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Hello,
After baking a rather spectacular work
of art last night...(it really was awesome!) I placed it in the garage
to cool (still in the glass pan I baked it in) and when I tried to remove
it, IT WAS STUCK SOLID! It won't budge from the pan!
I worked for hours last night on
this piece, a 4 inch head of a ??? "Green Man"? Mountain Man? He
is by far the best piece I have done so far. I'm new to this and having
a ball but suddenly I'm faced with doom for my Mountain man.
If you could tell me how to remove
it without breaking it..that would be wonderful and also if you have any
tips on the proper way to bake it so I don't have these problems in the
future.
Can water be used with your clay when
modeling it like in thrown pottery?
What happens if you "Over bake" it?
What happens if you "Under bake" it?
It stinks when I'm baking it, is this
a toxic fume smell or just stinky?
I read not to work on wood surfaces..why?
Gee, I think this about covers it.
Thank you for your time, I hope to hear
from you Very Soon.
Thank You,
Sherrie O'Brien
Hi Sherrie,
Take a deep breath and turn
your oven on to the temperature recommended by the clay manufacturer. Place
the whole shebang back into the oven and allow to heat for about 15 minutes.
Carefully, using heatproof oven
mitts, try to remove your Green Man. This may take several attempts. Return
to the oven each time when the piece becomes cool. If you can
safely do this while the piece is on the oven rack, it won't lose as much
heat.
In the future, try baking on a
piece of fiberfil in your baking dish.
No, you can't "throw" polymer clay
or add water to it. It is not water soluble,
I personally know of no hazard
to baking the clay for longer than the manufacturer recommends. However,
if you under bake it, the clay will be weak and will probably disintegrate
in time.
Polymer clay does have an odor
to it when baked, but if it's strong, you may need to check your oven temperature
with a good oven thermometer to be sure the temperature isn't too high.
I have never found the odor during curing to be offensive. If it's bad,
you are probably burning the clay and that would be toxic. It is a form
of vinyl, or plastic. This is very important. Please do get a good oven
thermometer.
Wood surfaces may be dry and leach
out chemicals in the clay. It may also leave splinters. If the surface
isn't dry, it may have a finish on it that will be absorbed by the clay.
In any case, there are many surfaces that will work well. Even a manila
file folder.
Please let me know if you are able
to save your masterpiece.
IR
Dear Polyzine
I am a beginner but, I want to make life-sized
hollow elephant tusks am I biting off more than I can chew? Even if I am
I am going to try, can you give me tips to make this as easy as possible
but still have a finished product that looks good.
Thanks
Bruce Miner
Hi Bruce,
That is a huge project, but I admire your
ambition.
The amount of clay that it would take
to make a life-sized hollow elephant tusk would be enormous and I'm afraid
the cost would be, too. But the biggest question of all is; do you have
an oven big enough to bake this monster?
If you do and I haven't discouraged you
yet, let me suggest that you find a good recipe for faux ivory first and
practice shaping a tusk that would fit in your hand. There are several
good recipes online.
IR
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