Clay extruder?

[aeboaz]

Hi Kurt, or anyone who can answer this. '> I'm looking at the clay extruder in the polymer clay supply area.  Not being very familiar with the polymer clays, I'm not sure how well this would work with Art Clay - do you have any words of wisdom?  Thanks so much!
Ann

[Metalman]

Sure, that will work. In fact I have used one.  The draw back is the amount of clay you need to make it work and then, once you've got the clay in it - it starts drying out.
So  - plan that production run of extruded stuff, lay out the work area, and run the batch of them.  If you do it as one at a time - you will end up with a certain amount of waste

Hi Kurt, thanks for your reply.  Would you recommend using the slow dry then, with an extruder?

[Metalman]

Definitely, great thinking!!
Also, for those of you [or us] in low humidity areas [or dry winter times] you may want to run a humidifier or do the sprayer thing [I keep small water sprayers on my bench so I can make micro-environments of humidity when I need them.]

[tonjal]

I read on metalclay.com that an aluminum extruder should not be used with silver. I assume they react to each other somehow. http://www.metalclay.com.au/products/index.html

  I saw an all stainless one available online at PMC Supply made specifically for silver clay, but I find it hard to justify spending $50 for it. Should I make the large investment in the stainless or take the chance with the cheaper aluminum model?

[Metalman]

Your are correct.
I am fairly confident that back there few years ago, I did use that Klay Extruder for some art clay - but ALUMINUM is a definitely incompatable with the binder in the metal clays - So ................
I might have done it, run it and cleaned it quickly and didn't notice any negative effects.
The stainless ones are spendy - I haven't tried to find one  but there are a number of toy quality tools for play dough which might adapt well fpr Art Clay

[Zone29]

I use an injection needle.  I remove the needle and roll the clay to the size of the container, and then press the plunger.  It works well, I was lucky enough to get these given to me, but they are available in most pharmacies and not very expensive, they are re-usable for quite a long time.  The rolls come out looking very even, just need a steady hand to get them to lie where I want them. Just be careful of the needles they are very sharp.   good for making patterns '>

[Metalman]

Excellent - thanks for the tip.