Friday, December 29, 2017

Remember Not All Tools Are Universal.......

Over the years I have done many crafts and have TONS of tools in all shapes and forms.  And you find later that a tool made for one craft works wonders for another activity.


Many years ago I taught ceramics.  I had hundreds of molds with a pouring table along with brushes and paints of all varieties.  One of the best carving tools I have found is actually not made for ceramics.  They are dental tools.  They score and carve better than any ceramic tool, but watch out because they are VERY sharp.

My kiln is a massive piece of equipment that has given me over 20 years of service and still going.  First, with ceramics.  I then accidentally found myself with a custom tile business.  Went to a tile company to get some 6x6 to make trivets for gifts and started making custom backsplashes and accent tiles for kitchens and baths for the local tile companies.  My kiln has recently been given the job of slumping wine and liquor bottles to make beautiful one-of-a-kind serving trays.  It will soon be making custom glass art pieces.

Old hammers and chisels made wonderful metal impression tools.  My embossing folders for making cards double as clay molds.  The list goes on and on.

BUT, some tools are just not intended for any purpose but what they are originally made for.  Paint brushes are made specifically for a certain type of paint or technique.  To use them with another medium will ruin them.

And, as I have just discovered the hard way, an embossing heating tool is only for embossing.  My heat gun just OVERheated and has died.  So, please don't use your embossing gun for anything, but embossing, as they do not like being used overlong to dry gesso.  So embossing gun is now in the trash and I am using a hair dryer on medium setting to speed up the drying process for my art journal.

Sometimes, you just have to learn the hard way.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments. It will be added soon!