In my search for the perfect polymer clay extruder, I finally hit upon a dream machine.
I’ve written a short article about it (read it here) for Stacey Apeitos’ arts and crafts e-zine. Her Astarte’s Megazine is an Australian online magazine that you can subscribe to. There’s plenty of lovely info free on the site as well.
My hunt for a good small extruder (see an earlier project) became such an odyssey that I felt I could break my rule not to discuss tools on this blog. The BullensWullens adapter (contact pat@bullenswullens.com) was developed by an Ohio couple which makes my discovery doubly special.
Melanie West ,
Cynthia, thank you soooooooo much for the BullensWullens tool tip! I know tool tips aren’t your thing, but this one is priceless! I’m going to have to email them pronto. When all else fails, a good retro cane is a great fall back, but sore hands often make retro canes impossible. Yippeee! 😉
(PS, the Makin’s extruder is the very best tool for non production extrusions… but if you need to make miles of extruded clay, I’d go with Polymer Clay Expresses macho extruder.)
Melanie West ,
*dope slaps forehead* Ack! I commented before reading the whole article. That’s a terrific tutorial, Cynthia, thanks for sharing it! I have never used the kemper cutter, I’ve just used the barrel of the extruder (filling the barrel as I go), and always ended up with air. Pre-cutting the stack before loading is brilliant!
Vixx ,
I’ve been to classes where the instructor had one of those extruders from Polymer Clay Express. It makes all sorts of shapes and it’s easy to use too.
http://polymerclayexpress.com/clay_extruder.html
Thanks for passing this one along too.
Valerie Aharoni ,
Just in time!! I have an extrusion project that I have been delaying. Customer called last night wondering….
Thanks!
Jenny Patterson ,
This looks like a great tool! Especially for me who extrudes miles of clay on a weekly basis! I was wondering, do you think it would work to put the extruder barrel into a clamp? I have mine in a clamp now, it makes it much easier to extrude.
BUT I am still searching for the perfect extruder!
Lunes ,
I like the Makins Pro one with the screw handle and it works a dream in my mini vice on my workbench!
Sarah ,
Check out Kimba’s report on this tool /adapter on PCC. It didn’t work so well for her and the plastic shredded inside the chuck and destroyed a drill and a chuck. It may have a learning curve or specific requirements that aren’t immediately obvious. Sounded like a great idea to me until I read her report.
Patti Underwood ,
Hi,
What a wonderful idea. I want to contact them but what do I ask for/Will they know what it’s for?
Please get back to me?
Patti