Using Polymer Clay Faux Wood To Fix a Broken Kids Pocket Knife
When the Decorative Skin On Your Old Pocket Knife Cracks And Falls Off…
Like a lot of boys, my son Fisher was given a Swiss Army Knife for carving sticks when we go camping. Of course he is not allowed to just play with it whenever he wants. It is for supervised situations around the campfire where we all get a chance to be outdoorsy together.
Fisher's knife was actually mine from when I was a little. My husband Doug also had a pocket knife when he was a kid… which our daughter Willow now has. No gender roles in this family.
So to make a short story long, the decorative plastic side on Fisher's knife ended up breaking off, leaving him with a workable but dilapidated looking knife. And the fact that Willow's knife was still in great shape, certainly didn't help matters.
Well the other day I came across the 'sideless' knife and decided to use my polymer clay faux wood recipes to give it some new life. You can see the result in the photo above. The initials were added using a rubber stamp.
One more Christmas stocking stuffer done! Of course now his sister is going to be complaining about her knife not being as cool as his! And so the battle goes!
Filed Under: 05: Techniques, 08: Color Theory, 13: Musings-News by Comment. 
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Comments on Using Polymer Clay Faux Wood To Fix a Broken Kids Pocket Knife
8:44 pm
Hi Cindy.
The knife is exceptionally beautiful. Fisher is very fortunate to receive such a treasure. I bet you ARE going to be making another right after Christmas. Want to make that two? I'll send mine up; it needs a wonderful facelift like that too.
MJ
9:40 pm
Cindy last year my husband found a small double edged knife but the hande was missing. So for a Christmas present for him I made a handle. I put an eagles head on top. He just loved it. I'll have to find another one that needs a handle and do the faux wood. Your is really nice and the intials set it off nicely.
7:11 pm
@MJ: I bet you could make a lovely one yourself! You don't need me to do it for you. :-)
@CraftyLinda: Great idea! Love the eagles head idea… makes me think of adding the clay to things like walking canes and umbrellas too! I think there isn't a thing that polymer clay won't fix!
8:37 am
I like the idea of the initials as well. What a nice keepsake and of course made with momma's love! I'll have to try the Faux wood as well for my pocket knives. I also like the wood look and yours is just beautiful.
9:49 pm
Cindy I have been thinking the same thing about covering a handle of a walking stick.. I have one that I am going to do I just have to decide what I want to put on it.
ALSO, I didn't know where else to post this,
Thank you very much for this chance to catch up on getting the free color recipes. I thought I was only one week behind but I must have been two weeks. There are not to many people who would go the extra mile to make sure we all had a chance to get something free. You are truly a great person. Thanks again. PS I did put a comment on Polymer Clay Central forum.
Happy New Year to you and yours.
8:11 pm
Thank you CraftyLinda for your comments!
I am very curious about how you are planning to bake the walking stick because of the size? Will your clay piece be removable? Baked separately? Glued on? Sounds like a fun project.
You're very welcome about the "catch up links" for the bonus recipes! The holidays are always busy and I knew that more than a few subscribers would appreciate receiving those handy links.
And thanks for posting about me over at the Polymer Clay Central Forum. But with all of the supportive feedback that happened over there, the moderators unfortunately jumped to conclusions about the legitimacy of the comments.
Not only was the thread shut down, but I was also accused of setting up multiple ID's and "shilling" the thread with fake testimonials. Needless to say I was shocked by how the matter was handled. I sent an email to the fellow that shut down the thread, telling him so. He has not responded yet.
I've also been informed that several others took it upon themselves to email the fellow… letting him know that nothing inappropriate was happening at that thread. Setting the record straight. It would be nice to see a retraction posted for the allegations that were made. Having all this distrust flying around does not look good on anyone!
Finally, for everyone else who commented so sweetly at that PCC forum thread, thank you so much!! I am very proud and honored that you feel I am bringing genuine value to the polymer clay community.
10:35 pm
Cindy, I haven't decided yet how I am going to do the walking stick. But I am thinking about having it be something I can take off. Then I wouldn't have to worry about baking.
I also have a small stick that I got while in AL. It has a spiral grove around it where a vine had grown. I am thinking about making a dragons head and have the body wrap around in that grove. This one is short enough that with a little work I think I sould get it in my regular oven. I haven't tried that yet.
I know what they did to you over at the Polymer Clay Central Form and I thought the stunk. We just didn't know you well enough I guess. But the thing is he ask for comments so he should have expected a lot.
Don't let it get you down. Those of us who know you didn't think anything of it. We all still think you have a good site. It is his loss if he doesn't check it out for himself.
You have a great day, Hon. Linda
7:12 pm
CraftyLinda, your cane projects sound cool. Make sure to take pictures when they're finished!
Thank you for your support! It means a lot to me!
2:27 pm
Cindy I would like to make my polymer clay look like different kinds of wood. do you have any recipes for oak, walnut, cherry, maple. by the way, I love your site, I am on it all the time.
8:32 pm
Hi Sandra, I don't think Cindy has done a tut on Faux Wood; but she might have it on her list. In the meantime, you could manipulate the Faux Bone/Ivory technique from Vol. 019 and adjust the colors used to make a pretty decent faux wood. Check out the color recipes or create your own wood color mixes with raw sienna, burnt umber, black, ecru, etc.
8:40 pm
Ooops, sorry for the live link in there, Cindy. I think I'll stop trying to browse through here with so many kids around. Very hectic! I just wanted to tell you how cool this faux wood looks on your son's knife!
I didn't know about that posting at Polymer clay Central. I went over and took a look — ooh, that makes me mad! That's not very nice; did you ever hear get an answer to your email, or hear anything back? A lot of time has passed. Is it too late for me to email him with my own feelings on the subject?
8:08 am
@phaedrakat: cute kitties in your gravatar :-) I fixed the links for you. Thanks for addressing Sandra Henry's question. And regarding PCC, no he never did respond :-(
@Sandra: There are some wood color recipes in Vol-007 at the members library. See link by my name.
5:05 pm
Oh, nice colors! Those are perfect for faux wood!
Cindy, I am going to email the PCC guy. That is wrong, closing the post like that and leaving it for all to see. No way to "stand up" for yourself, and no way for us to stand up for you! I'll let you know if I get a reply…