question on polymer clay charm...?

Question

I'm making some clay charms and the other day I had one fall off from the eye pin when I was hooking it to a cell strap. What can I do to prevent this? Do you put any type of glue on it?

you know i just read somewhere that possibly inserting the pin then taking it out and putting some TLS and inserting again then baking it, anyone try this?

Answer 1

There are a number of ways you can use an eye pin as a connector with polymer clay. Some ways have already been mentioned:

...putting in with a bit of liquid clay, then baking

... removing after baking, and reinserting with a bit of superglue or 2-pt epoxy glue, etc.

...bending the end of the eye pin (or head pin, etc.) before putting in the clay (I like a slight z shape), then snugging the clay back around it

There are other variations on the things above, but you can also put an eye pin or head pin all the way through the clay (bottom to top usually) then form the projecting end into a loop, etc., to act as a connector. You can even do the same thing but hide the bottom of the head or eyepin inside the clay at the bottom if you don't want it to show.

There are also other kinds of "connectors" you can use at the top of a charm or anything else you want to connect to another thing, and some of them will even bond with the clay automatically (for example, plastic covered paperclip wire, or other plastic-covered wire... especially when they're made from paperclips, these could be U shapes pushed into the top of a clay piece upside down, or some plastic-covered wire can be formed into a "wrapped" loop, etc.)
There are also other ways to attach or make connectors of various kinds or to make holes for them, etc.

If you want much more info on these and other methods for attaching, check out these pages at my clay site:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/pendants_cording.htm
(... click on FULL LOOPS, under "Loops & Holes for Cording"..)
http://glassattic.com/polymer/wire.htm
(....click on BASIC WIRE SHAPES, for making your own)


HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 2

I know one clayer who bends the eye pin slightly that goes inside the charm or pendant and then bakes the eye pin in the clay. Because it is slightly bent in a "u", it won't pull out.

Answer 3

Don't know exactly, but the same happened with an earring and a long eyepin several years ago. I smeared the pin with superglue, inserted it again and dabbed a tiny bit more at the end, and so far it's been fine.

Answer 4

You can try using Liquid Sculpey. This is liquid polymer clay that would bond to your charms as if it were one whole piece. It is used to glue polymer clay pieces together.