Techniques list summary
"Stained glass" lesson
....(by Jeanne Rhea)
Shorter summary

condensed clay gun TECHNIQUES –from my handout
(many ideas are overlaps, but not all)

(see the main Clay Gun page http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/claygun.htm for more details, in some cases)

Techniques list summary

You can automatically drill a hole in an extrusion while extruding by firmly holding a long (pointed) needle slightly inside the disk hole and straight up from it, while extruding (e.g. for making small tube/filler beads); takes some practice
(website gone)

--layers of extrusions can be laid next to each other ... in rows, or spiraled or scrolled into various larger shapes:
...if placed on a base especially, the resulting rope shapes can be cut into various shape units
...also use non-round dies for extrusions used in these ways (e.g., the triangular one makes very interesting patterns when extrusions are laid next to each other)
........if ropes are square and then twisted, they can look interesting (could use various colors of clay in the clay gun for a variegated look (and see Nan Roche's sanded braid below), but can't get the precision of two-sided color as with cutting the ropes from a two-sided sheet, or using mica clays (Mike B.'s beehive bead technique)
...the ropes can be laid over a base (bead, votive, etc.) just around and around to cover, or laid in scrolled patterns as in Balinese Filigree (see Onlay > Bal.Filigree)
...rows can also be made without a base...freestanding
.......if freestanding, one side of the ropes can be colored (powdered, antiqued or filled with tinted liquid clay, patinaed, etc.) to create a contrast
...some contiguous rows can be manipulated ...by bending up or down, folding over, twisting, removing parts, etc. (one old Fimo book shows bending over the top few rows of a flat circle or other shape of spiraled ropes as an accent, or to act as a bail...on side powdered)

--pinch pots (freestanding coil of clay spiraled into pot shape, then coils smoothed out)

--molding piles of strands before baking (nest), or after baking:
Nora Jean says you can take the baked strands hot from the oven and hold them in your hand (or other "mold") while cold water runs over them; this should set the shape  http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=51309&a=9379867; can press strands into a mold while cooling also
--nice backgrounds can also be made w/ bunched up extrusions (esp.metallics) run thru’ the pasta machine

--covering something glass (& breaking out)…use small clear lightbulbs, or make lacey glass ball Xmas ornaments (the more clay the more strength—bleach and hot soapy water soak if colored); or a cornstarch pellet; or cover a ball/bead base or another clay shape (flat or dimensional)

--canes:
make any kind of canes using square, rectangular, triangular, or round rods; basketweave, checkerboard, quilt (pinwheels, possibly with half of the triangles marbled), bargello (too much work?), cross stitch patterns for images (too much work?), random for backgrounds; (several of the noodle extrusions stacked together may make a larger square than the sq. disk, or combine 4 gun squares for a larger square, etc; two right triangles together make a square or “diamond”)
....for quilt patterns or other geometrics, the triangle disk makes a log exactly half size of the square disk (known as a "half-triangle" to quilters)
….a razor blade held firmly over the disk will cut the extruding clay in half (e.g., for making "quarter-square triangle" extrusions from the half-square/triangle disk)
(website gone)
...Bunny's lesson on making an Ohio Star quilt pattern using only the square disk and the triangle disk (half-square)...in this case she used two half-squares to make one larger half-square; the same pattern can be made without doubling up the square and triangle extrusions, but the resulting cane will be smaller (when putting together more than one extrusion for a shape, be sure to "zip" the extrusions together along their length so that their outlines will be unbroken in the final cane) (she also adds to wraps for borders)
http://www.polymerclayhaven.com/lessons/quilt.htm

--faux wood grain (extrude strands of gold mica clay through the clay gun; lay out side by side run through the pasta machine—look like boards; or twist, etc., for other effects)
….you can also use other mica-based colors with this technique –they make nice backgrounds for pendants, etc.

--onlays: extrude shapes, slice and bake tiny shapes; add to anything (more later)
…or make your own stripes with rectangle extrusions (colors may create a gradient strip)
…or lay lengths of triangle or other extrusions in rows on base clay to create a raised effect (could use metallic powder on tops or sides, etc)

--mosaic tiles or other "tiles"
......could use long or short ropes ...or crosswise slices (esp. from larger diameter extrusions, or joined extrusions) as components for mosaics
..... ropes or slices could be raw or baked
..Trina's filigree mosaic technique (on Easter egg pins, etc.), using larger ropes than usual B.filigree?, in different colors to fill in mosaic pictures or patterns; (website gone)
(refrigerate if nec. before slicing, or slice after baking while warm)
...could slice lengthwise for bricks, etc.
...can bake on ceramic tile, glass, or alum foil, for flat & shiny surface (or paint with gloss after baking, or before? if tile’s edges are rounded)

--inlays
...using crosswise or other faux turquoise or coral chips to embed in faux ivory, for example

--stamping with baked polymer cut-out shapes (perhaps embedded at the end of a chopstick) to stamp with (for example, stamping metallic powders or acrylic paint onto raw clay, or even fabric paint onto t-shirts, etc.)
http://www.twisteez.com/products.html (like these "cjopsticks")

--clothing trim or beards with round or other disks (can indent/texture also for more variety), other little things for sculptures or for gingerbread people/houses

--other finishing touches on vessels/boxes/stands

--hair and beards (garlic press too)—use any disk, or can twist some of the shapes like square for curly hair

--hair, beards, grass, fur, etc., with multi-hole disks; Ginny suggests making a thin base of clay if you don’t have one already, extruding small amt. at a time, scraping a needle tool across the disk which causes the little strings to stick together, then apply that unit to the base.  I found that I should always scrape in the same direction, then begin at the top or the bottom and roll/press  the clay strings down onto the base to get the best adhesion and most even coverage.
(website gone)

--thatch for roofs: Donna Kato pulls her extrusions rather than cutting them from the gun making the ends somewhat pointed (use several shades of brown in gun? baked or unbaked?); use for other things too (gorkley)

--finger rings: form over a copper tubing mandrel, or roll a cylinder w/ a long strip of paper & tape to hold http://www.geocities.com/dutchaccent/rings.html

--make rims for vessel interiors for lid to rest on, with any disk

--roll extrusions in a spiral cane, or cut afterwards to make a butterfly bead?

--framing, bezels

--ruffles
catbyte's impressed, ruffled lace embellishment
(website gone)(see also Yang Yang's ruffled lace in Clay Gun/Icing Tips)

--Desiree's smooth join -cut on angle rather than straight across log, smooth in fingers, press back in,rolling to fit)

--brads or molded items surrounded by or on top of extrusions

--mokume (underlay): use extrusions to place under your mokume stack, esp. for patterns or special effects like piles of tiny variegated ropes

--stained glass effect (see below for lesson by Jeanne Rhea –thanks, Jeanne!);
can also use a rubber  stamp to create the indentations for the colored TLS

(see Liquid Sculpey for most info on this effect using clay gun ropes for the "leading")
(see Liquid Sculpey for using black CLS for leading & faux bronze,etc. on the leading)

--also Syndee Holt’s lesson on a stained glass effect with gold ropes of clay for leading over a silver clay base; the inside of her leading is textured and powdered
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_clay_other/article/0,,HGTV_3239_1385126,00.html

--weaving (rectangular, round, etc. strips, cut shape after?, or on warp wires or other); weave over a form, or flat weave and cut out shape (round or flat extrusions); combine with extrusions from the noodle cutter of a pasta machine

--braiding (Nan Roche’s bracelet demo from Carol Duvall show) , lesson
Roll several colors of clay (she recommends Premo) into logs the same diameter as interior of clay gun barrel; cut thick slices of each color & press them together in a new log, alternating colors, making a number of repetitions. Roll to make thin enough to go into barrel (one barrelfull made with 1/8” hole disk will be enough for one bracelet). (Use the primary color you want to show on the end which goes into the extruder first--the other colors will show up later when the piece is sanded). (Be sure to use colors that are similar in some way.)
...using five strands, anchor them at one end by pressing onto a work surface, then braid together (same as regular braiding but braid each strand over TWO strands rather than one.)
…flatten a log of clay the same as your primary color long enough for the bracelet, to act as a base; lay the braid on top of it. Roll each end with the side of your hand so that each is somewhat rounded. Wrap around your wrist to measure, leaving the amount of looseness you want, and trim off excesses. Roll over the braid with a brayer to join and flatten (to any degree you want).
... bake the bracelet in sort of oval, ends touching.
...sand here and there to expose the colors underneath; apply a finish, or buff.

--crocheting: can use SuperFlex but it’s very stretchy
…clay may have a "memory. When it's baked into a certain shape, it will remember that memory. If you then manipulate it into another configuration (such as in crocheting or basket weaving), it will "snap" because it want to go back to the original shape.” Shelly
…SuperFlex probably cannot be re-baked? (will spring apart and break)
…”SuperFlex baked in loose coils should be functional for crochet as long as you work with the curvature and not against it; if it’s brittle & breaks, it’s probably not baked enough.” Meredith
…”I wrote the Bead & Button article on crocheting…I wanted stiffer clay than that which many others had used… I also had some breakage, but far less if extruded just after being conditioned…. I think also it helps not to extrude too quickly as well. I found that it droops and the "stretching" aspect is one of its attributes, but again, more pronounced with level of warmth, and (I expect) freshness of the clay....” Tricia Echeagaray
…Nancy Thompson’s knitted and crocheted Super Flex—she extrudes lo-ong continuous threads of SuperFlex with the smallest-hole disk, piles them in stacked (coiled?) layers of parchment, bakes, then knits (plain or with yarn) or crochets

--make molds from any of the above

--make nifty continuous stamp rollers by carving/stamping a rectangle of clay which you then roll into a log, or use to surround a dowel or another log of clay before baking--this gives you a rollable stamper for continuous marking. It would be neat also to add things to the surface of the stamp--things like tiny Kemper shaped clay pieces, or "writing" or whatever with tiny ropes from the Klay gun, or other things you create with clay or Liquid Sculpey, etc…. “…a brayer-type thing…a rod of pvc (about 1/2" diameter) & covered it with clay, then applied the texture & baked; she then took a dowel and placed it inside the pvc to use as the roller..works great!” Jan

For making stained glass, see many lessons on the main Clay Guns page

(Shorter summary)

--various things for sculpts (some with multi-hole disk)
.....clothing trim, piping, ruffles (on any item, including clay couches )
.....grass, thatch, etc.(structures, scenes)
.....various kinds of hair, beards (texturable), fur (on figures)
--bezels (for cabochons, molded items, etc.)
--create, or outline, elements of mandalas
--onlays of many kinds ("gorkley," Christie Friesen, etc.)
--other finishing touches on vessels/boxes/stands
--rims for vessel interiors, for lid to rest on
--lettering (or molds from)
--lay cut lengths of triangle (or other) shaped extrusions in rows on base clay, to create a raised effect
.....could use metallic powder on tops or sides, etc...colors could create gradient
--braiding
--weaving
--crocheting-knitting
--pinch pots, coiled
--molding piles of strands before baking (nest), or after baking (hold hot strands in hands or other "mold" while cold water runs over to set)
--stamps ...baked slices from extrusions glued to rods
.....continuous stamp rollers ...carving/stamping rectangle of clay..roll into log, or use to surround a dowel or another log of clay before baking... could also add things to the surface of the stamp like tiny Kemper shaped clay pieces, or "writing" or whatever with tiny ropes from the clay gun, or other things created with clay or liquid clay, etc
--Balinese Filigree
--tiles for mosaics or other "tiles" (...ropes or slices ...raw or baked)
--faux wood grain (mica clays or not), bark ... ivory?
--backgrounds (manipulated or not, pasta machined or not)
--covering something ...then breaking out or removing form, or leaving in
--components in canes
.....basketweave, checkerboard, quilt (pinwheels, etc, bargello), cross-stitch patterns for images (too much work?)
.....join extrusions for larger or other shapes ... 2 right triangles make square or "diamond"
.....gear" canes, or between layers of clay (rolled up in a spiral cane on another sheet, interspersed in a folded cane...between Skinner blend layers for "faux fabric", etc.)
--automatically wrapped (bullseye) canes... for dot slices, or lengthwise effects
.....faux mosaic canes, CZC, etc. (quicker?)
--mica clays ...center of extrusion would have mica lined up perpendicular to the length of the barrel? creating interesting effects in cross-section, etc.
--Ripple Ikat (begin with clay extrusions on base sheet)
--rings (finger)
--"leading" for stained glass
--to separate elements of pieced-pattern sheets
--make molds from any of the above

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