Member Benefits 083: Sand Buff Shine
Beautiful!! … thanks so much for using a piece of tape on the back of the bead to sand it – I have tried sanding flat like that more than once, and the piece won’t move. I feel like having a duh moment because you make so much sense. ~Beth-W >> Original comment was posted here: Reptile Hollow Lentil Bead Tutorial
In the past, I’ve never been a fan of sanding and would rather take a beating than sand LOL . Cindy did the tute showing the AWESOME sanding square pad thingies (can’t remember what they are called), and sanding has been so much easier. They are easy on the hands, color coded for each grit, and over all, just make sanding something that I don’t mind at all anymore. Thanks Cindy for finding these great sanding pads and making the life of sanding so much easier :) ~Susan-R >> Original comment was posted here: Sanding and Buffing Your Polymer Clay Is Worth It
Cindy, your way is always so much easier with even better results. I have made faux abalone with the translucent and pearl ex powders before. You have to make thin slices then lay over base color. I never like the results I got so I just made a few pieces and gave up on it. Your tutorial is so much easier to follow and I love the way you use the thick slices. You can sand it to perfection without worrying about going through to your base color. Then your results are so much richer. Thank you Cindy for giving me another chance to try to make some beautiful faux abalone. Your way is the best way for me every time. Another wonderful tutorial you and Doug have created for all of us to enjoy. Many Uuugggs. ~Peggy-B >> Original comment was posted here: Faux Abalone Paua Cuff Polymer Clay Tutorial
Hi all, I now have my MicroMesh pads and really love them. Thanks Cindy for this tutorial. Sanding will now be much easier. ~Elizabeth-K >> Original comment was posted here: Polymer Clay Sanding Tutorial
I want to remind everyone that if you don’t have a JoolTool, don’t forget about the plastic triangular media and polishing beads for the tumbler, especially if you have a lot of beads to do at one time. I just did a large batch and followed through with each grit and the beads are so buttery smooth. I had no sanding to do at all and I had my doubts when I first started with them. I personally think this is the greatest idea Cindy has introduced us to and with the small investment to get all of the grits, it is well worth the cost since they will probably last forever. The nicest part about this technique is you can just toss them in the tumbler and then forget about them until the next day. ~DixieAnn-S >> Original comment was posted here: Conditioning Hard Polymer Clay
Great video Cindy! And Doug! You’re gonna make me like sanding yet. Finally got some of the micromesh pads because of your recommendation. They’re great! So now, when I don’t feel like creating something from scratch… I sit down and sand ;) It’s still creative, right? LOL! ~Hope-M >> Original comment was posted here: Sanding and Buffing Polymer Clay
Cindy – This was the best video and exactly what I have been looking for. You went from start to finish and also included the sanding and buffing which was a great demo. Then you also covered costs when they are not finished and what you can get if you do finish. That was also very helpful. Your other videos were good too and I have learned a lot but this new format is Fantastic. You are a great teacher and mentor. Please keep the videos coming. Thanks. ~Cindy-P >> Original comment was posted here: Faux Jasper Polymer Cabochons
The tute is another eye-opener. Don’t you just hate those pesky little dull beads. Now they will shine. Thanks for the info. ~Patt-W >> Original comment was posted here: Finishing Wax as a Bead Polish
Cindy, I have to thank you for your information about making a polishing wheel for a Dremel. You are the ONLY person or website who said that making your polishing wheel too big will put excess torque on the Dremel & overheat the motor. Yesterday I bought a corded Dremel, and was anxious to see results with my felt polishing wheel. Soon the Dremel started feeling very hot. When I shut it off, it was actually smoking! I turned to the web to see if I could find some explanation, and started wondering if my new Dremel was defective. Then I saw your comments and knew that was my exact problem. I trimmed down the felt wheel, and my poly clay shines like glass now. If only I had found your words of wisdom before I ventured into polishing! Many thanks for your insight, as well as your fact finding experimentation’s. ~Carol-K >> Original comment was posted here: Sew Your Own Dremel Buffing Wheel
Cindy – Thanks for making all the videos ‘easy’. The micromesh is going to be good for my hands. They cramp up and hurt so bad after sanding and I keep having to take little breaks in between. ~Cheryl-H >> Original comment was posted here: Sanding with Micromesh Abrasives
I just finished reading all of the letters in this thread. What a wonderful, supportive group we have here. I found polymer clay about 2002 when I took a drawing class at a local high school, in the evening. I never did manage to draw worth a darn but I met a gal there who told me about polymer clay and asked if I wanted to come to her place sometime and learn. Oh boy! What fun I had! I went to her house once a week for a few months and then I went on vacation and when I got back she had decided to go to nursing school and we lost touch. I spent the next couple of years trying to sell at craft fairs but hardly sold anything and quit. Quit going to craft fairs and quit polymer clay. I realize now that my pieces were awful and completely unprofessional. Don’t think I sanded at all. I look at the few things I have left and can sure see the improvement since finding Cindy. Now I sand and sand until it is like butter. Haven’t mastered buffing yet, but my Renaissance wax is on the way. ~Peg-C >> Original comment was posted here: Polymer Art Therapy
Cindy, I’ve been busy all day sanding a batch of faux green Australian Jasper. Your tutorial on this was outstanding! Thanks so much for all of your wonderful work for us! Now I won’t have to buy my Jasper at AC Moore anymore . . . :) ~Michelle-L >> Original comment was posted here: Faux Jasper Polymer Clay Cabochons
Thanks Cindy, another great tip. It’s really hard to believe people wouldn’t want to spend extra time sanding and polishing, when it’s clear how much better it looks. ~Patricia-R >> Original comment was posted here: Sanding and Buffing Your Polymer Clay Is Worth It
I don’t use glazes now and never used this one. When I first started PC, I was really not happy using any kind of varnish but couldn’t find a way around it. But since Cindy put me on to sanding, polishing and then buffing with the Ren Wax I couldn’t be happier. I would rather have a smooth, silky naked finish that’s deep and warm than one that is thick and glossy and looks like it’s just sitting on top of something and that might also be unreliable. That is just me, of course. I have seen some many gorgeous pieces that I am sure are finished with glazes and varnishes, but I am not going to try it anymore. I am so completely happy this way I don’t want to change the good thing I’ve got going. ~Andrea-P >> Original comment was posted here: Triple Thick Gloss Glaze Compatibility Test
Cindy, by now, I have watched the series in full 3x, and am thrilled. Even though the sand and buff process is “like watching paint dry” in a comment you made, if you made the effort to follow all the instructions to get to finishing, that is the most crucial stage to master so that in addition to loving what you make, you can sell it to others to recoup your investment in time and product, and from the profit, get more good clay and the rest of the goodies to play with. The first time for me hearing “3 mins” minimum at each sanding level, front and back, and that was seminal, lol. Up until that point to me sanding was a mystery sort of, and mimicked how I felt about how long and how much I brushed my teeth. Was it right? Enough? More flossing? Using a finish, being Renaissance Wax or butcher block paste, and buffing etc, makes the object art. Watching you do it in real time helps me improve my own techniques, which I am so grateful to you for. ~Jocelyn-C >> Original comment was posted here: Cone Flower Canes Tutorial
I just took out my first necklace worth of beads from a tumbler that is much like your Lortone. I had polished my own river pebbles for the purpose of tumbling my hand rolled and not always perfect beads. It was one of the first big batches I had made. They were all powdery looking because I had baked them in a bed of baking powder to keep the Fimo Soft white from scorching. These were soft pastels in rose, silver, white and lavender, made from a slab of folded mokume gane. Very simple round beads. Coming from the oven they had a grainy feel. So I waited for my tumbler to be ready and this morning at 11:00 I put them in with the smooth river stones and the prescribed amount of water and let it run until 6:00 this evening without stopping. The tumbling had produced its own slurry in that amount of tumbling, so the beads came out feeling as if they had been sanded with 1000 grit paper and when I hand buffed them with a lightweight duck cotton rag, they gave off a soft glow. They are now very pleasant to the touch and I will not have to sand, wax, or buff any more than just the brief wiping with the cotton cloth. I will string them with rose quartz and small silver beads into a simple pastel necklace. Yayyy for your video on the old Lortone tumbler. ~Anna-G >> Original comment was posted here: Using Rock Tumblers for Polishing Polymer Clay Jewelry Beads
Love your tutorials. Have only started playing with clay very recently but am totally hooked. So different from the glass/wires/metalwork/paper jewelry I have been making for years. I really like the faux gemstones and am practicing like mad! Love to sand and polish by hand. Very relaxing! Thanks. ~Jo-H >> Original comment was posted here: Faux Fordite Polymer Clay Tutorial
| A-SERIES COLOR PALETTE: Seaweed Palette (4 Premo Sculpey Recipes) ** B-SERIES COLOR PALETTE: Deception Pass Palette (4 Premo Sculpey Recipes) VIDEOS: Polymer Clay Landscape Painting – On Tiny Little Mini Stretched Canvases |
 |
