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homemade trimming tools


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Hmmm today I was trimming some canisters. I wanted a multiple bead on the sides 3 or 4 deep. There did not seem to be a tool that fit the job in all of my different tools-and I've got a lot. So one of the wooden tools that was a duplicate came out, the dremel came out, and in a few minutes the dremel was away, and I was trimming in the beads on the pots. I have always believed that my making or modifying my tools made my work more mine.

 

That said, there are a pile of great tool makers out there, and many of them are getting the message about more variety in shapes other than the small and large loop, spade or flat. I like variety, and if a manufactured tool is something I don't have that I like, I usually have it once I see it.

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one of my favorite tools is one made by Amaco.  it is purple.  I bought it in the 70s or early 80s when I was in Indianapolis.  there were 3 of them left in a clearance sale.  I bought all 3.  the working part of the tool is just like the pen insert made by speedball and used to scratch through color on a scratchboard but the handle is more comfortable.  there is a tight wire loop at the other end.

 

my last one is getting older, I asked Amaco if they had it anymore.  I even gave them their own NUMBER printed on the tool.  never heard of it, I must be wrong, no there is no such thing.  it reads AMOCO/REWARD T8.  but it no longer exists.

 

it is a wonderful tool for carving lines through slip and any other carving of a line.   if any of you have one sitting unused in a corner, I would be happy to buy it.

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One of the things that I share with students.................

 

If you are trying to make you work "your own"........ to have a visual and tactile identity that is personal,........... then you make things harder for yourself when you use generic clay bodies, generic glazes, and generic tools.

 

Aside from the uniqueness of your own particular set of hands touching the clay, the tools that you use to form and alter the clay DO have a huge impact on the way the clay is formed. 

 

Most tools have a distinct way they "like" to be manipulated.  As you use them, you find this aspect in them, and then tend to repeat it becasue it just seems to "work best" that way.  Many others will find the same brand / model of tool works the same way for them too.  So you all start finding "solutions" that look like each other's.

 

Make your own tools whenever you can.  Develop your own clay bodies and glazes.  At the least, realize the potential that this is happening.

 

If you don't want to make stuff......... at least try to find ones that not 'everyone' is usiing. 

 

If you are worried about the time involved.... charge more for your work.  It is likely you are underpricing your work already.

 

best,

 

....................john

I know, I get the idea. I love making my own tools. If I had the time right now, I would be experimenting with different things I have around me to trim. Time, where have you gone?

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  • 4 weeks later...

one of my favorite tools is one made by Amaco.  it is purple.  I bought it in the 70s or early 80s when I was in Indianapolis.  there were 3 of them left in a clearance sale.  I bought all 3.  the working part of the tool is just like the pen insert made by speedball and used to scratch through color on a scratchboard but the handle is more comfortable.  there is a tight wire loop at the other end.

 

my last one is getting older, I asked Amaco if they had it anymore.  I even gave them their own NUMBER printed on the tool.  never heard of it, I must be wrong, no there is no such thing.  it reads AMOCO/REWARD T8.  but it no longer exists.

 

it is a wonderful tool for carving lines through slip and any other carving of a line.   if any of you have one sitting unused in a corner, I would be happy to buy it.

It's never fun when something like that happens. If it was the 70s or 80s, I would expect in the 90s or early 2000s they more than likely switched from paper record keeping to digital and they'd have little reason to transfer records about products they had already long discontinued. Just speculating on that obviously. It would be hard to find something like that on EBay too, since most people bundle old tools or just toss them. Hope you find it or a happy substitute (a sub might be better, something you can get more of readily!)

 

I had realized while trimming that my tools where extremely dull. Can Kemper loop tools be resharpened? What is the best way of doing it (sand paper, sharpening stone, something else?).

 

I had seen some of those angled tools on YouTube, I thought they might have been self made but I hadn't realized they where saw blades. It seems like tool making is a pretty common practice in ceramics.

 

I recently realized I could make a cutting wire that was shorter, finer and more flexible for cutting pieces off the wheel head. I need to make it shorter than my first try, the extra slack and stiffness of a standard wire gets in my way.

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Credit cards. And I don't mean buying stuff with your Amex. Can be bent and cut/shaped however you want. Just won't work great on the dryer stuff, but cheap as dirt (I get probably a dozen or so per month in the mail).

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Credit cards. And I don't mean buying stuff with your Amex. Can be bent and cut/shaped however you want. Just won't work great on the dryer stuff, but cheap as dirt (I get probably a dozen or so per month in the mail).

 

Activate a few and send them to me...

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