Do all conditioning in a food processor, just pick them up at the local recycling place. Try to have two of the same so can just change baskets, and all have metal blades.

By far, the fastest and easiest way to get small amounts conditioned is the Black and Decker coffee grinder. Lots of power for Kato and already dried bits, and a handy dandy plastic cap lets you empty and check frequently. Just have to remember to clean the small plastic cap with alcohol, not too much residue sticks to the blades or the metal compartment.

I have 3 (all free) which I separate for transparent/white, reds, and rest, just like with the pasta machines.

Hello to Everyone,

Some new Spotlight project pictures that relate to the topic of this page (Kato PolyClay), have just been added in another post. They were submitted by Ritzs. The link by my name will take you to where you can see them, along with a bit of a write up about some issues Ritzs was having with cracks forming in her beads made from Kato Clay.

BTW: Thanks to everyone above, who took the time to comment in this thread. Your feedback, support and fun conversations are always such a wonderful part of my day. Although I don’t get a chance to address everyone individually, please know that I do read everything. ~Cindy

Have you got any tips for making bright colours with the kato ? Maggie Maggio suggests using flourescents in her book but of course there aren’t any Kato flourescents.

Also I was wondering if you had some pictures of your work somewhere online Sue I’d love to see it I bet it’s awesome.

@Cindy: Thanks! :) I thought the info might be useful generally, as much of it would apply regardless of what brands you were converting between, or even when trying to match some other kind of colour exactly.

One further tip that slipped my mind when I was writing the long post above…

For very light, very dark or very desaturated colours where it can be hard to judge how closely you’ve matched the base colour, AND where you are able to prepare unbaked clay according to the original recipe as well as working on the conversion, a good approach is to make up a version of the original recipe WITHOUT the white or black (i.e. the original recipe’s base colour), then match that base colour in your target clay, then add the white and/or black back in on both sides after you’re happy with how the base colour matches. You might need to make minor adjustments, for instance for the whites being different between brands, but it’s a lot easier than trying to match the very dark, very light or very desaturated version up front.

See everyone… I told you Sue was thorough (if you want to read more about her meticulous methodologies when it comes to mixing kato color recipes, click on the link by my name).

Science degree here too, except I had never finished despite two attempts, due to illness. Zoology and genetics the first time, psychology the second.