Tuesday, July 23, 2013

FAST Polymer Clay Push Mold Window Art

Here in Maine the craft show circuit gets rolling when the weather starts to warm. I made multiple polymer clay casts in my ComposiMold and dedicated this project to all my fellow crafters. This project is meant to demonstrate just how quickly you can bulk up your inventory. I made 6 push mold casts in under 10 minutes. The baking and the actual beading takes some more time too but the star clay pendant is the easiest part to make on these fun window, sun porch, or garden decorations.

Supplies:
20 oz. of ComposiMold-LT or PowerMold
(PowerMold is stiffer and recommened for the Push Mold Technique.)
Polymer Clay (I used Sculpey brand)
Mold Release
Bubble Buster
A decal of your choice to use as your master part
An Oven and metal baking pan to bake the clay
Miscellaneous beads and wire

1. Prepare your master part by securing it the the bottom of a heat safe mold box. I used hot glue to ensure my piece wouldn't float and chose a tupperware lid that was deep enough as my mold box. (You can also use tin foil as a mold box and create any shape you want.) As a precaution I also sprayed my master part with a shellac because it is made of a wood. I didn't want any trapped air in the decal to escape into my mold and cause bubbles.

2. Melt the ComposiMold or PowerMold in the microwave or double boiler as per product instructions.

3. Spray your master part with mold release and then with Bubble Buster. I used a silicone Mold Release which is one of my favorites for non-food items. The Bubble Buster can be applied right over the top of the Mold Release.

4. Pour your melted ComposiMold or PowerMold into the lowest surface of the mold box and let it rise up over the master part. This will lift and carry away any bubbles that may be in the melted ComposiMold or PowerMold.

5. Let the mold solidify back to it's original consistency.

6. Remove your master part and clean up any rough edges with a sharp exacto blade.

7. Work the polymer clay in your hands until it is soft and pliable. This may take some elbow grease as it comes out of the package fairly hard.

8. When I preform the push-mold technique I sometimes roll a ball in my hands and then press the ball into the mold, pushing the ball flat and into the edges as I go. I may also start with a shape that's similar to the final casted shape. In this case I would make a pancake and lay it into the mold. Then I would add pressure to be sure it was filling all the details.

(In a more complex shape you would want to be sure that the deepest crevices where filled with clay first. This will ensure that the final cast reflects all the details of your mold.)

9. Bend the mold away from your newly pressed cast and let the cast simply fall out of the mold. Try not to warp the cast by forcing it out or bending the mold too much. Take your time on this step and you will have less clean up once the cast is completely de-molded.

10. Use a toothpick or similar tool to poke a hole through the clay casting. You will thread your wire through this hole when you create your hanging art pieces later.

11. Repeat as many times as you wish. The ComposiMold or PowerMold molds hold up very well to push molding. You can make dozens of casts this way and you don't need any mold release to make them.

12. Bake your clay per product instructions. The Sculpey brand recommends 15 minutes at 275F per each 1/8" of clay. 15 minutes was perfect for these thin pieces.

13. After the clay has cooled you can begin assembling your hanging ornament. I've used a 20gauge wire to create a loop that the rest of my decoration can be attached to. Use beads that you have laying around or you can make your own beads with Sculpey either by hand or in a another push mold.

IDEA: This particular shape lends itself to another cool possibility. You could use your exacto knife to cut the smaller flower in the center of the design and use it as it's own pendant. Poke 2 holes in this one at the top and bottom and "string" it into your design a little further up from the large pendant.

I hope this gives you all some ideas about how to use ComposiMold and PowerMold to make multiple art pieces that WILL sell at summer craft shows in your state. Work efficiently with a push mold technique like this one and the profits will speak for themselves. ~Michelle


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Google Earth to Makerbot

Hiya folks!

Ever wanted to 3D print a real life building?  It's actually pretty easy and this tutorial will summarize a few good forums and instructional sites on how to do this.  Here's the general workflow:

What you will need:
A computer to run Google Earth, Google Sketch-Up, and Replicator G.  All are free downloads.
Makerbot or similar 3D printer.  If you don't have one, fear not, you can always send your file to Shapeways, Ponoko, or use one at TechShop.

Intro
I-Selecting and Downloading a Model: using Google Earth to find the building you want to print.
II-.skp to .stl (Sketch-Up to Rep. G): bringing the model into Sketch-Up to make some changes and exporting it as .stl file
III-Getting the File Ready for the Printer: Bringing the .stl file into Replicator G and exporting G-Code to Makerbot
Closing Thoughts


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Monday, July 22, 2013

How To String 6 Diamond Mesh

13, 5:30 PM.jpg13, 5:30 PM.jpg1 piece of 6 diamond mesh. 2 sidewall strings, about twice the length of your head 1 top string just a little smaller 1 bottom string How ever many shooting strings you prefer

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Turn an NES Controller into a Night Light

When you need to get up at night, it helps to have a little light so you don't stumble through the dark. If any light will do, why not make an awesome one out of an old NES controller?

Instructables user lonesoulsurfer decided to do just that with some lights, AAA rechargeable batteries, a solar panel, casting resin, and a few other materials. While not the simplest of ways to turn a controller into a night light, you definitely get a pretty awesome product in the end. Check out the video above for a demonstration of all the different features of the light and the Instructables post for the full how-to.

NES Controller Night Light in Resin


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Chalkboard Painted Wine Bottle

IMG_1568.jpgThis project uses chalkboard paint to create a label on a clean glass bottle. This will work on any glass surface, such as a mason jar, soda bottle, or even glass tumblers or wine glasses. I chose to use a wine bottle and then fill it with M&M's to keep in the kitchen.IMG_1452.jpgFor this project, you will need a clean glass bottle. To clean the bottle, you will need dish soap, isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, and a scrubber brush.

To remove the paper from the bottle, soak it in warm, soapy water for about an hour. Then, scrub the paper away with either the rough side of a scrubber sponge or a scrubber brush. I would recommend not using a scrubber sponge once the paper is removed because the rough side causes the glue to bunch into hard-to-remove balls on the glass surface.

Use the isopropyl alcohol to remove the glue by pouring the isopropyl alcohol onto the glue and scrubbing with the brush.

To remove any smell that may be present in the bottle, pour some isopropyl alcohol into it and swirl it around briefly. Then, wash it out with water and allow it to dry fully (at least 4 hours upside down). I propped my bottle up using the bottom rack of the dishwasher.


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The Difference Between Bits and Bytes, and Why It Matters

Ever sign up for internet that claimed 20 Mb per second, only to find that your files download at 2.5 MB per second? They aren't lying to you. Look closely and you'll see that those two figures use different units: megabits (Mb) and megabytes (MB). Here's what that means.

Usually, we refer to file sizes and file transfer speeds in megabytes. Every once in a while, though—like when you're shopping for internet speeds or testing your speed on speedtest.net—you'll see it noted in megabits per second instead. One byte is made up of 8 bits, which means that you need to pay extra close attention to which unit you're using (which is especially confusing, since megabits is abbreviated "Mb" and megabytes is abbreviated "MB").

The folks at Techquickie have a great video that explains it as fast as possible, so watch the above video if you're confused (or send it to a friend if they keep asking you why they aren't getting 20 megabyte per second download speeds). They also say you can divide your megabit figure by 10 to get a very rough (read: innacurate) estimate of the measurement in megabytes, but you could always divide by 8 (though that may require a calculator, or plugging it into Google) if you want to know the exact equivalent. Check out the video above to see more.

Bits vs Bytes as Fast as Possible | Techquickie


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Personalize your Tablet cover

001.JPGI have always been a fan of putting some kind of emblem on my stuff to personalize it with style, here is my take on a tablet cover and a kindle E book reader protective case , all been done by inexpensive hand tools and some improvised tools to make the job easier, i will be showing how to details for the tablet paisley with the green background i didn't make it for myself but took pictures while i was doing it , the eye for my ebook reader uses the same exact method,  let's get started. 1.JPGafter you pick your design spend sometime studying it , if you didn't draw it yourself chance is it's not drawn with the consideration of fabrication so feel free to make changes accordingly like the picture below the original picture had half flowers i had to cut another half and glow it next t it so i would have full flowers, also decide what materials you are going to use and for which parts i usually like to incorporate stainless brass and copper sometimes colored metal textured or shiny it all depends on your vision for the design , after you decide what is what think ahead of how you gonna connect the pieces together you have lots of choices depends on the material you are using since we are using different colors materials in this design and lots of small parts either use soldering very very carefully i wouldn't recommend for a beginner  or you can use rivets which i decided to use with this design , print a few copies of the design and glue it to your material i use rubber cement holds well and cleans easy .

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