Can you tell us exactly how you clean and sharpen your blades with old sandpaper? And what grade you use? And do you have any other tips or suggestions for the care of blades?

Thanks,

Hazel

Dear Hazel:

I usually save pieces of the larger grit sandpaper (400-600 grit) that I've used for polishing my clay work to clean and sharpen my blades. This makes it easy to cut thin precise slices of canes and extends the life of my blades tremendously.

I fold pieces of used sandpaper in half (my pieces are usually 1˝" square) and hold the piece, folded side down, between my thumb and index finger. I slide my blade back and forth inside the sandpaper. The folded edge at the bottom helps protect my fingers from the blade's edge, but needless to say, I still exercise extreme caution while doing this!

Baby wipes or alcohol will clean blades, but I find this method actually contributes to the corrosion of the blade. I have blades that I've used for years thanks to the sandpaper method. I've even used sandpaper to recondition the blades of friends who thought the blades were ready for clay blade heaven.

I recommend using only 3MŽ Wet-Dry Automotive Grade sandpaper. I've found that other papers listing the same grits tend to be much coarser.

It's important to periodically inspect the blade edge closely, since sharpening the blade with sandpaper actually thins the metal. Over time, small notches begin to appear along the blade edge. When this occurs, it's time to kiss your blade goodbye!

Hope this helps.

Lisa

Is it okay to combine different types of clay when constructing millefiori cane work?

Joy Petitclerc

Dear Joy:

The answer to your question is actually yes and no!

If you haven't discovered it already, combining different types of clay to construct a cane, such as a combination of Premo Sculpey and Fimo, or even Sculpey III with Premo Sculpey, can lead to disaster. Because of differences in clay consistencies, the softer clays (Sculpey III, Premo) will reduce quickly, while the harder clays (Fimo) will reduce slowly. Any attempt to reduce a mixed-clay cane will guarantee a great deal of distortion. Take it from someone who learned the hard way.

Not knowing this, many years ago I spent days building my first complex cane. I mixed brands of clay only to have my design turn out completely unrecognizable.

First of all, I recommend building your canes from the same brand of clay. I know in some cases however, you may have some other brand of clay you wish to use. Or, you find the clay you are using is too soft or too firm and you wish to adjust the consistency.

If you want to mix brands of clay, you have to use a mix of equal ratios for every color! Example: You are building a cane using black, white and red clay, and you want to mix Premo and Sculpey III for the black. If you use 50% black Premo with 50% black Sculpey III, you need to mix those exact ratios for the red and white clays as well. If your ratio is 75% Premo to 25% Sculpey III, you must again be consistent in mixing the same amounts together for the other colors.

Failing to use the same ratios for all your clays when mixing clays for canes will result in the softer clays reducing much more quickly than the firmer clays. End result? You just spent a lot of time making bead gut!

I hope this helps.

Lisa