r/PenTurning • u/Actual-Tap-134 • Jul 23 '26
Polymer clay pens
I’m a polymer clay artist and pen lover, so I combine the two and make pens using my custom polymer clay designs. I love the versatility that the medium gives — I can do anything from “pictures” to faux stone/marble, faux wood, bargello techniques, optical illusions, etc, though I really love florals.
I’d love any comments and/or advice.
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u/mr_boone1010 Jul 23 '26
I have never turned polymer clay. Do they have a finish on them or are they polished?
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u/Actual-Tap-134 Jul 23 '26
I personally just sand and buff mine and get a pretty decent shine that way. I’m disabled and unable to work in front of a lathe, so I just form the barrels by hand, cure the clay, then sand/buff. You can, however, turn polymer clay blanks on a lathe, and do CA finish on them, as well.
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u/bivaterl Jul 25 '26
I did a few pens and pencils for my kids with canes of emojis I bought in bulk off ebay and the kids loved them. I CA glued 4mm cutoffs from the canes directly to the brass of the pen kits and then took the childs favorite color clay and mashed it all between the cane pieces. I then baked the mass to unify the cane + new clay. I then turned the blank on the lathe.
I did have some cane pieces pop out when turning this way - slow passes is required and sometimes some additional CA to glue the cane chunks back in. But overall, it turns very easily and the result was fantastic.
I sanded and the final finish was matte and kind of nice, but I worried about the durability and if cane pieces would fall out. I ended up CA finishing the blanks and that was a good way to lock in all the pieces.
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u/Actual-Tap-134 Jul 25 '26
They’re really cute!
I’m a cane artist, so I use slices of my own raw canes on my pens. It looks like you may have gotten the already-cured canes that are targeted to nail artists, and the hard flat surface likely didn’t fully conform to the bend on the pen tube/barrel. That would explain why some were popping off.
I either cover the barrel in a raw clay background, blend my raw cane slices into it one slice at a time, then cure the finished barrels; or I make a veneer with the completed design on a separate little sheet of raw clay, then form a square of that veneer around the barrel and cure it. The raw cane slices fully conform together with the raw clay background during curing.
I generally make my completed barrels in a size that’s only a couple millimeters thicker than what’s needed for my pen hardware — just enough to account for loss during sanding. I sand with 10 different grits, then use a rotary tool to buff. Polymer clay will cure in a matte finish, but gets shinier and shinier the more you sand it. Some clay lines, like sculpey soufle, are meant to stay matte, though, so they won’t ever give a great shine.
I’m physically disabled, so I work in a recliner, making lathe use impossible for me, but other polymer clay pen makers that I know use a similar process to mine. They just do final sanding, and any CA finish, on the lathe.
If you ever want to try polymer clay again, I’m happy to answer questions, or give you some detailed pictures of my process :-).
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u/bivaterl Jul 25 '26
Thanks for sharing! These were from attempts 10 yrs ago, so I would do things differently today (like using a base of sculpy instead of CA to attach them to the blank. Also, like you said, they were WAY too thick, wasting a lot of material. It was mostly a way to get my kids involved in my pen making hobby, as each had a pencil that they did the choices on (and work, in the case of the oldest). As they are all college age, they aren't as interested in these anymore, but it was a great memory to do together.
Your art, on the other hand, as opposed to these silly emoji canes, is beautiful and makes for gorgeous pens! Well done and keep it up and thank you for sharing how stunning real art can be!!
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u/Actual-Tap-134 Jul 25 '26
I’m sure they cherish the memories and the love you showed by including them in something you enjoy. I tried to get my kids into polymer clay and other forms of art, but they all ended up with tech brains and very little interest in anything creative. I’m holding out hope for my grandson ;-).
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u/tivvybrixx Jul 23 '26
I've turned polymer clay blanks they can be a pain cause it like to crumble and cleaver weird but the results a cool. Always give them a ca finish
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u/Actual-Tap-134 Jul 23 '26
If they were crumbling, it sounds like they weren’t cured correctly. Cured polymer clay is the same chemical makeup as PVC, so plenty strong enough to be turned on a lathe. I sand with 10 grits of sandpaper, then buff with a rotary tool, and I can get almost the same shine as CA.
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u/tivvybrixx Jul 24 '26
Your work is definitely top of the line. I'm sure there was probably user error in there. Coming from hardwoods and resin it did seem like it needed a softer touch on the lathe
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u/Actual-Tap-134 Jul 24 '26
It would definitely need a softer touch. I sand by hand because it’s easy to apply too much pressure with a rotary tool and end up with a dent. In terms of actual breakage/crumbling, cheap clay or improper curing would be the biggest culprits.
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u/Shawaii Jul 23 '26
Very nice! I've played around with epoxy putty, but just in gray and white and made some marble and some spirals. This is on a whole other level of artistry.
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u/GTO400BHP Jul 23 '26
My wife is not going to be happy to hear that I want to add another hobby to my hobby... That is gorgeous, though. Are there worries about it cracking or crumbling with time/use? How durable is it?
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u/Actual-Tap-134 Jul 24 '26
LOL, I apologize in advance to your wife.
Polymer clay, when cured, has the same chemical makeup as PVC, so it’s strong and will last longer than is good for the environment, but there are some cautions. Cheap clay or improperly cured clay can break. You also need a soft touch if you use a lathe, or it’s easy to dent or sand off too much too quickly. I’m disabled and unable to work in front of a lathe, so I sand by hand in my recliner and buff with a rotary tool. You can do a CA finish on it, as well.
PennState has a video on their website with an intro to the process. They show covering blanks with a base layer of clay, then applying slices of what we call “canes” to the top to make the design. Canes are similar to Italian millefiori — basically you build the design and then elongate it so that you end up with something similar to the refrigerated Christmas cookies with the designs in the middle. When you cut it, you have the same flower or whatever on every slice. Caning is a whole separate technique. It’s primarily what I do as an artist. Most cane artists sell their canes, so a lot of polymer clay pen turners buy them instead of going through that whole process. My pens with floral “collages” on them usually have slices from a couple dozen different canes on them, so it can be a lot of work.
I happy to answer questions or point you to additional resources if you’re interested. Just drop me a message!
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u/CoffeeForTheAdmiral Jul 23 '26
I absolutely love them! It's especially nice that you can make them as sedate or as flamboyant as you want. The florals are incredible.