Your Favorite Bead or Polymer Clay Tools and Why You Love Them

Makin's Professional Clay Extruder because of all the different discs you can use and you never quite know what is the result will be when putting different colors into the barrel. I also use the end as a circle cutter.
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I would have to say it would be my rubber Speedball roller. It is small and just the right size for any item that needs "a smoothing" and is washable. It smooths out all fingerprints and wrinkles. Even on small items. It also works great for coloring finished products with ink pads. I just roll the rubber roller over the ink pad and when I have a raised finish on the clay, I roll it over that and let it dry. Fast and easy!

I am an "intermediate" clayer but still have a lot to learn. I will soon be advanced once I keep watching your videos and tutes! I learn something new all the time.
Very interesting facts about the poll Cindy.

I like the bead rollers from Amaco(sp) when I try to do them by hand, even using the same amount of clay they never seem to match each other.

My favorite tool and that does not include pasta machine or roller and blade( for me that is a given) is a knitting needle or when tiny a sewing needle. I make a handle. I use it for texturing, placing parts on the clay, smoothing, sculpting, etc.

By far is my mini Cuisinart food processor. It saves so much time in mixing colors & conditioning. I got mine at Kohl's when they were having one of their crazy sales & ended up paying I think $19 for it. Plus, it's so darn cute!

I would have to say my pasta maker, because beside the roller and cutters I really don't know how to use many of the other tools. I have the Makins Professional Clay tool Kit and have no idea what most of the tools are used for! And they don't give directions with the set. Maybe you could do a post on it Cindy? I guess I am a beginner since I don't know much except to mix colors and make beads.

Without the food processor my time for clay would be very limited as Arthritis visits often and without the pasta machine there would be no level pieces of clay to cut from so being very new to polymer clay these items are really necessary. I think I'll really enjoy my next purchase which will be the Makins Professional Clay Extruder and that may become a favorite. Love this new hobby and your lessons and videos Cindy.

I don't know if this is considered a tool, but my favorite 'tool' is the thin plastic sheets by Papercon. I believe they are made for cake and candy making but they are great to use with clay. You can wrap your clay in it because it doesn't leach, you can use it to separate sheets of conditioned clay on your work surface, you can place it over your clay and rub with your fingers to remove finger prints, and best of all, you can put it on your clay and then cut with a cutter and it automatically bevels the edges! I'm not sure where you can find them commercially. I got mine from Marla Frankenberg.

hmmm my favorite too…wow…um, ok gotta choose one…again like some others have said my pasta machine, and acrylic roller are givens. So I guess my favotire tool these days is my double ended ball-stylus. I have several sizes, but my favorite is one from Fiskars that came with my paper embossing kit. it works great for blending 2 colors together and it's good for texturing too

What I love about this blog is how we can learn from each other. I absolutely agree about the Pasta machines..that is an absolute nessitiy.

When going to a workshop or clay group I use a long plastic toothbrush travel container to transport my tissue blades in. Got it in the pharmacy section at Walmart for $1.00.

KlayKisses-What is a rubber Speedball roller. Sounds like a good tool.
Ken- I have 1 Almaco bead roller an have yet figured out what I am doing wrong. The picture on it shows one round bead and one long bead with two round blobs on the ends. I can't get any plain round ones to turn out-they all seem to want to have those blobs.

Anna, if you can send me your email, I can send you a picture of it. It is actually used for scrapbooking and rubber stamping. By the way, anyone interested in my rubber stamp collection, let me know. I have no time for stamping when there are so many things to clay thanks to Cindy. My brain is smoking with ideas! I know you can use them with clay but I don't use that many. I have my favorites!

Anna, that is the two styles of bead that particular bead maker makes, there are many many different models in this line, I have several, the one I use most is one where you can get either a round, bi-cone or oblong/oval I "think" it was the first one the company made, there is also a model that makes 5 different round beads from I believe 4mm to 8mm. Check on the Amaco.com website and look for Bead rollers you'll be shocked at how many there are. I love them. I can't get the 5 different rounds from either AC Moore or Michaels though, hoping they'll carry the entire line someday.

Check out Cindy's December 4, 2008 posting. I thought I saw it one the site.

Hi Cindy. Congrats on hitting the 1k mark for your survey. That is quite an accomplishment for any blog. But no surprise to me. And you have so much good and useful information available here, that it doesnt surprise me with the number of experienced clayers coming here either. I have been claying for 20+ years now and I am always finding new ideas and tips on your blog. Not to mention the lady that runs it is a real sweet gal. XO.

Now, for my favorite tool? Hmmmm…well I have most of the tools mentioned, plus a bunch I have made or re-purposed from other crafts. But my all time favorite tools are my own two hands. A good set of eyes and a somewhat creative brain are helpful too. But no matter what I make, I always start with my hands and finish with them. So I guess that makes them my favorites. XOXO Jamie

Thought I would join in here — great discussion by the way. My favorite tool should be the pasta machine but seems like I'm always fixing it! lol — I'm still waiting for the ultimate machine that can take all the clay I want to feed it. So my other favorite tool is the Makins Clay Extruder. There are so many techniques you can use it for and I find I use it a lot.

By the way — that's great about the survey. I never took it as I don't fit into any of those categories since I've been claying for a couple of years now and do it almost full time. I enjoy your blog though and is nice to see a great place where people can come together and learn new techniques and share. Keep up the good work!

I'm an intermediate clayer… and I like power tools. (That sounds like an AA introduction, doesn't it? :D)

My top three favourites are all power tools and it's very difficult to pick just one, but I think the winner there would be my Dremel. Or Dremels, since I have two of them: a cordless 800 which has by far the best ergonomics but not quite enough battery life for everthing, and a corded 300 with flexshaft, drillpress/workstation, etc. Extremely versatile and handy for plenty of things other than polymer clay too, where they're absolutely indispensible for buffing and drilling. I also use them for sanding, carving, shaping and cutting.

I agree with Sue on the dremel tools. I dont have a cordless one. But I do have the corded rotary unit with drill press/workstation/router etc. And I also have a flex shaft which works off the scroll saw unit I use. Other than my hands, or along with them I should say, I probably use these the most of all my tools. Because I also do small woodworking and other crafts where they are indespensible. The drill press stand is what I use to buff and polish most of my beads. I just lock it in place and then I can use both hands to hold the bead and buff it. I use the flex shaft for carving beads and for finer engraving work where the rotary unit is too bulky for my hand to move freely. XOXO Jamie

Wow!! What great contributions from everyone! Thanks so much!

@Anna: In response to your second comment, love the toothbrush holder for blades idea! Wouldn't have thought of that. About the bead roller, the only way not get those problems you're talking about is to measure the clay perfectly. If you go to the April 11, 2008 post there is a preview of the video I did on exactly how to use those rollers.

@klaykisses: I have one of those rollers for block printing but I hadn't used it with clay yet because I thought the rubber may react with the clay. Sounds like it doesn't and that it works well! Will have to give it a try! As far as your rubber stamp collection, don't be in a rush to get rid of them yet (though I can't imagine ever wanting to, the more stamps the better). I've come up with a extremely cool new technique using clay and rubber stamps that I will be releasing asap, that you may want to keep them for!

@Ken: That is cool you love the bead rollers so much! Have you tried any of those trough style rollers yet, where you can roll more than one size of bead in the same roller? (They look like half pipes of pvc with the top pipe having a handle.) I haven't tried one yet but they look like they would be fun to use.

@Louise: A knitting needle is an excellent tool choice! Very useful. Thanks for the tip!

@Carol Ann: When my big processor dies and goes to appliance heaven, I will buy a mini one! They take up so little space and you're right about them being cute!

@Maureen: My guess is you are talking about that tool set with the rollers and shapers and stuff? I haven't used that set yet but it would probably come in handy for some of the more sculptural techniques. Keep it around and you may come up with your own ideas for using it. If I get it I will pass on any ideas I have for using it.

@Joyce: I know what you mean. My hands get pretty sore sometimes and the processor sure makes a difference! BTW you could use it for making the faux pebble beads from vol 012-1. Just throw in all the 'ingredients' and pulse. The little bits would be perfect for the faux stones.

@Gayle: That is a great tip! I take it they are a little thicker than plastic wrap? They sound interesting. Will have to keep an eye out for them!

@Deborah: I have a couple small ball stylus' but I've wanted some bigger ones for awhile now. I bet they are really handy for making flower petals and such. Thanks for the tip!

@Jamie: Thanks sweetie! I totally agree… there is no better tools than your hands! (And you're right about the brain and the eyes being a good help too! ;-))

@Carolyn: I agree about the extruder being an extremely handy tool! I'm going to be testing a different brand pretty soon here and I'll let everyone know what I think! As far as not fitting a category in the survey, The third choice, 'know a thing or two about polymer clay' is the choice for any intermediate to advanced clayers like you. Sorry if that wasn't very clear. Hopefully anyone else that misunderstood that category will vote there now. I would like the poll to be accurate.

@Sue: hehehe… I understand your addiction to power tools! Especially the Dremel! Where would we be without them, I wonder? (Back in the 80's with crappy looking beads I suppose! :-))

I am like so many of the others who have contributed their favs, I just love my dremal, pasta machine and food (clay) processor, each saves time and wrists. It is so hard to just pick one. But if I indeed have to pick something I just can not do without, it would be my hands. :-) (have to agree with Jamie about that one) {{hugs}} Adrienne

No I haven't, my craft stores don't carry a very large selection of any bead rollers, every so often they have a new one. I just recently brought Amaco set number 4, an oblong bead and one that looks lie a bi-cone with a groove in the middle. haven't had time yet to try it as I'm finishing a production of The Marriage of Figaro in Wilmington, Delaware. My summer is clear right now so there should be LOTS of time to play after this evening (5-9-09)

Shapers. Allows me to remove my heavy handed prints, and give a level of detail I cannot match with any other tools when working on clay. Sometimes I use just a touch of vaseline on the end…..helps ease it and seems to bake out with no problems.

Got mine on ebay.com, but for a link and for a look at an art gallery produced with them, check out http://prairiecraft.com/.

Donna Kato…..don't you just love this woman?

If i could choose one tool (except PM, blades, roller etc) i would say parchment paper, this is so useful when brayering canes and moving things around the table with out the "sticking" clay to the tile.
and of course – my cookie cutters, i am terrible, i need every one, the simplicity of working with them is amazing especially when you have a big wholesale order!

thank you cindy! great ideas here :)

@Adrienne: I know… where would we clayers be without our hands? It sure would be a lot trickier!

@Ken: Good luck in your play, that is very exciting! Glad to hear their is lots of clay playing in your future! :-)

@Jocelyn: Yeah Donna is the reason most of us are clayers. Without all the public appearances on HGTV people would probably still be making that hideous stuff we made in the 80's!

@Iris: Parchment is extremely handy isn't it! It is so handy, that I can actually use up a whole Costco box of it! (If you don't know, Costco is one of our super huge wholesale club store where everything comes in boxes big enough for most people's lifetimes. :-) I love the cutters too… there are so many uses for them and nothing cuts shapes better!

Not really a tool but oh, oh, oh, I love playing with the Pearl Ex powders. You can do so many things with them and they come in such delicious colors. As for an actual tool, I love my Dremel. I used to try to hand buff my beads and I could never get them real good. Now I have totally buff beads. And very shiny too! :)

I agree Laurel! Pearl Ex is a wonderful polymer clay 'tool'!