Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Tutorial - Extruded Swirl Cane

A couple of weeks ago I was experimenting with my extruder and discovered a fun type cane that has a sort of swirl or yin yang pattern.  I redid my experiment and created this black and white design and put it in the form of a tutorial.

1.  Roll out 2 sheets of clay in contrasting colors on the #2 (second thickest) setting on your pasta machine.  Cut each sheet into a 3" x 3" square.

2.  Stack one sheet on top of the other and cut in half.

3. Stack the 2 pieces, cut in half and then stack again.  There should be 8 layers.

4. Form the stacked clay into a round log.

5. Roll the log and twist each end several times in opposite directions.

6.  If the log becomes too thin, manipulate and roll the log with your hands bringing them closer together so the log is about the same thickness that will fit into your extruder.  Trim each of the ends and cut your log in half.

7.  Insert one of the halves into your extruder with the small square die.

8.  Extrude the entire amount of clay.

9.  Trim each of the ends until you get a nice pattern inside.

10. Use these individually as a small cane or cut into sections and stack to create a larger cane.

11.  Here I sliced my stacked cane to create a veneer sheet.

12.  And here are some fun pieces ready to bake.

Here are a few color variations.  If you click on the photo you can read more about them on our blog:

 
 

16 comments:

Naama Zamir said...

thank you for this great tutorial. bloged at www.naamazamir.blogspot.com

Flowermouse Design ❀ Lone said...

Such a great tutorial. Thank you so much for sharing this!!

Illaya said...

What a wonderful twist on an extruded cane thank you for sharing with all of us. I was guided to your spot from Naama Zamir. I love both of you talented ladies work. Blessings

Yonat Dascalu said...

Very nice tutorial.

Unknown said...

GORGIOUS.....Thanks for sharing

NURIT said...

VERY CLEAR AND GOOD GUIEING, INSPIRING COLORS AND TECHNIQUE THANK YOU.

Claycass said...

These canes are really nice. Thank you very much for sharing your tutorial.

2 Good Claymates said...

You are so very welcome. Glad you enjoyed it.

Carolyn Good
2 Good Claymates

Mila said...

Your tutorial is wonderful, thank you very much!

chanel56 said...

Merci pour ce tuto

WoolWorks said...

Great tutorial. I'll try it this weekend while I'm in the park for Fanfayr in Kingston. I have started having a demo table in my knitwear booth. This will be one more thing I can play with.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Thanks for sharing this... I found your link on in your intro to the Polymer Clay Group on Yahoo. Great asset to the group and great blog too!
Louise

Cherie said...

Great tutorial. Look forward to trying it out.

Lily said...

That's a really nice tutorial. Great effects ! Black and white swirls is my fav !

Anonymous said...

I love this! So happy to find it again. I love retro works. This is great, thank you!!! MADugas

Ginga said...

Thank u a lot for this tutorial!