects, gears, paper clips, grommets, washers, pieces of pens, scraps and findings from broken (or out-dated) fashion jewelry, chains, orphan earrings, wires, springs, coins, seashells, and small stones, pebbles, or gravel.

Oven-safe bits and pieces are best. (Think metal and glass.) However, even if something's not oven-safe, you may still be able to use it, so if you think you'll love the texture it makes, pick it up. (See "Additional Ideas", below, for more information on how to give these pieces polymer clay handles.)

Spread out your collection so you can see what you have. Test the pieces on a scrap of clay to "preview" the textures they create.

As you experiment, ask yourself the following questions:

• Can different parts of a single piece produce different textures?
• Which of these textures do I like best?
• Which textures am I most likely to use regularly?
• Will the piece be easier to use if I add a handle?
  • Some pieces, such as large bolts and screws, have built-in handles and may not absolutely require anything more-- but a clay handle can still make them more comfortable to hold.
• Can the piece withstand curing temperatures?

As you narrow things down, set aside the pieces you want to give handles.

Condition the clay.

Pieces with handy protrusions, such as screws and buttons with shanks, are easily embedded into a small log of clay.

Other pieces, such as bead caps, can be lightly pressed into a plug of clay. (Be aware that if clay "smooshes" up through the bead cap, this will affect the impression your tool makes.) The bead cap (or other piece) may stay put, but if it comes loose after curing, simply super glue it back into place.

You can secure pressed glass or metal beads to their clay handles by using the technique described above (press into the clay, then glue in place after curing) or by stringing the bead onto a short piece of wire and embedding the ends of the wire into the handle.

For a little extra security, you can always use a dab of liquid clay (any brand), which acts almost like a glue when cured.

 

 

 

 

Cure all your tools according to the manufacturer's recommendation for temperature and time. Curing longer than is strictly necessary may increase the durability of the tools. To prevent the tools from rolling around on the baking surface, place them on an accordion-folded piece of cardstock.

Allow your new tools to cool thoroughly before handling, then get busy creating!

--If you want attractive tools, you can use any technique you like on the handles. You can even use a core of scrap clay covered in a veneer of pretty clay. You can also spruce up plain scrap clay handles by applying texture prior to curing and later antiquing with acrylic paint.

--If you want or need larger handles, you may wish to build the handle around a core of crumpled aluminum foil. This not only uses less clay, but also ensures that your handle cures all the way through.

--Consider shaping the clay handles to make them easier to hold. Flatten them-- taper them-- whatever suits your hands best.

--If you want to use something that isn't oven-safe, press it into the clay handle and remove it carefully (to avoid distortion). Cure and cool the handle as usual, then glue the unbakeable bit back in place.

--If a piece comes loose, glue it back with super glue.

--Some pieces-- such as bead caps-- may produce two different textures, depending on which side of the object you press into the clay. If you have two of the same piece, consider using both so you can get both effects.

--To double the bang for your buck, try to make your tools double-ended, with a different texture on each end of the handle.