search  current discussion  categories  forms - handles 

making unique handle making tools

updated mon 6 nov 06

 

Elizabeth Priddy on fri 3 nov 06


I'll try the wiggle tomorrow!

I am not quite picturing how the string helps.

The moldable epoxy resin is the trick for the bump on
the backside of it. You have a few minutes to work it
and I fill in the back to where it is flat (and down
into the ferrule hole). This makes the backside glide
through just right and it also is part of the shaping.

The wire is too round for me and doesn't make as clean
a cut.

I find that the trench left behind is what excites me
the most and I am working with some forms that use
both the positive and the negative left in the block.
If I cut from a strip that is just deep enough to work
and just a little wider, I am left with a perfect
inverse. I am not sure where I am going with it, but
the road leads somewhere for sure.

I have heard of Glick but am not familiar with his
work. I probably have seen it, but not attached a
name.

i will google and see if it is who I think it is.

If there were any way to make it happen, I would
dearly love to come to the extrusion regional
conference. I think I would learn a lot from that and
i am going to try and get there, although the date is
hard for me as I will be affording NCECA around that
time and I have to keep a budget.

I really love my extruder but I do not enjoy cleaning
it. Even with all the tricks I learned here from
others and you about just that, it is still a bit of
work getting to it and getting it set up. With the
new studio I just added, I will leave the extruder
ready to go instead of having to keep it on the wall
behind a damp box when not in use.

I think of you daily as I drive past the Hooters. If
you can get here for the June thing, I will drive
through with you and pick up some wings.

E







Elizabeth Priddy

Beaufort, NC - USA
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com



____________________________________________________________________________________
Cheap Talk? Check out Yahoo! Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates
(http://voice.yahoo.com)

Elizabeth Priddy on fri 3 nov 06


As a followup to a tools post I made a few months back
about a tool everyone misuses as a sculpting tool or a
trimming tool that is actually a handle making tool...

I recently made some tools for making handles.

I like the look of my extruded handles but don't
always want to get all that going to make one or two
beaded handles.

So...

1. buy a set of stainless steel bracelet bangles at
the dollar store, I found they bend but then are rigid
and they have a flat profile so that they have the
"knife" profile that is best for a clay cutting edge.
I tried many other materials and did not like them

2. cut the bangle at one point with tin snips

3. use jewelers pliers to curve the bangle into any
profile shape of a beaded handle that you like and
then bend the remaining strips together so that in
profile it looks like this

.... ....
. .. .
. .
.... ....
..
..
..
..
..
..

4. Then this goes into the end of a piece of bamboo or
coral, something short that you can grip easily. You
can also use an old paintbrush ferrule or other
trimming tool that has broken

5. use epoxy putty to fuse it in place firmly

You just drag the tool through a block of clay along
the edge to get a beaded handle

You can make handle of any length this way and with no
set up. I made small medium and large of my favorite
handle shapes. Great for lugs and feet too.

I have a half dozen of these in my tackle box now and
am no longer frustrated working at the art center
where I teach but that has no extruder.

I will teach how to make these and several other
production tools during part of my section on the
NATURAL INSTINCTS recional potters council workshop.
(Priddy PRESS, a tile bat system, handle tools,
natural brush, and removable vine/natural material
handle)

Have fun!

E

Elizabeth Priddy

Beaufort, NC - USA
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

David Hendley on fri 3 nov 06


Elizabeth, John Glick used to make and demonstrate handle-making
tools like this back in the '70's and '80's.
He liked them not because they are easier to set up than putting
a die in an extruder, but because you can wiggle the tool as it is
cutting through the block of clay.
To that end, he also tied a string to the side of the cutter opposite
the handle. This lets you guide both sides of the tool as your are
running it through a block of clay. You can move the string and/or
handle up and down as you move the tool horizontally through
the clay.

I found that it was hard to make the 'back side' of a handle made
in this way look good. Where the two ends of the cutting material
come together and go into the wooden handle there tends to be a
'pucker' that I didn't care for.
Wire works fine for making these tools if you know how to temper
it after you bend it to shape.

Tool Doctors rule!

David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
david(at)farmpots(dot)com
http://www.farmpots.com






----- Original Message -----
> I recently made some tools for making handles.
> I like the look of my extruded handles but don't
> always want to get all that going to make one or two
> beaded handles.
>
>
> You just drag the tool through a block of clay along
> the edge to get a beaded handle
>
> You can make handle of any length this way and with no
> set up. I made small medium and large of my favorite
> handle shapes. Great for lugs and feet too.
>
> I have a half dozen of these in my tackle box now and
> am no longer frustrated working at the art center
> where I teach but that has no extruder.
>
> I will teach how to make these and several other
> production tools during part of my section on the
> NATURAL INSTINCTS recional potters council workshop.
> (Priddy PRESS, a tile bat system, handle tools,
> natural brush, and removable vine/natural material
> handle)
>

Kathy McDonald on sat 4 nov 06


I have used a plaster mold of one of my own pulled handles
to make a press mold.

First step pull a handle form you like. Let it set up to
leather hard.
I like marks on the outside of my handles so I usually just
leave them flat
and a bit thicker with an outside ridge.

Pour some plaster into a mushroom or meat styrofoam tray,
set the handle into the plaster, let it set up,
then pull out the leather hard clay, voila...perfect plaster
press mold.

I have several sizes, for different mug forms, so that I can
make uniform
handles that can later be attached
to and pulled on mugs. You still need to pull them a bit
but not much.

You can usually get two presses in one mold.

The advantage of this method is the uniformity of design and
size of the handles.

I have same for casserole lugs and pitchers.

Next time I do a set I will take pictures of the process and
put them on
the web.

Kathy




-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG]On Behalf Of
Elizabeth
Priddy
Sent: Saturday, November 04, 2006 12:02 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: making unique handle making tools


I'll try the wiggle tomorrow!

I am not quite picturing how the string helps.

The moldable epoxy resin is the trick for the bump on
the backside of it. You have a few minutes to work it
and I fill in the back to where it is flat (and down
into the ferrule hole). This makes the backside glide
through just right and it also is part of the shaping.

The wire is too round for me and doesn't make as clean
a cut.

I find that the trench left behind is what excites me
the most and I am working with some forms that use
both the positive and the negative left in the block.
If I cut from a strip that is just deep enough to work
and just a little wider, I am left with a perfect
inverse. I am not sure where I am going with it, but
the road leads somewhere for sure.

I have heard of Glick but am not familiar with his
work. I probably have seen it, but not attached a
name.

i will google and see if it is who I think it is.

If there were any way to make it happen, I would
dearly love to come to the extrusion regional
conference. I think I would learn a lot from that and
i am going to try and get there, although the date is
hard for me as I will be affording NCECA around that
time and I have to keep a budget.

I really love my extruder but I do not enjoy cleaning
it. Even with all the tricks I learned here from
others and you about just that, it is still a bit of
work getting to it and getting it set up. With the
new studio I just added, I will leave the extruder
ready to go instead of having to keep it on the wall
behind a damp box when not in use.

I think of you daily as I drive past the Hooters. If
you can get here for the June thing, I will drive
through with you and pick up some wings.

E







Elizabeth Priddy

Beaufort, NC - USA
http://www.elizabethpriddy.com



____________________________________________________________
________________________
Cheap Talk? Check out Yahoo! Messenger's low PC-to-Phone
call rates
(http://voice.yahoo.com)

____________________________________________________________
__________________
Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org

You may look at the archives for the list or change your
subscription
settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/

Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.13.26/516 - Release
Date: 11/3/2006

--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.13.27/517 - Release
Date: 11/3/2006

Russel Fouts on sun 5 nov 06


E,

>> I find that the trench left behind is what excites me the most
and I am working with some forms that use both the positive and the
negative left in the block. If I cut from a strip that is just deep
enough to work and just a little wider, I am left with a perfect
inverse. I am not sure where I am going with it, but the road leads
somewhere for sure. <<

http://www.ellywall.com/

You might be interested in this work. We saw it a big craft show in
London. She also shows at Contemporary Applied Arts in London.

She's gouged through from the back, just enough to nick through the
front surface and then replaced what she gouged out.

VERY nice work.

Russel



Russel Fouts
Mes Potes & Mes Pots
Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 223 02 75
Mobile: +32 476 55 38 75

Http://www.mypots.com
Home of "The Potters Portal"
Over 3000 Pottery Related Links!
Updated frequently

"The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others
retained by the people"

9th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America