Help! Clay Gun

Decorating By dydemus Updated 7 Aug 2006 , 2:49pm by missyek

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dydemus Posted 5 Aug 2006 , 1:53pm
post #1 of 10

I got a clay gun to make hair and stuff for my sugar figures. It is excruciatingly hard to get anything to press through!I'm using MMF and I even warmed it up a little to make it go through easier. What am I doing wrong? What am I supposed to do? Aarrgghh!

9 replies
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SharonZ Posted 5 Aug 2006 , 2:23pm
post #2 of 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by dydemus

I got a clay gun to make hair and stuff for my sugar figures. It is excruciatingly hard to get anything to press through!I'm using MMF and I even warmed it up a little to make it go through easier. What am I doing wrong? What am I supposed to do? Aarrgghh!




Hi,
I have a clay gun for working with polymer clay and they are miserable to work with. My husband took a piece of metal with sides on it to hold the gun in place and at the end is a large screw with a flat washer on the end of the screw (to fit against the clay gun handle) and a handle at the other end to turn it. It made it much easier to use the clay gun. Everyone has this problem with the clay gun. Here is a link with photo's of what other people have done.
http://www.glassattic.com/polymer/MainPages/claygun.htm
Sharon

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dydemus Posted 5 Aug 2006 , 2:42pm
post #3 of 10

Thanks- good to know I'm not just being a dummy icon_smile.gif.

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TexasSugar Posted 5 Aug 2006 , 4:58pm
post #4 of 10

I have heard of people using crisco kneeded into the fondant to make it softer, as well as rubbing crisco on the inside of the clay gun.

I bought a Sugarcraft gun at the ICES convention. Much more expensive than the clay guns you find at Michaels, but instead of the plunger it has a squeeze trigger, which to me made it look easier to use and definetly worth the extra money. I haven't gotten a chance to play with it yet, but I have seen others use them with ease.

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imartsy Posted 5 Aug 2006 , 5:07pm
post #5 of 10

TexasSugar,

Do you know what brand your clay gun is? Is there a good brand to use? Is metal better than plastic??

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cindww Posted 5 Aug 2006 , 5:19pm
post #6 of 10

I got the $30 one from an online retailer..think it comes from England. I have yet to be able to use the dang thing properly. Colette Peters demonstrated one and she seemed to have no problem with it. I think your MMF has to be very soft. Truthfully, one of the last cakes I did was a little girl with a horse and I used a garlic press to make the hair and mane/tail. That worked really great with sooooft MMF.

Cindy

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dydemus Posted 5 Aug 2006 , 8:07pm
post #7 of 10

Okay, I tried it with gumpaste and kneaded in a lot of shortening. It was MUCH easier! It was still a pain, but at least I got some mermaid hair icon_smile.gif. Now I'll have to keep my eye out for one of those Sugarcraft guns!

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missyek Posted 5 Aug 2006 , 10:09pm
post #8 of 10

Here is a link to what the sugarcraft gun looks like. It averages this price at most of the on-line stores that carry it. I bought mine last year at the ICES convention and LOVE it!

http://beryls.safeshopper.com/216/cat216.htm?599

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imartsy Posted 7 Aug 2006 , 1:21pm
post #9 of 10

wow do you need one that expensive? I swear I've seen some at Michael's for $10.00 - metal ones too. Any word yet on whether metal is better than the plastic ones? I've seen plastic ones in the clay section at Michael's too - by Makin' Clay, whose products are supposed to be food safe......

So what are your opinions? Metal or plastic? Expensive or is there a cheaper version?[/img]

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missyek Posted 7 Aug 2006 , 2:49pm
post #10 of 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by imartsy

wow do you need one that expensive? I swear I've seen some at Michael's for $10.00 - metal ones too. Any word yet on whether metal is better than the plastic ones? I've seen plastic ones in the clay section at Michael's too - by Makin' Clay, whose products are supposed to be food safe......

So what are your opinions? Metal or plastic? Expensive or is there a cheaper version?[/img]




I have one of the cheap ones from Michael's and never use it. It was such a pain in the butt to use and even if I warmed my fondant or gumpaste up, I still hada a tough time getting anything out--especially through some of the smaller openings. I also had a terrible time getting a good grip on it. With the Sugarcraft gun, you just squeeze the handle and it goes--I have never had to warm up fondant or gumpaste to use it. It was well worth the money to me.

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