hi folks
I know I've seen this topic before, but the search function hasn't worked for me for a while now, so I can't look back through the archives.
What sort of extruder/clay gun would you suggest buying? I've seen a 'sugarcraft gun' for sale, but as I haven't seen any others yet, I'm wondering if there are others out there worth considering.
The Artway, to me, is the best way to go. It's more expensive, but super powerful and holds more than any other.
I just found a review by someone in Aussie for three extruders, thought I'd paste it here in case anyone else comes upon this thread. Normally I'd just post a link to the site, but it appears to be down, so I copied this from google's cached version.
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The three main sugarcraft/clay guns that I know of are often referred to as the silver one, the black & red one and the green one. Real creative I know! 
silver The silver one is the cheapest (around the $20 mark) and usually the first port of call for most beginners, due to its cheapness, however, nearly everyone I know who got one, tried to use it once and then threw it in the back of the cupboard, in the bin, or scoured the internet trying to figure out what they were doing wrong. It has a push action and frankly its a nightmare to use, so not recommended (if you want to try one that bad, feel free to borrow mine before outlining the money! Wink) Available from clay suppliers and often in the clay/scrapbooking areas of places like Spotlight, K-mart and so on.
blackandredNext is probably the most commonly used one, the black and red. It has a squeeze action due to its spring system. Much better to use than the silver one! But still with its own drawbacks. First of all if it breaks its difficult to get replacement parts, basically you need to buy a second one to use as spare parts. Its considerably more expensive, although if you shop around Complete Cake Decorating Supplies in SA are the cheapest Ive seen it currently round the $50 mark but when everyone else was selling theirs for $75+ they were selling them for around $45. The barrel isnt huge and you have to make sure your fondant is well worked, the smaller the hole disc the used the harder it can be to work. But still recommended!
greenFinally we have the newest addition to my cake tools! The green one! Another clay based tool this little baby rocks! Its around the $36 mark, it has a bigger barrel then the others and comes with more discs, but best of all even with no spring loading its the easiest of all to use. You just need to twist and it does the rest of the work. Yes you have to use both hand for this one but the positives for this one far outweigh the negatives for me and you can even use a stiffer fondant such as chocolate fondant with a smaller disc and with the bigger barrel you get much more out of it! Available from Clay Princess.
I have the "black and red"
I was scared to mess it up, but it worked after I figured it out. I used it with Pettinice because I thought the Wilton fondant would break it for sure.
I've seen the very expensive ones too, but I just wasn't sure about food safety, and since this "black and red" is the one that most decorators used, I thought it would be safe.
Is the pettinice quite soft compared to the wilton? It would be good to know, as I have no basis for comparison, so if I knew it was soft, I'd bear it in mind when reading others advice.
I have the "black and red"
I was scared to mess it up, but it worked after I figured it out. I used it with Pettinice because I thought the Wilton fondant would break it for sure.
I've seen the very expensive ones too, but I just wasn't sure about food safety, and since this "black and red" is the one that most decorators used, I thought it would be safe.
Wilton is the yuckiest fondant you could ever find in taste and texture.
I have tasted a few. Some people don't like the flavor of Pettinice, though, when they compare it to others. But, I do think we all agree that Wilton is bad. One day, when I have time I'll make my own. I have Toba Garrett's recipe and a lot of people say it's really good. I have a DVD from a woman in Utah (Carrie's Cakes) and some people say it's delicious too. When I do the testing, I'll have some Pettinice and maybe another brand next to me. Pettinice is expensive in NY, though. I've paid about $10 for a lb.
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