Finishing your jewellery
If you have read my previous two sections you hopefully will have taken away two important skills that will reduce time and make finishing your jewellery much easier in the long run:
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1) Run your finger over the cut edges of your clay pre-bake to smooth any rough edges.
2) Make "pilot holes" for where you are going to connect your jump rings or fasteners pre-bake to make drilling easier.
EXPERT TIP: I highly suggest buying a "dremmel" type rotary tool if you are going to be making jewellery. I picked up the Parkside cordless one from Lidl for about £20 and it has everything I need to drill and sand with.
Drilling
The first thing to consider when drilling is the size of the hole. This must be big enough for the jump ring
or connector to fit through. I find 0.8mm-1mm is usually about right but its worth baking a few pieces
and having a practice with some scrap before moving straight into drilling your decent ones
as its not as easy as it looks and takes some practice. I personally use a piece of
polystyrene to drill into but something fairly firm and flat will do, an old book for example.
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My personal process is as follows but please take this only as a guide. You will find what is comfortable for you once you gain more experience:
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1) Turn on the drill if you are unable to reach the switch with the same hand as the drill (my button is on the top so I can't)
2) Hold your clay piece firmly between finger and thumb so it can't spin
3) Make sure your drill is as vertical as possible to your piece and then apply medium pressure to drill the hole.
You can of course use a tiny hand drill to achieve the same effect. There are no right or wrong ways to do this so just experiment with baked pieces of scrap clay until you are confident enough to tackle your best pieces.
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EXPERT TIP: try not to be too soft or slow about this process as the drill can really easily skate around your piece and damage it if you are not a little firm with it. You just have to "go for it"!
Sanding
Sanding the edges can of course be done with good old sandpaper or even nail files although baked clay is quite soft and its easy to get carried away. The easiest way I have found to do this it with the felt buffing pads for your rotary tool. These come in all shapes and sizes and even though it doesn't look like they'd do much, they do!
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All you have to do is hold the piece in one hand and remove the rough edges
using a very light pressure from the buffing tool in the other.
I am not going to go into great detail here - there are plenty of videos on
you tube to watch this process.
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You may find that the backs (and fronts) of your pieces may need sanding too.
If there are superficial shiny spots on the back it is often easiest to rub with acetone on
a cotton wool ball to remove them.
If this hasn't done the trick you can use wet and dry sandpaper - starting at around 600-800 grit and moving through the finer grits (higher numbers) as you go until you are happy with the finish. It's best to dip the piece in water with a tiny bit of dish soap in to avoid friction on your sandpaper. This process is very labour intensive so bear this in mind before embarking on it. Again try this on scrap clay if you are unsure as the lower grit the sandpaper, the more it will leave scratch marks to buff out!
EXPERT TIP: You can buff up polymer clay to a really high shine if you want to using really fine sandpaper and some cutting compounds and a buffing wheel. You will have to start with lower grit sandpapers first though until it is smooth enough to buff.
Cleaning & removing fuzzies
I felt the need to add the cleaning section below the drilling and sanding but before the resin and sealing section because I feel this is the order they need to go in.
Any dust and debris will need to be removed after these first two processes and usually all it takes is a lukewarm soapy bath. Let your pieces air dry naturally on a piece of kitchen paper ready for the next step.
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If you have superficial fuzzies on the surface of your clay you can very carefully remove them with isopropyl alcohol or acetone and a cotton bud although PROCEED WITH CAUTION. Acetone is notorious for leaving white marks on your finished clay and it will also melt it so use very sparingly. Acetone should only be used if all else fails in my opinion!
EXPERT TIP: The trick to having less fuzzies is to try and avoid them in the first place. Keep your hands and work surface as clean as possible and keep any fans, open windows and air purifiers well away from your workstation if possible.
Resin
*WARNING*
Resin can be toxic and can cause severe allergic reaction if appropriate measures are not taken. You are advised to work in a well ventilated area and use gloves and a respirator to protect yourself. Sunshine cutters accept no responsibility for any problems arising from working with resin.
Many polymer clay artists use resin to finish their pieces. This provides a really high shine and can also be used to protect anything embedded in the clay and for sealing jewellery into frames/charms.
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UV resin is a quick way to finish your pieces as it can be cured using a UV nail lamp. The downside to this is that it can sometimes remain sticky for quite some time and will mark if touched. This does seem to be the preferred method for many artists as they can use a thin applicator tip and a silicone tool to cover the clay and cure it.
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My method for UV resin is as follows:
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1) Add a small blog of UV resin to the center of your piece. Less is more - you can add more as required.
4) Put under a UV nail lamp. This may need several minutes to cure fully.
2) Work the resin to the edges using a silicone tool and something to hold it down with such as a dotting tool.
3) Add more resin if necessary to achieve a good coverage. Run a flame over the top to pop any bubbles.
5) The finished piece! Put this in direct sunlight for a bit if you can to aid the curing process.
6) You may wish to wipe with Isopropyl alcohol to remove any residue with a lint free cloth.
EXPERT TIP: There are many other lacquers and varnishes that can seal clay but it is not necessary, just an aesthetic preference. Polymer clay is perfectly ok "un-finished" (after sanding and cleaning of course).
Earring Studs
To my knowledge there are two ways of making strong earring studs.
The first is to sand the back of the piece a little to "rough it up" and glue a stud blank to the back using a suitable jewellery glue such a E6000 or GS Hypo-cement. Resin is then applied in the same manner as above over the whole of the back of the stud. This can be a little messy so the next method is often preferable:
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1) Sand and glue your stud post as before to the back of your piece (fig 1).
2) Once set, cut another matching shape from much thinner clay.
3) Add a thin layer of liquid clay to the back of your baked piece and then attach
the new piece on "top" (of the back) pushing the upright piece of the stud blank
through the unbaked clay so it hides the stud blank altogether (fig 2).
4) Smooth down the new back as much as possible and tidy up any edges with your
finger to get a good seal
5) Re-bake the entire thing so the 2 clays stick together. You may need to re-sand the edges to finish.
*Please note the clay in these pictures hasn't been baked and are for illustration purposes only.
fig. 1
fig. 2
Assembling your jewellery
Overview
There is a huge array of findings available for use with polymer clay jewellery so the world is your oyster in that respect.
The most common way to connect your clay pieces together is by using jump rings. These are basically circles of wire that sit flush together to provide a reasonably strong connection, providing they are not pulled apart.
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How to use:
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1) Use 2 pairs of flat nose pliers to twist the 2 sides apart - do not pull them apart as this will distort the shape.
2) Insert into the hole you have drilled, preferably back to front if you can into the first piece.
3) Attach the 2nd piece in the same manner.
4) Use both pairs of pliers to carefully twist the jump ring back into place.
5) Repeat as necessary to connect all of your pieces and attach the hook or stud back you intend to use.
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EXPERT TIP: Most ear wires/hooks come with the loop 90 degrees in the wrong direction for your earrings to hang face forward. Either twist the bottom loop 90 degrees or add another jump ring to the top connection to rectify this.
Take a look at our collection of findings for purchase as we stock many of the most commonly used sizes and shapes. This section will grow as my business does so please keep your eyes peeled for new products!