Over the holidays I experimented with a new turning material “Polymer Clay”. I was familiar with this materials use in crafts and I also saw a few pens made from it. Since that time I have been wanting to experiment with it for use as a substitute for finials, inlays and borders in turned pieces.

Polymer clay is a clay that at room temperature is soft and pliable. It is hardened by cooking it at 275 degrees for 30 minutes per 1/4 inch (Premo brand). When it is hardened correctly (which I have found to be a bit unpredictable) it turns easily, somewhat like acrylic. Many different effects are possible. In this case I used extruded polymer clay hearts, embedded in a black base clay as the decorative segment in the Madrone hollow form.

Donny

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First knead black clay and then roll it to a consistent thickness between a couple of 1/4 thick slats.
Then a slice of 4″ black pipe was used as a cookie cutter to make a more or less round disk.
Use previously extruded and baked heart shaped strips. Cut them to lengths about equal to the radius.
Push the heart strips into the clay in a radial pattern. Insure there are no voids. Bake this disk at 275 degrees for 30min.
Make a jam chuck with a tenon in the middle that matches the same size hole drilled in the disk.
Mount the disk on the jam chuck with hot melt glue and turn the face flat.
Flip it over and turn the alternate surface flat.
Trim the edge with a skew.
The disk is now ready to laminate in the turning.
I glued this disk between the sections of a turned Madrone form, then hollowed it.

This past week I was in Korea so the stubby sat dormant ,, er I mean rested!

I did however finish up some previously started projects. I finished the stain on these candle bases.

My wife thought these candles looked unfinished sitting on the hearth.

She wanted some simple candle bases and I felt like doing something simple for a change.

The procedure:

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(2)(3)(4)(5)

1. Mount a waste block in your stronghold. Hot-glue the oak blank to its flattened surface. Mark (using the index on the lathe) 8 equally spaced lines around the base. Turn the blank round.

2. Turn a 1/2″ ridge around the edge leaving a 1/2″ recess.

3. Remove the base from the waste block and turn it around. Then mount it into the strongholds jaws. Turn this surface flat.

4. Turn another 1/2′ deep ridge around the edge leaving a 1/2″ recess (2). Turn a bead from this recess. I used my shop made pyramid tool.

5. Finish sanding the entire piece on the lathe.

6. Joint one side of a 2×4 flat. Clamp the base vertically to it with a c clamp with the beaded side against the 2×4. Align the marks made in step 1 with the center of the micro plane. Move the base into the plane slowly until the plane interposes the bottom of the recess leaving an arc cut in the bottom of the base. Repeat 7 more times.

7. Finish with gel stain and polyurethane.

So many round things to turn …… so little time.

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Fugitive Pieces divx Feel free to provide comments and I will answer any questions provided everything is kept, clean professional and non confrontational (I get enough of that in corporate America).

Anna Karenina

BTW turning is an dangerous activity and you do it and take my advice totally at your own risk.