Art in Metal Clay by Hadar Jacobson918 Ventura Ave, Berkeley, CA 94707-2123, (510) 528-4193hadar@pacbell.net • www.artinsilver.com

Cat’s Eye Ladder (A Project for the ClayMill Extruder)

Materials:

Quick-fire bronze or Brilliant BronzeLow shrinkage Steel XTCopper

1. Use the disc with the circle hole and the tube adapter disc. Screw a drum mandrel, ½" in diameter, into the adapter.

2. Cut 2 circles, 2” in diameter or a little less, from each clay: copper (6 cards thick), bronze (3 cards thick), and steel (1 card thick).

3. Feed the barrel with the stack, with the copper circle facing the die.

You may need to replace the rubber washer that comes with the kit with a larger washer from the hardware store.

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4. Extrude the tube. The desired pattern is in the cross section of the tube.

5. The photo on the right shows the clay that got trapped inside the washer. Knead and roll it until you get an even color. Then store it in plastic wrap.

6. Slice the tube lengthwise.

7. Open the tube and flatten it. It doesn’t matter which side is up.

8. Straighten the edges to make a more even rectangle.

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9. Cut a slice about 3 mm wide.

10. Turn the slice on its size. This is the Cat’s Eye pattern.

11. Use the stored mixed clay to roll a layer, 3 cards thick. The width should be half the length of the slice; the length is up to you.

12. Wet the layer and place the strip on top of it, horizontally, starting from the top.

13. Cut away the excess from the strip and lay it under the first one.

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14. Keep cutting slices as in steps 9-10 and cover the whole rectangle. Dry.

15. Make a bail from the mixed clay, as wide as the piece or a little longer. Dry. To texture it, scratch it with a needle tool.

16. Cut 2 strips From the mixed clay, 3 cards thick. Place them behind the piece.

17. Place the bail on the strips, a little further up from the pendant.

18. Wrap the strips around the bail and cut them shorter.

19. Tuck the end of the strip under the bail. Dry, and reinforce with more mixed clay.

You will have more strips then you need. You can dry them and save them for another project, or make another pendant or a pair of earrings while the piece is drying.

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20. Fire at mid-fire schedule as described in the instruction manual on my blog, at http://artinsilver.com/Quick-fire_clay_instruction_manual.pdf.

21. Finish the earrings following the instructions in the document “Finishing Fired Metal Clay” on my blog: http://artinsilver.com/Finishing_process.pdf.

Back view of the finished pendant, the color of the mixed clay.